Lake Havasu on Halloween

I was glad to get back to Arizona in time to join my friends in Lake Havasu over Halloween weekend. Here are some of the things we did.

Any time you get a group of WINs together you're likely to find us dancing somewhere. Here we are at the Eagles Lodge in Lake Havasu dancing the night away.

But we also had the WIN Olympics. Here we are with the water balloon toss.

Oops, I think the balloon burst.

Next was the relay races in the pool.

And here we had to use our nose to move the pumpkin across the pool.

And Max is happy he was able to hold his breath the longest for that contest.

And then everyone tried to outdo the other in making the biggest splash.

All the winners!

One morning some of us learned how to play bocce ball.

We saw this v-8 motor with a seat on top. Wouldn't that be fun to ride.!

We shuttled some kayakers to the marina at the start of Topak Gorge. I've never seen anyone advertise they were the 'worst' at something.

Some of the kayakers preparing to launch. The boat ramp doesn't look that bad to me.

But the highlight of the rally was the Halloween Costume Party. Here is one of the most ingenious costumes, completely made from walmart bags. Claudia, what an imagination you have.

We had a lot of witches.....

The winners of the costume contest.

Most interesting about Diane is she actually shoots black powder and made this costume herself. It's real leather.

And more dancing.

And of course, games, like passing the orange....

And some even transformed during the party.....

to this.....

Needless to say, we all had fun in Lake Havasu for Halloween.

Oklahoma to Arizona

Although we took our time traveling from Oklahoma to Arizona, we only stopped to explore in 2 locations.

Winslow, AZ, was made famous after the 'Eagles' released the song Take it Easy, with the lyrics of 'standing on the corner in Winslow, AZ'. Of course, Winslow was also on the original Route 66 highway too.

So here I am, standing on the corner in Winslow, AZ.

But the La Posada Resort is also in Winslow. Originally built by the Fred Harvey Company along the Santa Fe Railway lines, it was designed by Elizabeth Jane Coulter. Fred Harvey and his Harvey Girls (of which they made a movie starring Judy Garland) was said to have 'civilized the west' by the development of hotels and restaurants along the rail lines and for providing job opportunities for women in the west.

Although Coulter, an employee of Fred Harvey Company, designed many of the buildings at Grand Canyon, she always considered La Posada in Winslow as her masterpiece.

When we came out of the hotel, this large gun (Max says it was a 65mm howitzer) was sitting on a trailer along with ammo. We talked to the owner who had just come from a shooting competition.

But before we got to Arizona, we stopped in Acoma, NM, to visit the Sky City. Still inhabited by 3000, this city on top of the plateau has a long and interesting history. On an Indian reservation, it is only accessible with a guide.

This window still has the original 6 inch thick mica instead of glass.

This ladder allows entry into one of the kiva's, which are still used by the men in the village.

There was no way to access the plateau except by foot until John Wayne decided to film one of his movies there, so they built a road. Those living here have no electricity, or running water. They heat with propane or wood.

We took the original path back down the mountain when we left.

There is the story that the plateau off in the distant was the original settlement, but a bad storm, maybe an earthquake destroyed the only access, so they moved and settled in the current location.

 I would highly recommend stopping and exploring this attraction if you ever get a chance.

Oklahoma in October

After returning from Italy, I was back in Oklahoma finishing up business there so I could get back on the road. But I had time to spend with my grandkids. I took them to the zoo one Saturday.

Caitlin is practicing her driving.

Carter was showing off his balance skills.

Colin enjoyed the ropes too.

And Cale was good at balancing as well.

After spending some time at the playground at the zoo, we boarded the train.

And then we headed to the petting zoo.

Cale wanted to get up close and personal with this sheep.

And Colin was resting with the goat.

But they especially liked climbing on the ostrich.

The next week I took my adopted granddaughters to the zoo. They liked climbing on the mountain gorillas.

 And I have to tell what happened while visiting the primate exhibit. All of a sudden there were zoo handlers running around, some with dart guns and then they told us we would have to evacuate the area. It seems they have an escape artist chimpanzee. No, he didn't actually escape his exhibit, but he did get down in the moat area and could possibly have found his way out. And this was not his first time either. Several weeks earlier when he first got down in the moat they evacuated the entire zoo, not just the primate area.

 

But then Max flew in to help me finish getting things done so I could leave. He never envisioned how much work I had in store for him. I could never have gotten the house cleaned so quickly without his help. But he did catch me hard at work mopping the floors.

OK, now the house is painted and cleaned up and ready to be put up for sale. Anyone interested in an 1800 sq ft manufactured home on .5 acre on Lake Eufaula?

My son, Sam, out back still trying to figure out what he wants to take and what is going to be trashed. We actually had to return a few days later and load another u-haul trailer to empty out the shed. But then everything was done. I locked the door and left the keys for the realtor.

Back in Oklahoma City we were down near the capital and Max visited the old wooden oil well exhibit. Oklahoma's capital is known for its working oil wells on capital grounds.

We also visited the site of the Murrah Building Bombing.

Then down to the riverwalk area where there is a memorial honoring those who participated in the Oklahoma Land Run in 1889 and 1894.

It looks like these land run participants are headed towards the old cotton gin, now a premier indoor climbing venue.

And finally lunch at Toby Keith's. 

Did you know more country music stars come from Oklahoma than any other state? Let's see, Toby Keith of course, then there is Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill, Woody Guthrie, Gene Autry and Roy Clark are just a few.