On Wednesday, my youngest daughter, Pearl, and I ventured to Lake Havasu City to see Montana Lady Golfer. Montana and I have been friends on MySpace and Facebook for about a year.
Montana gave us a warm welcome, jumping up & down and giving us hugs upon arrival. Once inside her lovely home, Montana served my favorite wine (sauvignon blanc), crackers, and an assortment of delicious cheeses! I hand delivered a package of fruits & cheese to Montana from her 2009 Secret Santa. Montana was so pleased and said it was the perfect gift.
Ever so thoughtful, Montana carefully opened a fishing game and challenged Pearl to a round. Pearl mopped the floor with her, but our host may have thrown the game.
Time to hop into Montana’s convertible and drop her hubby off at the golf course. Then we girls were off for Fast Food and Shopping.
Pearl loves McDonalds, and was excited to have an Alvin & The Chipmonks Happy Meal. We took the scenic route to the new mall, and Montana spoiled Pearl with a Deluxe Bead Kit and 3 smaller bead sets from Michael’s.
A leisurely drive across the London Bridge led us to The Naked Turtle for beach time!
We found a few shells & pretty rocks, and got our tootsies wet. It was a beautiful day with temps in the high 60’s. Something about playing on the beach makes you hungry. The Beach Bar was undergoing some renovations, but the restaurant upstairs was open. Wow is their food GOOD!! We shared orders of calamari and fish & chips while Pearl had an ice cream sundae. 
This day just FLEW by! It was nearly 5pm, and we had to pick up Montana’s hubby from the golf course. I hope he had a good day!
Montana wrapped up some shish-kebobs for Pearl and I to take home. We were running out of daylight, and my hubby and eldest daughter were at home awaiting on return.
Natalie and Pearl are still having a GREAT time making bracelets & necklaces. Tom and I are grilling the kebobs tonight!
• Have you been to Lake Havasu?
• Do you let children beat you at games?
• What’s on your shish-kabob?
Tag Archives: Arizona
Found Montana in Arizona
Baby Burros
Oatman @ the turn of the century and today.
In the early 1900’s Oatman Arizona was a gold mining town. The mines have closed and miners are long gone, but their burros remain. Oatman is now a tourist attraction drawing in visitors from around the world to visit this ghost town off of Historic Route 66.
Although the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently requested that the public stop feeding the burros, I noticed visitors with bags of carrots and hay cubes. One exuberant guest shared a few of her cubes with my daughters who fed the friendly animals. 
Baby burros (who were still nursing) wore stickers bearing the universal sign for, “Don’t Feed Me Carrots”.
We popped into a few of the shops which line Main Street and admired the assorted souvenirs. There were polished rocks, hot salsas, desert-themed ornaments, Route 66 t-shirts, roadrunner statues, scorpion and tarantula paperweights to name a few. We bought a canned soda and continued our stroll. Cowboys with rifles caught our attention, and I knew a loud gun battle would ensue. Throughout the day there are staged bank robberies and gun fights. Normally I would stick around to enjoy the show, but my daughters’ are sensitive to loud noises, so I herded them back to the car. We had a great day and a nice excursion.
• What attractions draw tourists to your area?
• Do you like burros and staged gun fights?
• What sticker should be on your forehead?
Filed under Arizona, Photography
Picture of the Day ~ Week 4
These past four weeks went so quickly. I was able to meet my goal, and take 1 photo (sometimes more) per day. I can now say I have:
• read my camera’s Owner’s Manual;
• entered a Reader’s Digest Summer Photo contest;
• been asked to submit one of my photos to an Arizona group of photographers on Flickr.
This has been a rewarding challenge, and I encourage everyone to try it.
Pool Time
Tom and the girls enjoy some pool time. ~ June 20, 2009
This playful photo has gotten nearly 60 hits on Flickr! (I usually average between 0-3 hits.)
Twilight
June 21, 2009
After a long day of work, I only had time to shoot the setting sun.
FLYphone
June 22, 2009
You’ve heard of an iPhone. Here’s my FLYphone! This pesky, persistent fly made himself at home for quite a while. The tricky part was getting my camera to focus on him and not the background.
Cold One
June 23, 2009
After another long day of work, I snapped this photo of Tom’s beer. Speak of the devil, there he goes to spritz his horses with fly spray. Maybe I can borrow some of that for my phone.
Power
June 24, 2009
Captured the view of this power pole from my deck. The Needles Mountains in the background remind me of a huge wave.
Reddish Egret
June 25, 2009
I stopped on the way to Natalie’s school to photograph this Laughlin Ranch water feature. What a surprise finding a bird perched up there! I hope I have identified him correctly. I also snapped a photo of the golf course (below).
Sand Trap
June 25, 2009
This is a combination sand trap / water hazard!
Arizona Mountains
June 26, 2009
What a gorgeous sunset last night! The sun was reflecting off Elephant Tooth and Boundary Cone mountains. I couldn’t stop at just one photo!
Boundary Cone
June 26, 2009
Sunset
June 26, 2009
Fire In The Sky
June 26, 2009
Thank you so much for coming along with me on this journey.
Will you take 1 photo a day?
Thank you for reading!
Filed under Photography
Picture of the Day ~ Week 3
Continuing on my quest to take at least one picture daily, may I present…
Picture of the Day ~ Week 3
Glider Ride
Overlooking the Colorado River. ~ June 13, 2009
What a way to start! Saturday was my 44th birthday, and Tom surprised me with a glider ride.
Rabbit Chase
Pearl chases a cottontail. ~ June 14, 2009
George
Our 17 year old cat. ~ June 15, 2009
Our sweet cat became ill 2 weeks ago with an abscess on his left cheek. I’m sorry to report he isn’t doing very well.
Quail
On our rock wall. ~ June 16, 2009
Tom ran out of the house in his stocking feet to capture this photo.
Scarecrow Lady
At the corner of Valencia & Hwy 95. ~ June 17, 2009
She has been in this position for over 11 years, and has a different outfit to compliment each holiday, season, or special local event.
Cookie Reflection
Pearl admires the bakery’s thumbprint cookies. ~ June 18, 2009
LOL! How many of these do you think I bought?
Gecko
Mediterranean Gecko on our back porch. ~ June 18, 2009
Desert Tortoise
Look who came out to eat this morning? ~ June 19, 2009
Mmmmm…. wilted lettuce and fresh broccoli.
What’s the craziest birthday surprise you’ve ever gotten?
How would you dress the scarecrow lady?
How many cookies DID I have to buy for Pearl?
Thanks for reading!
Filed under Photography
Picture of the Day ~ Week 2
I’m really having a lot of fun with this Picture Of The Day. Some days I’m lucky to get one shot, while other days, the creative juices are really flowing.
Picture Of The Day ~ Week 2
Sparrow
Eating birdseed in our yard. ~ June 7, 2009
Dead Cactus
In our tortoise habitat. ~ June 8, 2009
Broken Fence
My 2nd Favorite Picture of June 8th. I hadn’t realized Chief broke the fence until I looked at the photo. Doesn’t he look guilty?!
Pearl Watermelon
Pearl takes a bite out of a watermelon Kleenex box. ~ June 9, 2009
Shady Chairs
Chairs lined against our backyard wall in the morning shade. ~ June 10, 2009
Wish
My 2nd Favorite Picture of June 10th. I love the technique of this photo so much, I’ll be posting a PhotoShop tutorial soon.
Dove
Dove with twig to build its nest. ~ June 11, 2009
Mi Casa
My 2nd Favorite Picture of June 11th. Our house and Chief as seen from the pasture.
Palm Tree Seed Pods
My 3rd Favorite Picture of June 11th. Palm Tree Seed Pods opened overnight.
Pearl Fence
My 4th Favorite Picture of June 11th. Pearl on Chief’s fence.
Vandalism
A couple of our racks wait for repairs after vandals abused them. ~ June 12, 2009
I’ve begun uploading my daily photos to Flickr, along with notes on the PhotoShop techniques or filters I’ve used. There’s also a photo there that Tom took of a Rosy Boa eating a rabbit. He snapped that pic last week while I was in Vegas. It took so long (the boa/rabbit encounter) that he even took video of it. Oh! Let’s end on a positive note! Here is a Blast from the (not so distant) Past…
Cupcakes
Cupcakes from The Cupcakery, Henderson NV. ~ June 5, 2009
Thanks for reading!
Filed under Photography
Picture of the Day ~ Week 1
My friend, Jim is blogging one photo per day. He was inspired by our friend, Amy’s World. They have both inspired me to start carrying my camera with me everywhere, and to snap at least one photo a day. Here is my first week.
Sunrise
Colorful Arizona Sunrise ~ May 30, 2009
Swinging
Pearl swinging ~ May 31, 2009
Purple Paddle Cactus
Maverick Gas Station, Bullhead City AZ ~ June 1, 2009
Produce Cactus
Smith’s Grocery Store, Fort Mohave AZ ~ June 2, 2009
Best Mexican Food…
… in Hell. ~ June 3, 2009
Mesquite Tree
Shading our yard ~ June 4, 2009
Leaving Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip ~ June 5, 2009
• BLAST FROM THE PAST •
Flamingo Duck
San Diego Zoo ~ June 30, 2008
Thanks for reading!
Filed under Photography
Strange River Sightings
We launched the boat Saturday with two goals:
1) take pictures of riverfront homes for local real estate agents;
and 2) give the girls some *beach time*.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
We did come across two things we didn’t expect! The first strange site was a riderless jetski. It’s anchor was a submerged boat whose green hull glowed brightly under the water’s surface.
Now, somebody, please tell me what the heck lives in this rock dwelling? Notice the huge blotch of white poop low on the cliff just below the cave opening.
Here is a close-up of the cave opening.
Guesses?
There were no rubber ducky sightings.
Thanks for reading!
Filed under River Adventures
Ducks Run Amuk
Spring Break began with promise of sweet adventures! Natalie volunteered to watch the classroom bunny, so Friday afternoon Shakespeare joined our little family.
Saturday morning, I made a big batch of pancakes. Sure, I planned to fill our bellies, but I also wanted to put a pancake on Shakespeare’s head ala this little internet sensation.
The bunny wouldn’t cooperate, but we had all week. Right?
After breakfast, we headed to the local Duck Derby. Tom was recruited to help launch the 5,000 rubber duckies into the Colorado River. This was a charity event which raised $20,000 for The American Cancer Society.
Our first hurdle was waiting for the river to rise enough for the boats to launch. The event was scheduled for 10am, but the water wasn’t high enough until noon. Our second hurdle was agreeing where to dump the duckies. Original instructions declared the pipe line as the dumping zone. We made our way to the pipe line, following a boat carrying a few of the event coordinators. To our surprise, the boat continued up the river, depositing two ladies & two babies off at a beach. The men in the boat yelled for us to dump our duckies here, way up river! Didn’t seem like a good idea, but who were we to argue? In go the duckies!
Tom driving our boatload of ducks.
Aerial of the Colorado River.
The idiot who had a harebrained idea.
Instead of catching the flow to float across the finish line, the ducks swirled towards the Nevada shores, nestling into the tulies and beaching themselves on the sand.
Jet skiers, kayakers and canoeists attempted to herd the wayward duckies towards the Arizona finish line.
Herders (ya, right!)
We scooped up about a dozen ducks in a net, and dropped them just upstream of the finish so that winners could be declared. We then spent the next 2 1/2 hours scooping ducks from the river.
Event coordinators are now urging the public to help retrieve ducks from the river. The coast guard has threatened to fine the event hostess, Loretta of Lazy Harry’s Bar & Grill, $50 per duck for littering.
Actual reward is 1 raffle ticket per duck. Prize undetermined.
We would have returned to the river, but we became infected with THE FLU. We have never in our lives been so ill! Although I lost 5 lbs and Tom lost 20, I would not recommend the flu to anyone!
More disappointing than not being able to scoop ducks, is running out of time to put a pancake on Shakespeare’s head!
How was your Spring Break?
Thanks for reading.
Filed under River Adventures
Jean Has Been Shopping 