Having a BLAST at Lake Havasu!

There are two things that really bring out the "little kid" in me, and that is Christmas lights and Fireworks!  I never get tired of seeing either one of them (just ask my family!)  So, when I read a flyer that Lake Havasu was having their annual "Winter Blast Pyro Party" I knew I had to go!  We belong to our resort's RV Club and they like to put rallies together for interesting places and things, so I thought I would give it a try and sign up to be a "Wagon Master" and see who all would be interested in joining me for a few days.  The Winter Blast was for a whole week, but I had commitments so could only go for 4 days.  I thought maybe I would get 5 or 6 rigs interested...it turned out I'm not the only one who loves fireworks!  15 other couples do too!  Actually, we would even have had more, but quite a few said their dogs didn't...so, had to pass it up.

What fun we all had!  We lucked out with great weather (clear, and in the mid 70's) with beautiful sun rises and sun sets every day.  We started out with a welcome pot luck and of course had a ton of wonderful food, and a nice wood fire to sit and chat around before we wandered off to see the fireworks.  

During the daytime many enjoyed going into town to see the London Bridge and or hike the various area.  We, along with others checked out the local History Museum.  It was fun seeing how Lake Havasu got it's start.  Quite a marketing plan...flying people in from snow-filled states in the middle of winter to show them "sunny & warm" Arizona! 

 Each night we were treated to a different live band, then followed by hours of fun-filled fireworks.  You could see them from anywhere, but the best seats were in the bleachers (we camped at the rodeo grounds).  

Our final night dwindled down to half the group as many had to leave early due to various commitments, but that didn't stop the rest of us from enjoying one last dinner together and a nice campfire that we all decided to stay around and watch the last fireworks from there...all comfy together.  

 

A simple rally, only 3 hours away, but packed with loads of fun and friendship!  What a BLAST!

...sitting back in Arizona,  Marie

Lake Havasu with friends...

Showing friends around a town you've visited before (albeit two years ago) is different, and fun!  Something we've not done in a long time - certainly not since we've been RV'ing, that's for sure!  Lake Havasu was one of our first stops when we started out two years ago, "newbies" to RV'ing.  Nice campground and nice area to get "acquainted" to RV'ing.  Two years ago the weather was mostly colder with a day or two of sunshine that included their beautiful balloon festival.  This year it was almost all sunshine, but we missed the balloon festival - a trade off I guess.

Having friends join us was a real treat!  It was fun to know our way around and to have a couple of "favorite spots" - Mudshark Brewery for hamburgers and Donut Post for some of the best donuts anywhere!  We never got lost either and that's always a plus! ;-)

Of course we took them to the London Bridge, but this time we all got a "new treat" and added a boat cruise to our day!  Because the weather had been so cold before, it was something Jack and I hadn't done so it was nice to do this time.  We did the two hour "lighthouse tour" and it was a delight.  Capt. Rick was our guide and he was a wealth of information.  He has been doing tours on Lake Havasu for over a decade and seems to know every nook and cranny of it.  He certainly knew a lot of the history of the town and Robert McCulloch and his development of it in 1964.  There are about 23 lighthouses (1/3 scale) along the 45mile long lake that are replicas of both east & west coast famous lighthouses.  They are sponsored by individuals or by organizations.  Jack and I laughed and said that maybe when I "go", we will put one up of the Pt Loma Lighthouse in my honor! ;-)  Don't you think that would be appropriate?

Anyway...he also took us into some lovely coves along what's called "Copper Canyon".  Beautiful color and rock formations.  They have a sunset tour, that I wished we would have taken because I bet it would have really set those areas off beautifully!  Oh well, something for next time.  As it was, the day was a bit over-cast, so the pictures weren't as bright as I would have liked, but a fun trip all the same.

Another day we tootled on down "Main Street" and discovered it was the day they all bring out their classic cars!  After a meal at a "new favorite" the Red Onion, we enjoyed handmade ice cream at Scoops and cruised up and down the street admiring the handy work of the car owners.  Nice evening.

We managed to fit in a movie and of course some shopping!  Some lazy days in the sun and plenty of laughter.  On our last day we went over to the casino where they have the Da Vinci Exhibit.  What a nice treat!  Some lovely paintings and samples of his inventions.  A great breakdown of the history of his life from birth to death all on one wall.

The weather is changing here, cold and windy.  Our friends have traveled on and we are back on our own again.  We have a week of "no plans" before we are booked into Sedona at our timeshare.  We were going to try seeing some new country, a place someone had suggested, called Cottonwood in northern Arizona, but the weather is predicted to be in the 50's during the day...to cold for us (wimps), so we've decided to turn this rig around and go south to Phoenix where it's a bit hotter, at least for a few days!  See, that's what you can do when you are "free & easy" like us!

London Bridge, Lake Havasu AZ

Entrance to the London Bridge Village, Lake Havasu AZ

Capt. Rick aboard the Kon Tiki, Lake Havasu AZ

East Quoddy (New Brunswick Canada) Lighthouse

Copper Canyon, Lake Havasu AZ

 Da Vinci's flying machines

Madonna of the Yarnwinder

 ...on the road in Arizona,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/