October in Havasu (11-18-19)

October in Havasu is a busy time, but then again, Havasu has something going on almost all the time. Not everything is of interest to us, but there is still plenty to keep us busy. After a thorough cleaning of the house and camper, after our summer adventures, we were ready to venture out.







Events in the first week or so of October included boat races in the channel, the World Finals Jet Ski competition, concerts in the park and of course the usual car shows.

We also found out about a Meet Up on the lake of owners of Avalon boats, the brand that we own. Unlike last October, the weather this year was perfect for boating so we were happy to be on the lake as much as possible.

We spent a fun few hours chatting with other owners. We were all surprised at how much we have in common.  In addition to boating, most of us have RVs and desert exploration toys, and most of us are Elk members.

As happy as we were to be home, after a long and busy summer, you’d think that we would hunker down and stay put.  But we didn’t. Paul needed his yearly dermatologist appointment, which is in Fresno CA,  so we packed up the mustang and went on a road trip to see our friends in central California.

I think I apologized 4 times to our friends for making this a last minute trip, thereby torpedoing any plans they already had for that weekend. 

They claimed they didn’t mind, and we sure did have fun relaxing at Kirk’s cabin, helping with various projects,  and hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

On the way back to the city, I was all done with the fun Paul was having driving on the curvy mountain roads, so I rode with Karen and let Kirk be his co-pilot.












Note to self for next time- the drive to Fresno is almost 7 hours.  It would be better if we had more than 3 days to spend there.  But this time around we were expecting company back home the following weekend, so we hightailed it out of CA back to Havasu.

We were finally going to get to see our daughter Jess, who lives in L.A.  She took the weekend off to come out to see us.

Our other guests, Sharon and John, were due to arrive the day after Jess got here, but with the weatherman calling for perfect boating weather, we convinced them to come a day early, so we could all go out on the water, with both the boat and the jet ski.

As always, all too soon Jess left (at least she is coming back for Thanksgiving!) and we had one more day with John and Sharon before they took off for their next destination.
Wanting to give them a well rounded idea of activities at the PPP, we took them for a ride into the desert.

With the house quiet again, we went back to working on our projects. The water in Havasu is very hard, so every once in a while we have to drain the pool and put in fresh water. This time we decided it was also time to clean the tile of the calcium build up.  

It was a lot of work, but the end result was worth it.

The end of October brings London Bridge Days, when everyone celebrates the attraction that helped grow Lake Havasu into a town- the London Bridge.

The highlight of the festivities is a parade down Main St. This year’s theme was “life in the desert. With numerous floats, bands, and performers,  it was a lot of fun.

Dusting off the Old Blog (12-31-16)

Up until a few weeks ago, I was pretty convinced I was done blogging.  I started my blog in 2009 to write about the interesting and fun things we were seeing while we traveled the country in our trailer.

From Alaska…

…to Newfoundland…










we saw a lot of awesome things, traveling full time.

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But then a couple of things happened.  In 2015, we built a winter home in Lake Havasu City, AZ, and became stationary for several months at a time. Soon thereafter,  2016 happened. 2016 turned out to be a very difficult and stressful year for us.  Dealing with several family issues, we weren’t able to go off and explore as usual, and my desire to blog disappeared.


Don’t get me wrong, we did squeeze in some fun, and got a few things accomplished around the house.


As soon as we returned home in October of 2016, we got to work on the landscaping:

                          

Living in the desert, most of our yard is gravel, and our plants are very drought tolerant, although Paul does have everything on a drip irrigation system.  Since we are Margarita fanatics, I did spurge, and we planted a lime tree in the front yard.






It wasn’t long before our friends started arriving- we love having them around- we always have so much fun and they are always happy to pitch in and give a hand.

Of course, its not just OUR projects that get attention.  Our yard is a convenient place for friends to work on their rigs- especially since the guys are more than happy to offer advice, as well as help, haha.

The weather in Havasu is great for hiking during the cooler months so we took advantage and hiked Sara’s Crack, a slot canyon, and Lizard Peek- one of the highest peaks in the area (although that isn’t saying much).  I have been known to hike these trails by myself, just to get some exercise. And speaking of exercise, Planet Fitness arrived in Havasu and I immediately joined, and try to make it to the gym 4 times a week. There are Planet Fitness gyms all over the country, so I hope to keep it up once we are on the road.


                    

In the early fall the weather is warm enough to use the boat and Jet Ski- although Paul hadn’t had time to fix the boat so we were limited to just the Jet Ski.

Once winter set in, however, we needed a toy to play with off  the water. Once again it was time to call Paul’s brother Tom, and work out a deal on another Kawasaki product- this time a side by side, 4 seater.

One of our first add-ons was some state of the art headphones so that we can have conversations without yelling.

Soon enough, the holidays arrived and we had what we call a “yard full”.

In addition to our friends, our daughter Jessica managed to make it to our house for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Jess is fun to have around and I was glad she got to know our friends over the holidays.

So, from eating at Thanksgiving…














to eating at Christmas….





to drinking for New Years…..





we had an awesome time.


To be continued……

Day trip into Boston (06-05-13)

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on”  -JFK

We took advantage of the semi-nice weather, picked up Stephen and headed into Boston.  Our destination was the JFK Presidential Library.  After being impressed by the Carter Library, I was interested to see the Kennedy one.

I was 4 years old when he was assassinated and my only real memories of him are of those last few days.  I remember looking at the TV and instead of seeing the cartoons I expected, I saw his funeral procession.   I remember seeing the caparisoned horse with the backwards boot (used to signify a fallen leader), and thinking that maybe everyone was sad because the rider fell off the horse. This picture is of Ronald Reagan’s funeral.

First on the agenda was the introductory movie, which gave a synopsis of JFK’s life up till his run for the presidency.













 

One of the biggest challenges of the JFK administration was, of course, the Cuban Missile Crisis. Unbeknownst to most people, Kennedy secretly recorded many conversations that took place in the Oval office.

This special exhibit had several stations where you could listen to excerpts of conversations recorded during the crisis. The conversations start with discussions about the possibility that the Russians are building a nuclear missile base on Cuba.  In the excerpt, you hear the President receive confirmation from military advisors that photos have shown a base being built.

What followed were conversations over the course of the 13 day crisis, that detailed the decisions that were made in the White House, and what information the decisions were based on. Listening to the debate over what, if any action, should be taken by the U.S. was fascinating.  Ideas ranging from attacking Cuba/Russia to waiting and doing nothing, were debated and discussed.  




In the end, the decision was made to institute a military blockade (called a quarantine because “blockade” was considered to be an act of war). A very tense period ensued, until an agreement was finally reached between the U.S and Russia for the removal of the missiles.

The JFK library sits on prime real estate overlooking Boston harbor. The museum was good, but not in comparison to the Carter Library. After discussing it, I realized it was mostly because Kennedy was not President for very long, and of course, he died at such a young age, there isn’t as much material to showcase.

So, now our daughter Jessica has arrived, and a whirlwind 4 day visit has begun.