Christmas 2009

We celebrated Christmas 2009 with a grand Christmas buffet in the clubhouse. Ham and turkey were provided and the park residents bought dishes to pass. I, of course, made my famous "Spanish Deviled Eggs Supreme" and Teddy prepared her favorite, butternut squash.
Ham that I am, I read the following poem to the assemblage which I had written for the occasion and folks seemed to enjoy it.

 Havasu

Merry Christmas to all of you

Who’ve come to camp at Havasu.

Folks from Ontario & Minnesota

From the Puget Sound to  North Dakota

From Alberta and Idaho

Where the snow makes drifts and the cold winds blow

We all are known as “Land Yacht Sailors;

In our motor homes and fifth wheel trailers.

Guests of Ron and his brave crew;

Don’t miss your payment when rent is due.

Just pull right in and set up camp

Plug your cord into fifty amp.

And make real sure your sewer’s tight

And your water don’t drip, ‘cause that ain’t right;

Now here’s a word, I’m sure you’ve heard

You’ve now become a real Snowbird.

Snowbirds one and snowbirds all,

Avoiding Decembers winter squall;

We’re free of ice and blowing snow

Freedom from temps of 30 below.

Free from winter’s slushy sleet,

Arizona sun is hard to beat;

And now we’re gathered for buffet treats

Of salads, casseroles and tasty meats.

So get your plates and line right up,

Don’t forget your coffee cup;

And when you’re done…and if you’re able,

Belly up to the dessert table.

And tonight as you lie upon your bed,

When day is done and prayers are said;

On your lips a smile may play,

As you look back upon this day.

Larry Page 12/25/09

Following the dinner we had music and dancing which lasted well into the evening.

Happy Hour(s)

Every Thursday at four o-clock or thereabouts we have a whole-park happy hour in the clubhouse. It's "BYOB" and most folks bring some kind of snackey thing to share. That's not to say that we don't have "happy hours" on other evenings but they are generally composed of small convivial gatherings sitting out by someone's trailer or motor home.
The clubhouse get together, however, is generally a little bit more organized and attended by more people, friends as well as strangers (strangers being newcomers who soon become friends). And occasionally we will be treated to a special treat if someone agrees to showcase a special talent.
Such was the case a couple of weeks ago when some folks showed up with a karaoke machine which seemed to bring out the ham in a few individuals including yours truly.

As you can see here, even Teddy belted it out in a karaoke sextet.

And then just last Thursday a newcomer camper entertained us with his accordion

It didn't take long before several of us were out on the dance floor having a gay ole' time.

This is the very reason that we love the RV lifestyle

The Grey Cup

On Sunday 11/29 we had a "Grey Cup" party in the clubhouse.

For those not familiar with Canadian sports The Grey Cup is the Canadian equivalent of our "Super Bowl". It was only available on Canadian satellite so one of the Canadian campers here in the park set up his satellite dish on the clubhouse patio and ran the cable to the clubhouse TV.

There are several important specific differences between the Canadian and American versions of the game of football:

The playing field is 110 x 65 yards instead of 100 x 53 1/2 yards, the end zones are deeper, there are 12 players per team instead of 11, and a team has only three downs to reach 10 yards instead of four. Additionally there is a scoring difference in that a single point is awarded on kickoffs to the kicking team if the receiving team declines to return the ball from the end zone (at least that's the way that I understand it) and there are some other subtle differences that I don't understand.

This year the Grey Cup was between the Montreal Alouettes from the East and the Saskatchewan Roughriders representing the West. We were all pulling for the Roughriders who led the entire game against the highly favored Alouettes up till a heartbreaking loss in the final seconds. Bummer.

We all had a good time though and hope to do it again next year.

I'm becoming a big fan and might even order myself a Saskatchewan T-shirt.