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!