January 2018 (02-12-18)

Many times we hear about the lull after the holidays, and that it can be a quiet or dreary part of the year. Well, I am happy to report that that is not the case at the Porter Project and Party Place.
After New Years, we took a deep breath and plunged right back in to project and party mode (more about the projects later).

There is always something going on in Havasu, and in January, its the Balloon fest. By the way, all drone shots were provided to me by my friend Randy.

This particular shot of our yard shows the configuration we had during that weekend.









Our friends from California brought some of their friends….and they also brought the cold weather.  Although we ate outside for a couple of meals, mostly we were confined to the house.

In fact, the weather was so windy, the balloons didn’t fly during the 3 day festival, they flew the day before it, and the day after it. 

We had some seriously windy weather, and some really cool cloud formations and coloring.


Still, we always have a great time when they show up, and this trip was no exception!

Amazon gets a lot of our business and just before the January playoffs, I received delivery of my new flag.   Unfortunately we all know how the Super Bowl turned out, but I am  proud to fly the flag- only two teams make it that far, and we were one of them.

As soon as we said goodbye to the Californians, Paul and I packed up the camper and Jeep, and headed out on a short road trip. Our first stop was Quartzsite, and since we were traveling with Liz and Randy, Liz and I drove the short ride in her car.

Our time in Quartzsite is all about hanging out with friends, and we share many a meal with whatever group happens to be congregated with us.

Steve and Carol headlined a Spaghetti night for everyone….

And we hosted our 5th Annual Margarita and Quesadilla night.


Look at our little truck camper, smack dab in the middle of all the other rigs.









It was a very short stay for us in Q this year…after just a few days we headed off to Phoenix for our annual doctor appointments, and then a quick stop in El Paso to check in on Paul’s mom. She is doing great, and and is quite busy with her daily activities!


During our “down time” we have been taking care of some projects and doing mundane things like going to the gym.

We had help with one issue that had been bugging me for a while.  Our liquor cabinet contained many bottles of alcohol that we don’t care for. Liz and Randy helped us test them all and either dump them down the sink, or put them in a pile to donate to friends.  Now I have more room for tequila!

We aren’t the only ones who do projects at our place. Our friends make use of the tools, opinions, and extra pairs of hands that are available while staying in our yard.

While Liz and I spend our time getting fit at the gym, Randy was helping Paul with a major project.  After having the house for a while now, we decided to move the fence.  Not all of it, just some of it.

We originally thought we would put a fire pit outside the fence, so our view of the sunset wouldn’t be marred, but in reality, that never happens…we always put the fire pit inside the fence- guess we are too lazy to walk that far?

Although Paul has always wanted to play with a bobcat, he found out it was less expensive to pay someone to do the work, rather than renting one for himself.  So he paid someone to level off the lower level of the yard.

And now, the fence at the corner of the property has been lowered to the next level down.

This is an ongoing project so I’ll write more about it in the next post.

Usually things start to warm up here in January, but this year has been pretty chilly.  I won’t complain though…we don’t get snow, and many nights I can sit out and watch the hummingbirds flock to the feeders at sunset. I was lucky enough to snap a picture of 3 of them on one feeder, which very rarely happens- they hate to share!







I guess it can’t be that cold if the citrus trees are giving us fruit, which they are.  I love the fact that my neighbors all have grapefruit, lemon and orange trees.  There is nothing like fruit fresh from the tree! I even picked the very first lime from our lime tree ! Yum!

In early February Paul and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary, and after 18 years of hard use, his wedding band gave up the ghost. Turns out it wasn’t fixable so we mailed it back to the jeweler who we bought it from and they reset the diamonds into a new setting.  Should be good for another 18 years!

Happy Holidays (01-04-18)

Yep, that’s just what we had, happy holidays!

Over the last 6 weeks, we have had lots of people come and go, here at the PPP.  Some came for a few days, some stayed the whole 6 weeks, and some came, left, and came back!  Some people brought their rigs and some chose the B&B option and stayed in the house.

Thanksgiving was the first holiday on the horizon…

…and apparently I didn’t get my camera out during the meal because I can’t find any pictures of it!

It was awesome that the weather was warm enough for us to laze by the pool !

We sure kept ourselves very busy. In addition to Teryx rides, swimming, eating, hot tubbing and shopping, we managed to fit in a few games of Farkle.

After Thanksgiving, Paul and I made a trip to Phoenix, in part to buy some necessities at Costco. I love the way the lake looks at sunrise, even though I am not happy being on the road when the sun rises!

Before we knew it, the Christmas crowd arrived- including our daughter Jessica.

Actually, we were lucky enough to have Jess with us for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love it when Jess is here at the same time as my friend Carol, since I usually end up with some great pictures of her! Thanks, Carol Dwyer!

When people are staying for more than a day or so we don’t eat all of our meals together, but we are usually happier if we can laugh our way through a group dinner….whether it’s inside…

or out…

What’s that old saying- “many hands make light work”?

With our friends, everyone pitches in and no one is afraid to take over the kitchen, making it very easy to feed so many people!

After a group breakfast Christmas morning we all took some time to relax and to video chat with far away family members..

The day after Christmas is our annual “girls’ day out” which we spend shopping and eating at one of our favorite restaurants.

Lest you think the guys were bored, sitting around waiting for us to return, don’t worry. They took the Teryx out into the desert and spent the afternoon target shooting.

Not coincidently, Girl’s Day Out takes place on Julie’s birthday, and that night we were happy to toast the birthday girl with our margaritas (even though I didn’t quite get her in this picture, haha).

We do like to have a good time, and New Year’s Eve was no exception! Does it say something about our age that we are all happy the “midnight” takes place at 10 pm here in Mountain Standard Time?

Our last night together as a group coincided with the Super Moon, which you can see rising up over our house.

The following day there was a well orchestrated Porter Shuffle, as most of the rigs left, and the remaining ones repositioned themselves.

Being busy with the holidays, we weren’t working on too many projects, but we did manage to get one done.



Soon after Thanksgiving, the weather turned much colder and it wasn’t worth trying to keep the pool warm. Our “pool guy” has been telling us that we really need to drain it and put in fresh water.  The water is so hard here that over time, the minerals build up, and ours was off the charts.

So, sadly, we turned off the heater and freshened the water. We hope to start heating it again when we get back in February.

November-ish 2017

Now that winter was arriving, and the holidays were just around the corner, our friends started arriving as well.  The first to arrive were Mike and Julie, mid November.

We tested out a new restaurant for Taco Tuesday- Blondies- and all agreed if the weather was nice enough for sitting outside in the Tiki Bar, it might be worth a second trip.

Paul’s brother Tom and his wife Sue arrived soon thereafter,  for a short visit. They have joined the world of RVers and brought their “new to them” motorhome.  Of course there were a few projects for the guys to work on!

There’s usually something going on in Havasu, and the holiday season is no exception.  Once again this year,  we headed to the lake for the Parade of Lights.  We arrived early enough to cook dogs on the fire pit before the boat parade started.

The weather was perfect for the parade.














The English Village area near the London Bridge is always well lit for the holidays and was actually was voted one of the best displays in Arizona.

Paul and I have been to the Desert Bar in Parker many times. The bar is unique and fun. It’s in the middle of the desert and runs completely on solar energy. It’s only open on the weekends in the cooler winter ,and they also have live music.  Although the main road it is 5 miles of washboard dirt, which is challenging enough, there is also a back road that is not accessible by most vehicles, and that’s the one we wanted to try.

After downloading the maps to my phone (no cell service out there), we towed the Teryx down the highway to the trailhead.

The views were amazing and the trip was a total blast. There were several mines to explore on the way back, and we all would do the trip again.

The four of us took the Teryx out several times and one of the most memorable trips was to “the Cabin”. The cabin is just that, a cabin, and like the Desert Bar, its in the middle of the desert.

Unlike the Desert Bar, there is no solar power here. No electricity at all. And contrary to what you would think, looking at this picture, there is certainly no mail delivery.  Someone clearly has a great sense of humor.

After relaxing for a bit and having lunch, we headed back the way we came, with a couple of detours.

Any time there is a mine to explore, Paul is totally on board.  He and Mike checked out this one, near the cabin, while Julie and I chatted.

There is off-roading and then there is off-roading. On the way home we decided to take a side “trail” and give the Teryx a work out.

Actually, we all got a bit of a work out as well, and our road building abilities came in to play.













The trail got rougher and rougher, and we began to wonder whether we should turn back.

 


While the guys navigated an “interesting” section of the trail, Julie and I scouted ahead.










 


What we found had us whistling for the guys to come and look. After a very short discussion it was decided that we did indeed need to turn around.  Oh well, we had a great time.

On the project side of the equation, there was also plenty going on.  Mike and Julie helped us decorate the house, and of course, Christmas gifts were bought and needed to be wrapped…

We bought electric sunshades for the back patio,which will extend our use of the yard.
 Not only will it keep the hot sun from beating on us in the warm months, it will help keep in the heat from the propane heater, allowing us to use the deck in cooler weather.  Although they were professionally installed, Paul did the electrical himself.









And, with the holidays looming ever closer, we had to get to work on cookie making!  I say we, but I actually mean Julie and Paul, haha.









At the end of the day, whether we’ve been working, or playing, we like to take time to enjoy the incredible sunsets that Arizona has to offer….