Spring has finally sprung (05/23/2021)

And the flowers are in bloom. Yes, this plant is in our yard!

I was hoping that the weather would go from cold to hot, but it has been taking its sweet old time getting there. Ok, I will stop whining.

The projects continued, as they usually do, with more of them being outdoor projects.

 Several years ago Paul and I replaced the decal on the nose of the trailer. This time it was Mike’s decal that needed replacing.

My favorite project was the new Dozer Memorial Bocce Ball court.

All the guys worked together on this project, which was very much appreciated.

Paul and I played Bocce Ball for the first time last year and we both really enjoyed it. We were glad we found room in the yard to put in a court.

We’ve used it quite a bit already, and those who aren’t actively playing, enjoy relaxing in the chairs and watching.

I was very happy to welcome my friend Steve to the PPP for the first time.  Since he is working remotely, he was able to stay for two weeks.  Steve and I have known each other since I was 14- lots and lots of years, haha.

He fit right in with the gang, and we had a great time showing him many of our favorite things to do.

Probably one of the highlights for me was the day it was finally nice enough to take the boat up through Topock Gorge. It’s such a beautiful ride.

May brought with it a final visit from Jess, and the realization that summer is fast approaching.

Mike and Julie left in early May, and Liz and Randy weren’t far behind.

They did wait until after the last race of the season at Havasu Speedway, however. After all of the car races were done for the night, there was one more, special race.

A waterless boat race.  Yep, these cars, about a dozen of them, drive around the track, dragging a boat.  Not a boat on a trailer, just the boat.

This race is hilarious. The winner is the one whose boat outlasts the others.

Once Paul and I were alone at the house, we focused on getting ready to leave for the summer. We are headed to Massachusetts, so we were looking to leave a little earlier than usual.  Part of our reasoning was that the weather STILL wasn’t good- windy almost every day, and not all that warm.

We took time out to do our favorite things …

..the Jet Ski got a few more hours put on it….

And we ate at our favorite restaurants one more time…

Once the trailer was packed and the house “summerized”, it was time to leave.

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.

February-March 2018 (04-11-18)

As I sat down to finally put this blog post together, several issues got in my way.  Paul and I recently bought a new computer, and we don’t plan on continuing to use the old one, so we moved “everything” to the new one. But, being busy having so much fun, the process took a very long time and got messed up along the way.  Some pictures are on the old PC, some on the new-some got plain lost. Plus, the software I use to create the blog doesn’t seem to play nice on my new computer so for this post I am using the old one. Ugh.  Add to that the fact that I have my first cold in 10 years, and I am really not in the mood.  But, it has to get written, so here:




February brought another flurry of activities, including several trips to the Desert Bar. We took the Teryx most times, but when there were too many people, we also took the Jeep.












Liz and Randy and I finally got around to hiking SARA’s Crack..













The view of the lake at the end always makes it worth the 5 mile trip!

The weekend of the annual fireworks show brought brand new visitors to the PPP.  Al and Debbie are friends who we know from Michigan. Paul worked with Al at Ford, and I worked, coincidently, with one of Debbie’s best friends. The Rockers recently retired, and towed their trailer to the southwest to avoid some of the Michigan winter.

We loved showing Al and Debbie around town, and Debbie’s cousin also came to Havasu that week- so much fun!

With my cousin Linda in town for the fireworks, we had quite the blast at the “Winter Blast”. Paul and I had decided to park our truck camper at the show arena so we could all eat a leisurely dinner and then sit back and wait for the show. It worked out very well!

It’s usually pretty decent, and this year was no exception.

After that flurry of activity, things settled down a little and Paul continued his work on the fence/solar project.

Once the fence was moved, he installed solar collectors for the pool water. I think he would say the hardest part was digging the trench for the pipe to go through.  He can now partially bypass the electric heat pump and use solar energy to heat the pool water.  In fact, for the last few days we have shut the electric off and have been successful at maintaining the pool temp with strictly solar.

In Mid March our son Stephen came to visit from Boston! This is his first time seeing the house. The last time he was here was just after we bought the lot.

The weather was too cool to swim but we were able to show him around the desert on the Teryx.






On one of the warmer days we rented a boat for all of us and took the Jet ski and boat out on the lake for the day.












We have all owned boats in the past, so the guys enjoyed taking turns driving.

Stephen’s thrill, however, was the jet ski…we rounded a corner on the boat, looking behind us for him on the jet ski….and about 5 seconds later he rounded the corner and blew by us at 67 mph!

I had so much fun just watching him- because personally I have no desire to go 67 mph on a jet ski!

Way, way too soon, it was time for Stephen to leave.












And a very short time later, we were having our last dinner as a group, before everyone left for their summer destinations.













Boy, did it get quiet fast!  Dozer missed all the attention so much he started finding new ways to get some!

You know what happens when people get bored?

P.P.P.P (11-05-17)

Life has been busy at the Porters’ Project and Party Place (more commonly referred to as The PPP because we don’t like projects nearly as much as we like partying!).

A game of music vehicles was first up on the Project side of the equation. Once the trailer was thoroughly cleaned, we wanted to put it in the garage.  Lest you think this would be a simple task, take into consideration this: In addition to pulling out the Teryx trailer, Jet boat, and Jet ski, the truck camper had to come out too. That meant removing everything, including the toolbox and the 160 lb hitch, from the bed of the truck.

Once the camper was outside, the hitch had to be put back in the truck, in order to move the trailer.  Once everything that would fit was in the garage, then we (as in, the royal We) had to take the hitch back out (we left it on the trailer) so we could put the camper back on the truck. And that’s where it will remain, for now. We don’t really need the truck, and sadly, neither the truck nor the camper will fit in our 2000 sq ft garage.




Our next major project was easy-ish. When we built the house, we surrounded the pool with travertine stone, but we have decided to add to 3 sections. The area on the far side of the pool is now large enough for the lounge chairs….

We can also get to the garage now without walking through gravel, and, our dance floor has grown. Speaking of which, our receiver died, so it has been replaced with one we can control with our phones.

The dining area has been enlarged….it now fits the new grill that replaced our 27 year old Weber. The travertine project, although professionally done, still required work from Paul.  He had to move the gravel,  the drip irrigation lines, and the electrical for the planters. While he was at it, he added a couple of electrical outlets on the far side of the pool. He is in the process of burying a pipe so that the water from the two days of rain we get each year will end up far from the house.

I love autumn in Havasu…the weather is still warm enough to eat most meals outside, and the pool gets a lot of use.

There has been no shortage of fun in the last few weeks, that’s for sure.  In addition to car shows and lake fun, our daughter Jess came to visit as soon as we were settled in.

The weather was perfect for a day on the water.  After lunch at a waterfront restaurant,  there was plenty of opportunity for Jess to take the Jet ski out on her own while Paul and I relaxed on the beach.

She and I had a mother-daughter day, and hiked the slot canyon known as Sara’s Crack.  I was very proud of her…this is a 4 mile hike, and it was pretty darn warm outside!

We made it all the way to the lake, and on the way back we shared the trail with a bighorn sheep!

Back at the house it was time for a swim, and some goofing around with my waterproof camera.

After an awesome 3 day visit, it was time for her to head back to L.A., and for us to get back into somewhat of a routine. My daily agenda usually includes a trip to the gym. My timing, one day, was impeccable.  While on the elliptical, I overheard 3 guys talking about taking their Teryx side by sides out for a ride.  That’s the same brand we have, so I promptly interjected myself into their conversation.
After comparing notes about rigs etc., they invited me to join them on their ride. Heck Yeah!

We all met at the edge of the desert, brought lunch, and had a great 4 hour adventure.  Paul and I learned a lot. Like, we need scarves. And, don’t bring anything that you don’t want caked in dust.

We have never been with a group before, so we’ve never had a dust issue. Lesson learned, trust me.

These guys are all newbies, like us, so it was fun comparing notes after ascending or descending a particularly interesting hill.

They are going to try and go out once a week, and we are now on their texting list.  Excellent!

This past weekend Paul and I attended the first annual Hangar 24 Airfest.  There were a decent amount of planes and the show was pretty good for a small town, but since we didn’t want to eat or drink what was offered, next time maybe we’ll sit outside the entrance, and avoid the fee!

Dozer is enjoying autumn too….and is looking forward to all the visitors who will start arriving soon!