February (and March) 2019

Yep, I am combining February and March. Not because I suddenly got lazy, but because although March was a busy month, there wasn't much going on that is blog worthy.

 So here are the highlights:

Early February brings both mine and Paul’s anniversary (our 19th, this year!) and the Super Bowl.

I was determined to be home for both. We made it just in time.

No one was happier than me when, after the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots could change their tagline from “Everything we Got” to “We got Everything”

Soon after we settled in at the house, people started arriving and the fun intensified.Hiking was still a regular occurrence, and the views of the lake never get old.

Planet Fitness was also a frequent destination for most of us. It’s so much easier to go to the gym when someone texts you in the morning “are you ready to go?”

Mid February brings the Winter Blast. This is a pyrotechnics show that lasts 4 days. We have been going for about 6 years and still enjoy it.  This year we booked two RV sites down at the show, so we could park our 5th wheel and still have room to park and set up tables and chairs.

Last year, in addition to RV friends, my cousin Linda came, and some friends from Michigan came as well. This year, our Michigan friends brought more friends of ours! We had a full house and had a great time!

Although our friends Carol and Larry were only with us for a few days, we managed to find time to bring them to the Desert Bar…














My cousin Linda and her husband Michael also made the trip to the Desert Bar with us. One of the perks to being in AZ is that I get to see her more often. We are only 6 months apart in age…and I have no intention of revealing who is older!

February and March are our biggest months for visitors..

and we always have a good time!

We had barely recovered from Winter Blast when Paul’s birthday came around. We celebrated at our new favorite restaurant, El Paraiso, famous for their flaming Margaritas.

Late February, early March we made a short road trip to El Paso to check on Paul’s mom.

On the way back we met up with some friends in Yuma, at the home of our good friends Steve and Carol.

March brought in slightly warmer weather (although this winter has hit some record low temperatures and hasn’t warmed up all that much!)

One of the perks to the rain we had was the awesome double rainbow over the house!

March also brought in a changing of the guard so to speak, as our vacationing friends left for home, and our RV friends settled in.

On the rare occasion that the weather was warm enough for boating, we took the boat out on the lake.

Jessica had a week off at the last minute, and came to spend a few days relaxing with us old folk.

And, of course there were more shared meals….at least we got to eat some of them outside!

Although there was plenty of time for fun and games…..

There was also work to be done. Part of the reason I decided to update my blog is because Paul and I are headed to Europe this summer with Mike and Julie!  I know I will want to post about it, so I figured I’d better get caught up first.

Of course, we had some help planning our itinerary. We will spend about 6 weeks touring Scotland and Ireland, with a short visit to England at the beginning of the trip. Mike and Julie have done this trip several times, so their input has been invaluable.

Lake Havasu, part 2 (02-16-14)

On the Water

Since most of the fireworks displays take place at night (although you’d be surprised at how many are actually set off during the day), it leaves us with all kinds of time to explore.  All 6 of us are boaters at heart, so we elected to take a jet boat tour of the area. I think we all like to go fast, too!

The tour guide gave us the history of the area, including this part of the Colorado River.  We saw some petroglyphs along the way but as hard as they tried to find some big horn sheep to show us, the best they could come up with was a few wild burros.









The tour included a stop for lunch at a waterfront restaurant, where the guys tried to make off with one of the barrels of rum.









 

The goofing around continued throughout the day.  We sure do have fun with this group!

We’ll take the High Road and you take the Low Road….

The hike of the day was to Lizard Peek.  We started off on the trail with Julie and Mike, but soon split off- they were taking the low road, to SARA’s Crack, and we were taking the high road- to the peak. The trail was about 4 miles long with 600 ft of elevation gain.

Along the way we found a cave, so naturally Paul had to stop and explore:

This trail is also called Picnic Table trail, because at the top of the mountain, there is a picnic table that was carried up the trail by hand, back in the 1980s.

Once again, the views were great- Lake Havasu on one side and the town on the other side. 

When we looked down the other side, we were surprised to see Julie and Mike walking along the lower trail. We whistled to them and took their picture.  They waved up to us and took our picture too.

We were also surprised to look far below and see the lizard that the trail is named for ( you can actually see it in the picture above, too). He’s about 80 feet long and was created in the 1980s.

Once we were back at the rigs, it was time for some relaxing before the fireworks show.

Here are some of the pictures I took that night.  Its very hard to get good pictures because the altitude varies every time they set one off, so I don’t know where to aim the camera.




 

Lake Havasu, AZ (02-14-14)

Our First Day here:

We wasted no time lollygagging around once we got to Lake Havasu City. I’ve never been here so I was anxious to see the London Bridge.

Just kidding with that picture- that’s not the real London Bridge, its just a small bridge in a nearby park.  This is the real London Bridge.

You might wonder why the London Bridge is in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Well, it’s like this.  This city was a planned community- the brainchild of Robert McCulloch, who built the city in the mid 1960s on the shores of Lake Havasu.  Unfortunately, neither tourists, nor potential residents were flocking to his new city, and he needed something that would attract them here.  He purchased the bridge from the City of London (it used to span the River Thames) and had it brought here. As a means to bring crowds of curious people to his city, it was successful.

Our first stop, of course, revolved around food.  We found a local restaurant with a view of the bridge, and headed there for lunch.

Since it was a brewery, serving many of their own beers, I decided to try a sampler.  Barley Brothers Brewery  brews everything from a Blonde Ale to an Oatmeal Stout.

Of course, I had my favorites, and contrary to the drunken depiction in the artfully arranged scene created by my friends, I had a fair amount of help drinking the beer!

After leaving the restaurant we toured the nearby island. (The one you get to via London Bridge.).  We were looking for a spot to put the dinghy in, in case we decide to use it. Along the way we encountered several lighthouses.

It turns out there are about 20 lighthouses along the shore. They are all functional navigational aids, and are all 1/3 replicas of full sized lighthouses in other parts of the country.  This particular one is a replica of a lighthouse in Minnesota, on Lake Superior.  The original one was decommissioned in 1969 but is lit every year on November 10th to commemorate the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. 

We didn’t get close to any other ones, but it would be neat if they each have their “own” story to tell.

Hiking SARA’S Crack

  Ok, don’t blame me….I didn’t name the trail. SARA stands for Special Activities and Recreational Area and it’s the name of the park that we are staying in here in the city.

There are quite a few hiking trails that originate in the park, so Paul and I decided to check out SARA’s Crack. The trail is about 6 miles long if you hike the whole loop.  It starts off in a wash, then goes through a slot canyon.

The most challenging spot to navigate has a ladder to help you out.  otherwise you could slide down if  you want to. We didn’t need to climb up, just down.

We love slot canyons, and I love bouldering, so this part of the trail was really fun.  Plus, it just felt good to be hiking again.

Once we came out of the canyon, it wasn’t long before we got a nice view of Lake Havasu.  If we had wanted to, we could have gone down to the water and gone for a swim.

Instead of walking back through the canyon, we made a loop and walked along a small ridge. By that time it was getting pretty hot and by the time we got home, it was in the 80s.  With the sun beating down on you, that’s pretty hot.

The reason we are here is for the fireworks convention, and so far, it hasn’t been a disappointment.  Each night has had something great to see.