LEAVING FOR THE CANYON

In a couple of hours, 1/2 of Travel by Chance will be on the road again, destination Grand Canyon. Yesterday was a flurry of activity, as I loaded some last minute stuff, put the motorcycle carrier on the back of the motor home, and hooked up the truck. Except for the computer, the cat and the dog, I'm ready to roll. I'm also ready for some cooler temperatures, as the summer has definitely arrived here in Lake Havasu.

A couple of days ago, we discovered a quail nest in this little raised flowerbed, next to the shed in the back yard. Sami was paying a lot of attention to the area, so when we checked a little closer, we found out why. The bottom picture shows the nest with 14 eggs sitting on the ground under the foliage.

So, for the past couple of days, we've been taking Sam out on her leash, keeping her away from the nest. Whenever we get too close, the bird sitting on the nest takes off, but so far, it's always come back. With our absence, and less activity in the yard, in about another week or so, Patty may have a bunch of baby quail to keep an eye on before she leaves for Paris on the 16th. According to the all knowing Internet, the incubation period is 2-3 weeks. In our 10 years of living here, this is a first.

By this afternoon, I'll be getting everything set up for our summer at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It's only about 225 miles, so it will be a relatively short trip.

My oldest son Michael is back in the states, returning from 3 months in Afghanistan, and he will be reunited with his wife Amy in Augusta, GA tomorrow. Welcome home Mike!

DESERT STORM SHOOT OUT

The boat kicking up the big spray, has just begun an attempt to reach it's top speed.

One of the key ingredients of the Desert Storm boating event, is the shoot out, which took place yesterday at the tip of the island, in front of Site Six. There's nothing complicated about the shoot out. A 2 mile course was set up, with a radar speed trap near the end of the liquid, 2 mile race track. There's only one goal for the participants, and that's to get their boat to it's top speed near the end of the course.

The race course was moved from last years congested waters of Thompson Bay, to the narrow part of the lake, at the western tip of the island. For spectators, this was a huge improvement, as folks like us could sit on the elevated hills overlooking the lake, with a much better view of the boats in action. Where Patty and I parked our chairs, we could see most of the 2 mile course, and we were joined by a lot of other people who were enjoying a 90+ degree day.

Last year the boat that claimed the "King of the Desert" title, reached a top speed of 180+ mph. Since we missed some of the earlier boats, I'm not sure who the top dog was this year. During the time we watched the boats accelerating through the course, the fastest boat reached a top speed of a little over 150 mph.

Today, this huge boating week comes to an end. Events like this are a big shot in the arm for the local economy, and from our perspective, it sure looked like this years Desert Storm was a tremendous success!

A NEW DRAG STRIP?

Could it be? A brand new, state of the art drag strip right here in Lake Havasu? This subject has been approached by the local paper on a couple of occasions, but the big story so far, is the potential location has switched from the south side of the city, to approx. 100 acres of city owned land near the airport on the north side.

At the Desert Storm street party, the Lake Havasu Drag Racing Association had a booth, and the association members were pretty confident that this was going to happen. They said that the city was "200% behind it", and with city owned land that would be leased to the association, one of the biggest hurdles has already been crossed. They also said that the necessary financing to build a facility was already arranged, and that this proposed drag racing complex would be more than just a drag strip. The tentative plan is to build a 1,000' concrete raceway, with a 2,000' shut down area. A tower with suites, and initial plans to have spectator seating for 5,000 is also on the drawing board.

The hope is that ground can be broken this summer, and the first racing action will take place before the end of the year. This all sounds a bit on the ambitious side to me, but we'll just have to wait and see. Having been involved with local government as a county planning commissioner in CA, I've seen lots of these projects start off with a bang, and fizzle out over time. There will be lots of hoops to jump through, and a lot of the success, or failure, of ambitious projects like this, depend on the tenacity of the folks trying to make it happen.

One of the goals of this facility, will be to attract the professional teams for winter testing. During the off season, between the last Pomona race in early November, and the start of the new season, also in Pomona in early February, the pros, and many of the sportsman racers do a lot of testing. Right now, most of the pro teams travel to Florida in December and January to do their off season experimenting. I can't help but think that a first class facility here in Lake Havasu would almost be the ideal location regarding weather and altitude (almost sea level), and should be a powerful magnet to any drag racer who wanted to do winter testing.

We'll have to see what, if any progress has been made, when we return to the Lake in September. If it's still moving forward, I just might have to get involved, and lend some of my enthusiasm to the project. Hmmm, is there a race car in my future?

DESERT STORM STREET PARTY

As I sort of predicted, the spring storm passed through the area rather quickly, and we had part sun and clouds for the rest of the day. The Desert Storm street party was scheduled to start at noon, and we were seated at the Red Onion Restaurant a little before twelve. The crowds weren't too bad at that point, and we enjoyed a nice lunch, seated at one of the street side tables.

The downtown area (McCulloch Blvd.) of Lake Havasu City is an area that embraces special events many times a year, with the street closed to vehicular traffic. The Desert Storm street party is one of the larger events, attracting a multitude of people to this half mile stretch of "Main Street". In the 10 years that we've been here, we've seen a transformation from an old, dying downtown area, to a more vibrant business area, with lots of new specialty shops. The Red Onion opened a few years ago, and it's one of the newer, thriving businesses. These street closure events, don't benefit all of the businesses, but they do expose the area to many thousands of people who might just discover a new business, and venture back to do some shopping.

What would a performance boating event be without a picture of a big, supercharged motor?

This boat was one of Patty's favorites, with a very patriotic paint job.

This boat is from Marc, Chandra, & Laila's hometown, Tucson, AZ.

Yes, this is a small dog, but these boats have become so large, this little Yorkie looks even smaller!

Some of these boats are so extreme, I caught myself saying "WOW" more times than I can remember. I think the longest boat was 48', which is about 7-8 feet longer than our motor home. I stopped at the Mercury Marine display, and asked what the retail price was for their largest 1,350 horsepower motor/outdrive combination. The answer was $202,000! That's just for the drive train. Most all of these extreme performance boats have two engines, and we saw one with three. The entire collection of boats and related products was indeed sensory overload.

Lucas Oil is the sponsor of so many performance motor sports teams, that no other company comes even close. Not only does Forrest and Charlotte Lucas sponsor racers in just about every form of motor sports, they also sponsor entire racing series, like the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. They just recently built a facility in Missouri for Drag Boat Racing, and took over that series as the corporate sponsor.

Lucas Oil has recently expanded their line into marine products, and this big display was here for the first time. While we were there, Forrest Lucas appeared, which was a bit of a surprise, since the Houston NHRA Drag Race was just kicking off, and his son Morgan, is doing very well this year, as the driver of a Lucas Oil sponsored top fuel dragster. I'm sure that Forrest's jet was parked at the airport, and as I write this, he's probably already in Houston.

Forrest Lucas in the grey shirt and sunglasses.

Some of these paint jobs are just incredible!

I'm not much of an outboard guy, but three 300 horse Mercs does appeal to my hot rod side.

What would a boating event be without some attractive ladies, wearing skimpy outfits?

We spent over 2 hours checking out all of the toys, and other stuff, before heading back to the house. Today is the Desert Storm Poker run, and I would love to be in a helicopter as all of these powerful boats run at close to full throttle from one stop to the next. Tomorrow is the shoot out, where the fastest boat will be crowned "King of the Desert". It's a good week to be a boating enthusiast here in Lake Havasu!

DESERT STORM

Unfortunately, the title of today's post is a reality! A weather system has rolled in, with showers, wind, and lower temperatures. The bad weather notwithstanding, this is the kick off day for the biggest boating event of the year in Lake Havasu, and perhaps in the entire western states. Extreme performance boats from all over the country, capable of speeds close to 200 m.p.h., show up for this event.

At the moment, it's raining, and the kick off party on main street looks as if some of these big boys toys will be more wet than shiny. With today's display of many of the incredible machines in town, the poker run tomorrow, and the big top speed shootout on Saturday, hopefully this system will blow out of here, and our normal warm sunshine will return. The weather here can change very quickly, and perhaps later today, it will do just that, and we won't have to take our umbrellas downtown.

LEAVING AFGHANISTAN

My oldest son Mike, has been on assignment in Afghanistan for the last 3 months, and today, or tomorrow, he boards an airplane, for a return flight to his home in Augusta, GA. Throughout his career as a Military Intelligence Officer in the Army, and now, as a civilian federal employee under the National Security Agency, I've never known exactly what he does. With a top secret security clearance, and access to much of the highest classified material in the country, he has always spoken in generalities regarding his job.

What I do know, is that his temporary duties in Afghanistan are within hours of being over, and speaking for the entire family, we're glad he'll soon be on the way home.

Mike, his wife Amy, and my Grand Dog Tiga. These pictures were taken in the summer of 2009, when Patty and I were in Georgia, on our 12,000 mile loop around the U.S. and Canada.

Mike's still barefoot water skiing, just like he did as a teenager.

Perhaps, the headline of this post should be on the front pages of newspapers around the country. Despite your political persuasion, or opinions regarding our involvement in foreign countries, I'm starting to feel more strongly that it's getting time to get the heck out of places like Afghanistan. My opinions aren't always the most popular, but when this country is rapidly approaching a fiscal crisis, and programs like Social Security and Medicare are soon to be in jeopardy, maybe it's time to re prioritize where our limited tax dollars are spent.

Welcome Home Mike, we're all very proud of your dedication and service to this great country!

A CAT & A KINDLE

Gracie loves the Kindle as much as Patty does.

When I drew a blank yesterday morning, regarding a post subject, Patty later came to me, and said "you've got to see this" Before we entered the office, she told me that Gracie was asleep, with her head on the Kindle. Naturally, we made just enough noise, and her head was no longer laying on the screen of the E-Reader, and she was looking at us like what's the big deal.

The last 3 days have been warm, with each day in the 100-105 category. As a result of the hot weather, we haven't ventured outside the house very much. In our 10 years of owning a home in Lake Havasu, we haven't been here for even one summer, always going somewhere in the motor home, where the temperatures are a little more on the moderate side.

Just a few days to go before I escape the heat, about 230 miles away at the Grand Canyon. I start my bus driving job on May 12th, 4 days before Patty takes off on her trip to Paris. When she gets back, I'm pretty sure I'll drive the truck back to Havasu, where it will stay for the rest of the summer. We'll take the Jeep back to the Canyon, and Patty will start her job in early June.

A BOAT SHOW +

In past years, the annual boat show has been primarily the local dealers and manufacturers getting together to show off their latest and greatest. This year, with the date of the show moved to the weekend before Desert Storm (A huge performance boating event), and a large increase in vendors, and all things related to boats and performance products, this years show was 2 or 3 times bigger than years past.

In addition to all of the exhibits, there were water ski racers competing in different categories and age groups. Bob & Diana joined us in walking through all of the exhibits and displays, including a classic car show, and by the time we made it down to the beach, a couple of hours had passed.

If you look closely, this unique engine is not only twin turbocharged, but there's also two superchargers sitting on top.

Patty, Diana, and Bob admiring this huge boat that had a Phantom of the Opera theme.

This is the type of boat that dominated the performance scene back in my day.

In the classic car show, there were several of these mostly 70's, V-drive, flat bottoms, with big engines that were chromed, or polished to the max. These are what I call "real boats", and took me back to the days when the kids were little, and we had a Hondo, 18' jet drive, with a big block Ford. Mike and Marc learned to water ski behind that boat, and later when the kids were high school age, I picked up another Hondo flat bottom, that was a V-drive, powered by a big block Chevy. We had lots of fun with those boats, and the urge to own and drive another one is still there.

I doubt if this car towed the attached boat to the show, but it made for a good display.

Boats like this need a sign on the dashboard that says "sit down, shut up, and hang on"!

By the time the noon hour rolled around, we had checked out just about everything at the show, and the temperature was rising fast. We said adios to Bob & Diana, and after a few errands, it was back to the air conditioned house, where we hid from the triple digit temps outside.

This retro, 50's dinner style motor home was one of several unique displays at the boat show.

With most of the western states boat manufacturers in attendance, and several from back east here for the first time, the Lake Havasu Boat Show took a big leap forward towards becoming one of the premier boat shows in the country. There were so many "Big Boys Toys" on display, that I'm surprised there wasn't a vendor present selling bibs to catch all of the drool!

CHANGE $%#@*

Google, in it's infinite wisdom, has completely changed the format for blogger's that use their platform. I hate change!!! Just when I've become very comfortable with posting pictures, moving text, editing where necessary, and all of the other little things that go into publishing a daily blog, they decide to change everything. What the heck gives? A little advice from a non tech, geeky type person, would be to incorporate change incrementally, not all at once.
So, if the blog seems a little disjointed in the coming days, that's the reason. About the time I get this new format figured out, I'm sure Google will decide that it's time to change it once again. What happened to the old saying "if it ain't broken"?

Yesterday, we met Bob & Diana at the Red Onion for dinner, then drove down to the London Bridge Park, where the city parks and recreation department sponsors a series of "Concerts in the Park". The group playing was a 3 person classic rock and roll band called MOJO. The music was mostly 70's & 80's, with a big emphasis on ZZ Top. Not a bad way to spend an evening, and considering the free entry, the music was pretty good for this quartet of baby boomers.

TRIPLE DIGITS

It's usually sometime in April that we get our first 100 degree day here in Lake Havasu, and yesterday was it. Although the forecast for this weekend is 105-107, the temps will dip back below 100, before they pretty much stay above the century mark until about the end of September.

But it's "a dry heat", right? Somehow, that phrase is supposed to make 100+ degree temperatures more bearable. There is no question that 100 degrees with low humidity is much more comfortable than a 100 degree day with high humidity. But, no matter what kind of moisture is in the air, 100 degrees is hot!

We're still in the process of doing some serious spring cleaning, as we get the motor home ready for the summer at the Grand Canyon. It's just a little over a week before I head for the canyon with our 4 legged kids, and about 3 weeks before Patty takes off for Europe. Still lots of stuff to do, but this weekend is the big boat show, and we'll have to take a break in order to check out all of the new boats and other toys.

HONORING OUR VETS

A couple of days ago, I was returning home from running a few errands, and as I approached the high school, I noticed 3 Havasu P.D. Patrol cars leaving the parking lot. As I got closer to the main entrance, I could see a long line of motorcycles and cars, most with large American Flags attached. At the end of the line was one of Havasu's fire trucks.

At first, I thought there must have been some sort of incident at the school, then quickly realized that this was a welcome home parade for one of our local military service members. There's a motorcycle organization called the Patriot Riders, that team up with the city, the American Legion, and the Veteran's of Foreign Wars t0 organize these impromptu parades. The purpose is to recognize our returning servicemen and women, who are either home permanently, or just temporarily home on leave.

When I first learned about this patriotic endeavor, I can remember thinking how cool is that, and what a contrast from how our military was treated during the Vietnam War. One of the things I like about living in Lake Havasu City, is that the patriotism is palpable. When you drive around the residential streets of this city, you are almost NEVER out of sight of a flagpole with the American Flag blowing in the breeze. I just took our flag down for the summer, and dropped it off at a local business that sells flags, poles & related items. They take in used flags for proper disposal.

Speaking of the military and our veteran's, my oldest son Michael has been in Afghanistan for the last 2 1/2 months, as a civilian adviser. When he retired from the Army as a military intelligence Warrant Officer, he had been deployed overseas to places like Japan, Korea, and Panama. Fortunately, his foreign assignments didn't include war zones like Iraq, and Afghanistan. In just a couple of weeks, he'll be returning home, and there will be a big sigh of relief from this household. His brother and I were discussing how neat it would be, if we could be there with his wife Amy, when he returned home. Unfortunately, we can't, but we'll be thinking of him, and how proud we are of his military service, and his latest work assignment in a very unstable part of the world.

APPOINTMENT OVERFLOW

This last 2 weeks at home (4 weeks for Patty), before I leave for the Grand Canyon, and she leaves for Paris with her brother, are chock full of get it done stuff. A lot of it has to do with the house, like getting the Reverse Osmosis System, and the Air Conditioner serviced. We have the pest control folks spray twice a year, and always right before we leave for any extended period of time.

Yesterday, I took the motor home to Joe's Auto, RV, & Truck for an annual service on the chassis and generator. Unfortunately, the hydraulic fan was operating normally, instead of staying on all of the time. I guess we'll just have to wait for that problem to reoccur before testing to see if it's the fan control module again, or something else. If it does malfunction in the future, better that it stays on all the time as opposed to not working at all.

Then, there's all the Doctor stuff. I just renewed my Commercial Drivers License medical certificate, which is good for 2 more years. Patty and I both had our teeth cleaned, and she has another Eye Doc. appointment coming up, along with her annual physical. We even had an appointment at the Vet, to get Gracie's claws trimmed.

The good news is that the house, the motor home, our bodies, and everything else are all in pretty good shape. Now, if we can just get past all of these appointments, we'll soon be able to scratch the hitch itch!

Correction to the "ALASKA 2014" blog post. It should have read ALASKA 2013.

BURROS & A SCUBA DOG

On Sunday, while we were watching the boat races from the beach, just down to our right, I noticed this Boxer dog disappearing under the water. The first time it happened, I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but when it happened a second time, I had to walk down and check it out. Sure enough, the owner was throwing a sinkable object into the water, about 10 feet out from the shore, and this dog would completely submerge itself, find the object, and come up with it in it's mouth. I'm not talking about a quick head bob under water, this dog was actually swimming under the water, that was approx. 2-3 feet deep, and staying under for 5-10 seconds. I've never seen a dog do anything like that before, and it kind of gave a new meaning to the word "fetch"!

After we had lunch in Parker, Bob, Diana, Patty and I drove north on the CA side of the river, and we saw Burros almost everywhere. The first encounter was when a few were crossing the road, and we later saw groups of 5-10 in two other locations. I've seen them before along this stretch, and there are signs warning motorists, but I've never seen so many.

The wild Burros in the old mining town of Oatman are well known for their presence on the street, but most folks have no idea how many Burros there are along this stretch of CA road between Parker, and the Davis Dam. Coincidentally, Diana had made a comment earlier, that she hoped we would spot one of the wild Burros. Well, we certainly did, it was almost like Burro overload!

They sure are cute critters, especially the young ones. This group near the storage buildings, was headed toward the river, probably looking for some liquid refreshment. With no natural predators, these wild Burros seem to thrive in the desert, and occasionally, I read about the Bureau of Land Management doing a roundup, in order to keep their population under control. They have an adoption program, and since 1971, approx. 225,000 wild horses and burros have been placed into private care.

This last small group of burros was walking up the Black Canyon Road.

This morning, I have a 7 am appointment to have the motor home serviced, and get a couple of things fixed. The Grand Canyon is calling, and arrival there is less than two weeks away.

RACIN ON THE RIVER

Patty, Diana, & Bob soaking up the sunshine in front of the Bluewater Resort/Casino, on the Colorado River, near Parker, AZ.

Watching any kind of competitive motor sports, is always near the top of my entertainment to do list, and when that action happens to be on the water, so much the better. The American Power Boat Ass'n (APBA) sanctions a couple of big races on the river every year, and we took in some of the spills and thrills yesterday.

There were only 4 boats in the Grand National Class, and this picture shows them getting lined up for a "LeMans" start. Two of the four boats didn't fire right away, and they were left in the dust, oops, water.

This boat is from Lake Havasu, and has been at every race we've attended. The boat is fast, but not quite fast enough, coming in 2nd.

For the first time, I noticed that some of the boats now have a capsule for the driver. Drag boats went to capsules for the faster classes many years ago, and have been responsible for lessening the number of injuries and deaths in that sport. These capsules are part of the boat, and don't separate from the hull like they do on the drag boats.

There's nothing quite like the sound of a big blown motor when it's first fired up.

During the comp. jet class, this boat flipped over in the first turn, and sank within seconds. The driver was immediately thrown out, and was OK. When the divers hooked cables onto the boat, it was pulled back to the beach, and these pictures show it being put on the trailer.

We watched the racing action for several hours, which included everything from the blown flatbottoms, to the jets, to the little hydros with 15 horse motors. When the Grand National boats were finished, we were all hungry, so we went into Parker, and had lunch at the crossroads cafe. From there, we headed back home along the CA side of the river, and saw a bunch of critters which I'll probably show some pictures of tomorrow.


It's starting to get much warmer here in the desert, as summer is fast approaching. However, yesterday, the temps were in the mid 70's, and it was a perfect weather day for an outside activity.