Valentine Party

On Friday night we had a Valentine Dinner followed by a basket auction to raise money for our activities fund. As you can see from the picts, it was also crazy costume dress-up night so I wore my kilt. For the auction we went around to various merchants here in Lake Havasu City (RV dealers, restaurants etc.) and got them to contribute donations; most of us residents also donated items which we made up into baskets. One of the snowbirds here, Gary Clark from BC, acted as the auctioneer. In the end we raised over $900 which we will use for dinners, entertainment evenings, etc.













I had written a little poem which I read at the Christmas dinner and I was again asked to write one for Valentines.

Valentine's Day at Havasu

Well.. once again we're gathered here,
full of love and holiday cheer.
This time it's in the name of love
to honor those we think the most of.

"Love?", you say, "What's the reason,
That love should occupy this season?”
Valentine's the reason why;
Not Gayle or Ray, but the Sainted guy.

Once more we get to drink and dine
on tasty treats and red red wine
Spread upon a big buffet
are salads, meats, and egg souffle

The desert table's piled high
with chocolate cakes and Babcock's pie,
cookies, puddings, candied sweets,
fluffed up jello, whipped cream treats.

The tables all are decorated
with things the ladies have created
balloons and little candy hearts
for the lovely ladies and their old farts

So sit right down and raise your glass
and drink a toast to your lad or lass
And one more thing, I must insist
Now, give your lover a big fat kiss.

Now they want one for St. Pat's day, apparently I have become "poet laureate" of the Havasu Falls RV Resort.

Waldies

A couple of weeks ago I bought this pair of Waldies for Teddy from their on-line store. Teddy already had a pair of knock-offs that she got last year at Wal-Mart and had been raving about how comfortable they were so I decided to get her a pair of the Waldie originals. You have a choice of 16 colors; I chose this color which they call mango, I call it orange.
Well, she liked them so much that I decided to get a pair for myself. This time in "blueberry". I'm gobsmacked...they are about the most comfortable shoes that I've ever worn. I can wear them in water, with or without socks, and I don't have to bend over to tie them. They're the only shoe that I'll ever need; I don't intend to ever walk in snow again (they might be a little cold for that) and if I have to wear a suit or tux, I'll just get a pair in black. I don't think that they put shoes on you in your casket but if they do...my Waldies will do just fine!

Maytag Mania

Most of the higher end motor homes and RVs are prepped for a washer & dryer usually available as an option and most fulltimers have them installed. There are about a dozen manufacturers that make laundry units for rvs. Because space and weight are primary considerations the units made for RVs are all 24" wide; some are stackables but most of them are combo washer/dryer, 110v all in one machines. When we began fulltiming in May of '05 Teddy was adamant in her desire to not have a built-in washer and when we upgraded to our Cardinal last July she reaffirmed that position. So I made nice shelves and turned the washer closet into a pantry. Well...About a month ago Teddy finally broke down and admitted that she wished that we had gotten a washer. So...I purchased a Maytag stackable (washer only, she still doesn't want a dryer) through Lowes, removed part of the pantry shelving, and installed it yesterday. As you can see, it is a snug fit but I was able to retain much of our pantry storage above it. It is washing it's first load right now, as I write this, and Teddy is a happy woman.
As Kathy Page on the phone told me last night, "a happy wife makes for a good life", and I can attest to that.
Hmmm...in 6 months she'll probably decide that she wants a dryer.

Up, up and away...

One of our snowbird friends (Jerry Brown from Bronson, Michigan) is an RC airplane hobbyist. He belongs to a very active RC club here in Havasu City. The club has built a mini airport complete with a paved runway and control tower in a public park south of town. The other day Teddy and I drove over to watch Jerry fly his Plane(s). His main plane is very large being 30% in size to the plane from which it is modeled. It sports a 5 hp gas motor simular to those used in weed whackers. It is truly amazing to see him put the plane through its paces with barrel rolls, loop the loops, dives and vertical climbs.
Before takeoff they start the plane in this starting block for a preflight controls check.




Then it's takeoff!







And Off We Go...

Quartzsite

Yesterday we drove down to Quartzsite, AZ for the day to attend the annual RV Show as well as the Craft & Gem Show. We first broused part of the Gem & Mineral area. I bought these agates, amythists, & hematites with the intention of attaching them to the top of golf tees for custom P&J pegs. Teddy bought some quartz crystal specimens.Then we drove over to the "BIG TENT" area where the RV show was being held. We oohed and aahed several expensive MHs and 5W trailers.

Then tireing of that we went (Teddy walking, me on my Segway) into the big tent to brouse some of the vendors. There are literally thousands of vendors hawking their wares and I don't think that we saw half of them.
Finally tireing of the croud we ducked out and headed back to Havasu City; stopping on tha way back at Parker, AZ to dine at a delightful little Scottish restaurant called McDonalds.

Steak Fry

Last night the park had a steak fry at the clubhouse. Been planning for it for a couple of weeks and ended up with over 100 people signed up.











For $5.00 you got a steak, baked potato w/choice of toppings, grilled bread, salad & coffee.








Then afterward we had live entertainment followed by dancing.

Entertainment was provided by The Korte Family Singers. They are a family group of 5 natural sisters from Saskatchewan, Canada. They regaled us with folk, gospel and old standards, interspersed with humor.At one point they picked Jim Babcock (shown here) from the audience to pantomime a song with them.

Cuckoo

Back in Appleton before we sold our house we had both a Grandfather clock & a Cuckoo clock and we sort of miss the hourly announcements of the passage of time. We realized that we now cannot accommodate a Grandfather clock...but... what about a cuckoo clock? Well, I researched cuckoos on the web and we found this owl cuckoo that we liked, ordered it, and it arrived this Monday. We like the carved owls & log design in that it is a little different from the traditional "chalet" style cuckoos.
Nazzie was quite interested in it at first but thankfully, like me, his attention span is quite short and he has gone back to his ongoing study of the hummers that daily visit our feeders.

Margarita Monday!

About once a month or so we have what we call a "Margarita Monday". The ladies all go down to a local watering hole for Margaritas at 4 pm and then we men drive down and join them at five.
However last week the ladies proposed that we do it in the clubhouse and the men would come at five and cook dinner.





So last evening we accepted the challenge. We bought burgers, cooked (heated) up a "Nesco" cooker of beans, bought chips, etc. As you can see everyone appeared to have a real good time. Afterward we played cards for the rest of the evening.
Of course the ladies got to eat first. You can see some of the guys lurking in the background waiting for their chance to belly up to the bar.
Click on photo to enlarge and see if you can find Teddy.

IT's COLD!

Snapped this pict when I got up yesterday morning. Had to break out the long-johns. Seems that the world has turned topsey-turvey. Unseasonably warm in the north and cold in the south. I told Teddy that if this keeps up, folks from Arizona will be going to Canada for the winter. Oh well... as Mark Twain once said, "Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it."

Memory Foam Mattress

The mattresses that manufacturers put in new trailers are generally bottom of the line mattresses and the one in our new Cardinal was not an exception.
Teddy had been complaining of backaches and I was waking up with my arms going to sleep. So we decided to upgrade to a better mattress. After extensive internet research and talking to other owners we decided to go with a "Memory Foam" mattress. If you aren't familar with memory foam it is a foamlike material developed by NASA, that contours to your body and temporarily holds it's shape when depressed. I researched brands & vendors and we finally purchased on-line from Healthy Foundations.
The mattress that came with the Cardinal was king size but we decided to go with a queen so before the new one arrived I had to cut down the bed platform to queen size. The mattress ships vacuum packed and rolled up so that it can be shipped by UPS. When I cut the binding, it rolled flat still in it's vacuum pack and was about two inches thick. Then when we cut the plastic vacuum sleeve and removed it, the mattress swelled to 10" thick in a matter of minutes. It was an amazing process to behold.
Well...we have now slept three nights on it and are quite pleased. Back in Appleton we had a "water bed" for many years and it feels something like a waterbed on steriods; sort of like a waterbed that you sink into. The feeling is hard to describe...It feels firm but yet soft, which doesn't make sense but I cannot think of another way to describe it. At any rate we think that we are going to enjoy our new mattress and look forward to many restful nights on it.

BCS Bowl

Last night we had a big "BCS Bowl" party in the clubhouse.






We had snacks & drinks with the game between Florida and Ohio State projected onto the big screen.




There were two "dollar a square" pools going that payed $25.00 per quarter as well.






Needless to say, neither Teddy nor I won anything.







From these picts you can see that everyone was having a real good time.











.

Shopping

Teddy made her daily walk down to the Wal-Mart plaza and back today, a distance of about 6 miles round trip. She isn't much into shopping but always comes back with a few small incidentals. Today, though when she came back she asked me what I had been doing and I said that I had been shopping.
She said, "Where?".
Me, "Maine".
She, "Maine?".
Me, "Yup, L.L.Bean."
Gawd, I love shopping on the internet. I was able to buy a couple of polo shirts and never leave my chair. And they'll be delivered right to my door. In the past three months I've bought a TV mounting arm, shoes for Teddy (twice), a camera, computer software, some books and a mattress. All over the internet. Welcome to the 21st century, folks.
And yet...I feel that I was born a generation too soon...what wonders will my son, Mike see in his lifetime?

Da Wind she blow, blow, blow

It was a beautiful warm day yesterday...high in the 70s. Sat out and basked in the sun, warm overnight but high winds and cooler temps moved in today. The trailer was rockin' but alas, it was only the wind! ;-).
When I came back from morning coffee this morning I snapped these picts of the sun coming up.Looking southeast from the park across Hwy 95.
"Dawn's Early Light"
Looking due west from our trailer. The Colorado river (not visable) is just the other side of the houses in the forground and the mountains in the background are on the Californis side of the river.

Goodby 2006--Hello 2007

Today is the last day of 2006. The guys have a morning coffee every morning from 6:30 to 8 am and I took this picture at about 8 this morning as I was coming back.
It is now about 5 pm and we just finished dinner. Yesterday we were at the grocery and they had these great looking NY strips. We wern't dissapointed, they were delicious.
Tonight we are going to have a New Year party in the clubhouse from 7 till......? Everyone is supposed to bring munchies, I'm bringing hot pork cracklins and pickled eggs (I love "bar food"). Teddy is bringing some little pizza squares.
"Till.....?" will probably be no later than 10 pm as most of the "senior" set here in the park are usually in bed by then. Now that I think of it, the ball in Times Square will drop at 10 our time anyway.

Waffles

Every Saturday from 7 to 9:30am we "Snowbirds" here in the park make breakfast in the clubhouse. We staff it with volunters and charge a $5.00 (donation) per person to cover expenses. We offer scrambled eggs, sausages, biscuts & gravey, pancakes, waffles, coffee and juice. From the profits we have been able to buy two restaurant style waffle makers, hold Christmas & Valentines dinners and sponsor other various activities. Ross Peterson (from Ontario) and I are the waffle makers. Here we are hard a work this morning. Photography by Teddy.

Country Music USA

Last evening a bunch of us here in the park carpooled up to Laughlin, NV to go to the "Country Music USA" show at the Ramada Casino. I think that there were 25 of us in five vehicles.





But first some of us went out to dinner. Teddy & I had dinner at the "Colorado Belle" casino with Jim & Irene Over (on the left) and Ross & Carol Peterson (far end and far right).

The show consisted of several sets featuring country music star impersonaters including...
Hank Williams

Garth Brooks


and Shania Twain.

Had a real fun time.

Morning coffee

Every morning from about 6:30 to 8:30 a bunch of us guys get together for a BS coffee session in the clubhouse. Conversation usually centers around trucks, fishing and lies about our sexual prowess. Clockwise from the Christmas tree are Jerry Brown, Michigan; Laverne Schumacher, Iowa; Larry Weber, Minnesota; Ross Peterson, Ontario; Jim Babcock, Oregon; and the empty chair in the back is mine as I'm taking the picture.
Wednesday morning the park springs for sweet rolls and the pastry of choice are these apple fritters. They are huge, loaded with grease and unbelievably good. I always bring one back for Teddy. She tells me not to bring one back for her but I notice that she always eats it.

.

Christmas is icummen'

Sunday afternoon some of us got together and decorated the clubhouse for Christmas. Here are a few shots of us plying our artistic talents.



Some of the guys hung lites outside









While the rest worked inside.


















This was a long reach for Teddy
Afterward we all got together for a chicken (turkey?) soup supper.

$$$

Teddy has an uncanny talent for finding money. She enjoys taking long walks and usually takes walks of from three to six miles every day. She often walks round trip from the park to the Wal-Mart plaza which is about three miles south of us or about two miles north to Home Depot. Without fail she always comes back with money that she has found along the way. It is usually small change but twice she has come back with folding money. Once it was a twenty dollar bill and the other time it was a ten. She has been keeping track of her finds on her computer and so far this year she has found $57.21. She also sometimes comes back with various new items (towels, clothes etc.) which have apparently flown out of the back of pickups after they leave Wal-Mart.
Her secret...keep your eyes open and your head down!

Brrrrrrrrr!

It has been unseasonably cold here in Lake Havasu with nighttime temps dipping into the 40s. Fortunately becasuse of the cloudless sunny skys it usually warms up during the day. However.............................. Yesterday when I got up it was really cold! And today it was worse!
But I see on the TV news that folks back in the Great Lakes area are really getting hammered so I'm not complaing too loudly, at least I don't have to shovel snow.
???? Hmmm...come to think of it...I didn't much shovel snow back in Wisconsin..........TEDDY DID!