Christmas time in Havasu 2015

Our first Christmas time of year in Lake Havasu started by going to the Parade of Lights on 12/4.  This is a beautiful night parade on the lake where boats are decorated with lights and are enroute near and to the London Bridge.  Kirk and I ate at the Martini Bay which is on the lake.  After eating, we went out on the patio (which had heaters as it was chilly) to watch the parade.  It was a beautiful night and we even ran into another couple from our park (Marcell and Helen).  My favorite part of the parade were the sailboats.  

 The Sailboats

You can see London Bridge all lit up

The next day 12/5, we had tee times at Emerald Canyon Golf Course in Parker.  Parker is about 30-40 minutes south of Lake Havasu.  It's another gorgeous area with lots of winter visitors, home of Parker Dam, Lily's restaurant (Kirk LOVES the carne asada burritos), and many other fun little places.  Anyway, this was our first time playing there.  We had driven by there several times over the past few years and had always talked about golfing there sometime.  So, we were really excited to play there.  Well, it was totally worth it.  The scenery is great.  It's a must golf on course if you are ever in the area.  We were paired with a couple of brothers who were a lot of fun, which made it a relaxing, fun day.  On our way home, we stopped and picked up a pizza at Rosatis, took it home, and watched the Iowa-Detroit game.  Iowa lost :(

Kirk hitting from the blue tees because you just have to see the scenery

Another gorgeous picture at Emerald Canyon Golf Course

We will definitely be playing here again. It's worth every penny, just for the scenery.  Golf is great too! 

On 12/6 Kirk and I were invited to participate in the annual Parker to Havasu Toy Run.  This is an event in which motorcycles from all over gather at the Blue Bar in Parker and ride to Havasu. All bikes must bring at least one new toy to be donated.  These toys stay local and the organization makes sure that every kid gets a toy for Christmas.  Most bikers brought more than one toy.   One of the amazing things was that there were approximately 1800 bikes in the ride.  The Blue Bar in Parker was awesome.  They provided a place to gather, free live music, food and beverages ( you had to buy those) and Santa Claus was there.  

Along the ride to Havasu, most vehicles pulled over to honor the bikers and to watch, and many people playing in the desert (razors, quads, etc) stood atop the hills near the highway to watch and wave us on.  Once we got to Havasu, we turned onto Mcculloch street where many more people came out to watch.  The city had closed the Main Street downtown to accommodate the bikers and provided entertainment, venders, food,etc.  There was a drop off area for all the toys and from the looks of it, every child in the state could have had a new toy.  A very successful ride indeed. Prior to riding to Parker, Kirk and I met up with about 100 bikers here in Havasu at a friend of a friends house and rode with them to Parker.  

Socializing with cocktails and breakfast burritos before heading to Parker (Kirk in the middle)

In Parker.  Approximately 1800 bikes gathered for the ride.  All had a great time. 

What's a Toy Run without Santa!

Kirk climbed onto the roof of the Blue Bar to take this panoramic picture of the crowd 

Taking a picture of Kirk taking a picture of me

People watching from the hills as the caravan goes by

Downtown Lake Havasu at the end of our run

Main Street closed down with lots of venders, food and entertainment.  Fun day!

12/11. Lake Hills Inn ( my current assignment) held their Christmas party at the Havasu Bowling Lanes.  Had a great time with my co workers and Kirk.  While at the party I got a text message from DIL Nicki saying our granddaughter, Bella had to have stitches in her thumb as she had hurt it on a restaurant bathroom door.  

Tina, a great nurse at LHI. She calls me marcarina cuz she says that's how she remembers my name 

Deidra ( Janet's friend and roommate), Erin ( my boss), Janet ( OT), and me.  Some awesome ladies right here!!

12/13. We drove out to the desert to do some target shooting.  This was my first time and was actually very fun and loud. 

My first target shooting experience. Ear plugs a must!!

He's pretty darn good at this. 

12/19.  This day took us back to Emerald Canyon Golf Course in Parker.  We knew we would be back.  Golfed with a couple of guys from San Bernardino.  This was right after the terrorist shooting in that town.  Very fun guys providing some interesting conversation. 

Another beautiful view from Emerald Canyon. 

Just can't get enough. In awe!

12/20.  Kirk and I took a drive to Oatman.  We had been there several years ago when I was doing an assignment in Kingman, so we thought it would be fun to go back.  We loved the small mining town on Route 66.  It is definitely geared for tourists.   We wanted to get back to the Hotel and have the famous buffalo burgers and burro ears.  The Oatman Hotel is famous because that is where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard stayed on their honeymoon.  One can go upstairs in the hotel and view their "suite".   We also love seeing the burro's that walk along the Main Street.    After returning home from our day in Oatman we drove over to London Bridge road in Havasu to view the Live Nativity Scene.  This was a drive through and very much worth the wait. 

Following the burro's into town. 

This place has a great little restaurant, souvenirs, ice cream, and much more.  

Very friendly, thank goodness!

The live Nativity Scene was a must see.  This was my favorite scene.  Love the baby camel. 

 

Christmas Day I had to work.  I did get off early and came home to a fully cooked meal by Kirk. He made his first standing rib roast, which was awesome, and all the fixings.  I did manage to surprise him with a Yuma pottery coffee cup.  I got one last year from a co worker and he liked it so much that he wanted one.  I was able to order it from Yuma and have it delivered just in time.  

All in all we had a great Christmas month in Lake Havasu!!!!

Jobless in Illinois

Returning from 4th of July weekend, I started my last week of work in St Cloud.  This was a great assignment, and even after 20 years of being an SLP, I continued to learn from my fellow SLP's and improve my skills.  Everyone was wonderful, and patient with me and I appreciated that.  My favorite part of this job was the busy pace.  It made the day go by so fast.  My last day was July 10th and we were leaving our campground the next morning not knowing where my next assignment would be.  Jobs get pretty scarce in MN/WI/IA in the summer as a lot of the SLP's working in the schools pick up extra work in the hospitals and nursing homes during their time off.  So, that makes it difficult for us traveling SLP's to get a job up here.

While waiting to secure a job, we decided to go to my hometown in Monmouth, IL.  My sister Angela was there in her camper visiting her kids, and my other sister, Elena lives there with her husband, Jim.  We stayed at Citizen's Lake Campground where Angela was staying.  The campground has new hosts (thank goodness) and they were absolutely wonderful.  The first night there, we had tenderloin sandwiches at PAPA's.  On Sunday, we had a cookout and pool party at Elena and Jim's place.  Some of Elena's kids and grandkids were there, Angela, Carissa (Andy's wife), and Marcus were there, and my brother Bob's daughter, Julie and two of her kids.  We had a great time.  On Monday, Kirk, Angela, and me golfed at the Country Club.  It was so hot and humid that we were the only crazy ones on the course.  Kirk and Angela even golfed an extra nine after we finished 18 holes.  I'm crazy, but not that crazy.

While in Monmouth, I finally got a job in Ottumwa, Iowa.  I start July 20th.  So we decided to spend the rest of the week in Monmouth.  One night we had a cookout at the campground with family.  Another night Penny Mackey, and Vicki Hager came out to visit after having dinner with Angela.   I do have to mention some of the crazy seasonals at the campground.  I will call them the Hootie Hoo boys.  They would always yell out "bootie hoo" when people would walk by.  Nice, crazy guys.

Our last night at the campground we (us, Elena and Jim, Anglea) all went to the Italian Village for the best pizza around.  I worked at the IV all through high school.  This was the hang out for all the kids. Most of my brothers and sisters worked here also.  Now my nephew owns the place.  Keeping it a family affair.  It started raining pretty hard as we left the IV and drove back to the campground.  As we pulled into the campground we realized there weren't any vehicles around.  We looked over at the city pool which is next to the campground and there were all the vehicles.  The city pool is the place for the campers to seek shelter during a storm.  Our camp host, Mary Jane has the key to the shelter.  Kirk and I swung around to Angela's camper and picked her up and drove over to the shelter.  Apparently, there was a tornado warning.  Long story short,  we were all safe.  The tornado hit farm houses about a mile from the campground, and a small town, Cameron, about 7 miles from Monmouth.  Our power was out till around midnight or so.

We got up the next morning to a beautiful day, said our good-bys to everyone and took off to Albia, IA where we will stay while I work in Ottumwa.

 Elena and me...kinda look the same.

 Awesome pool party at Jim and Elena's

 Campfire at our site at Citizens Lake

 Okay, who's jealous!

 Our view from the City pool shelter during the tornado warning.  You can see our RV behind that truck in the background.

 Tornado outside of Monmouth on way to Cameron.

 Eerie clouds before the storm!  Cool though.

 Hit by the tornado about a mile from the campground where we were staying.

Carissa (Andy's wife), Angela, and Marcus cooling off.

More of San Antonio 2012

While I was working, Kirk drove over to the golf tournament, the AT&T Championship, and spent a day watching celebrities play with the pros.  Kirk loves his golf, and any chance he gets to get to the course to watch or play is a good day. 

 Kirk and Bruce Bowen (formerly of the SA Spurs) at the ATT Championship Golf tournament

Kirk and I took the RV and dogs to Pioneer RV park and resort on Mustang Island for Thanksgiving.  Pioneer used to be one of our favorite places to go in our Winnebago, when we lived in SA.  We would spend long weekends, and holiday weekends there.  The park has over 400 sites, lots of activities, wonderful people, and is just a boardwalk away from the beach and ocean.  On Thanksgiving, they provide the turkey, dressing, pototoes and gravy, and drinks.  Everyone else brings a dish to pass.  And, if you have any room left, they serve leftovers in the evening.  A walk along the beach afterwards is a must. 

 Our site at Pioneer....don't walk outside barefooted...sand spurs!

Morning coffee on the beach....life is good!