Weekend Rides...Saturday and Sunday

Saturday was the first time that we would join the local HOG chapter on their group ride. All we knew was that were going somewhere called The Temple Bar. We had no idea what that was or where that was. But I wasn't leading the group so we just followed along and had a great day.

 Before we left Lake Havasu we gassed up and we saw this nice street rod at the pump so of course Faith asked if she could take a picture and the gentlemen told her it was fine and if she'd like, she could get in for a photo op. What a smile, huh??

So we finally got to Kingman and met the others at the dealership, had some introductions as the new folks in town and then we headed out for lunch. a short ride through town and then onto Highway 93 up towards Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam.

Highway 93 is a nice ride and there was very little traffic for a Saturday. There are some pretty long stretches of road in between towns but the scenery is wonderful. We've traveled this road quite a few times. It's the route we take when we ride from Las Vegas to Laughlin for the "River Run". We've also taken it to get to the Dam.

 About 20 miles or so before The Hoover Dam we saw the sign for Temple Bar Marina. You get off 93 onto this great little two-laner that wanders down to the marina which is right on Lake Mead. What the sign didn't tell us was that we still had about 18 miles before we got there. Not that we're complaining.... It's all about the ride, right?? Not the destination. The thing is, there were a few times that you could see the lake and you were heading right towards it so we thought we were there. Then the road would take a nice wide turn back into nowhere and we were headed away from the lake.

 It was definitely worth the ride !! We arrived at the marina/bar/restaurant and it is truly a beautiful setting. The blue waters of Lake Mead and the mountains as a backdrop!

 As you look out at the lake you can see the formation that someone at some time thought looked something like a temple and so the area is called Temple Rock and the marina is the Temple Rock Marina.

The lunch was good and we made some new friends. Afterwards in the parking lot it was decided that this would be a ride worth doing again. This photo shows the road going back out towards the main highway. Some of the people were going to continue north and go over the dam and take the longer way home. Unfortunately, Faith and I couldn't join them because we didn't bring our helmets so we couldn't cross over into Nevada. A lesson learned-- the helmets are now in the trunk because you never know where that ride will take you.

 On Sunday we did a shorter breakfast ride with some riders from town that we had met the week before. They told us that they meet every Sunday morning and then ride down to Parker for breakfast at Fox's Bar/Restaurant. We had heard about Fox's but had never been there. It's a nice place right on the Colorado and it has a large floating bar right on the water. A very different experience.

The weather was perfect (again) and we met even more new riding friends.

It seems that places like this are all around and we're finding more and more of them with the help of the riders in the area. The group we rode with on Sunday was made up of mostly locals and the Saturday crowd came from farther away so we have our choice when we want to ride. Saturday we rode about 285 miles and only 64 on Sunday. But so far everyone that we've met is absolutely wonderful and the people around here are very friendly and extremely helpful. Although it was just our first ride with both of these groups, we felt comfortable and almost as if we've been riding with them a lot longer.

"Big Boy's Toys on Main"

The promo ad was played on the radio almost every 15 minutes... "Big Boy's Toys on Main Street. Lake Havasu. Saturday, October 8th. 10am til 6pm. Come on out and see all the boys (and girls) show off their toys!" I thought to myself, "I'm a big boy now...I have a toy that I'd like to show off...I know where Main Street is." So I stopped in at the station, which just happens to be on Main Street, and asked how I go about getting a spot for my trike. He asked if I was a vendor or if I was looking to sell it or just wanted to show it. I told him that it was just a "show" thing and he said to bring it down on Saturday and I'd have a spot.

So on Saturday the 8th I joined a whole street full of big boy toys, vendors and food tents for what was an absolutely great day. There are many events that take place on Main Street including Thursday night cruise night. But on Thursdays the street isn't closed to traffic.

 I'm not sure that the turnout was what was expected and they didn't have to close the street as far up as they thought but there were plenty of toys to see along the few blocks that were jammed with things that go fast, things that sit low and lots of just plain fun stuff.

 From custom street rods.....

To rock climbers...(there were actually quite a lot of these and they seem to be the desert toy of choice with the younger crowd)

To some really awesome boats.. I wonder who thought to take a dragster motor and mount it backwards in a boat. You can see the drive shaft running up between the seats and then it doubles back to the propeller. You might also notice the steel brace keeping the driver's seat from collapsing back on takeoff!

 There was even a car/boat combo.

 The temperature was simply wonderful. People took full advantage of this and brought the family out for a nice stroll along Main Street.

Even though my toy was a little less powerful as some and not quite as custom as others, I did get a few people who loved the look and the extras and we met some very nice folks.
And Faith was able to relax and get away from the house for the day. This was our first but definitely not the last event that we'll attend in our little town. We've heard that this is the time of the year that more and more things are happening on Main Street. I think that the next big thing we'll be a part of is the "Halloween on Main" night. We're really looking forward to it and I'll let you know how it goes.

Settling In....

Well, tomorrow will be five weeks since we arrived at our new home in Lake Havasu City. And I gotta tell ya, it's been five weeks of blood, sweat and tears. We thought that the house would need some sprucing up but didn't quite expect what was waiting for us. We spent the last five weeks painting and scrubbing and replacing and repairing and just about remodeling the inside of the whole place.

This is the exterior. It was in pretty good shape and the yard work and exterior painting can wait for the cooler weather. Our landscaper does a good job keeping the trees and bushes trimmed and the debris cleaned up. This is the walkway to the front door.

And this is our lake view from the driveway. You're looking west and the mountains on the other side of the lake are in California. That's the Colorado River and we get some really awesome sunsets. Faith has been taking a lot of pictures and we'll be putting some here on the blog and some on facebook.

The back yard is very nice with some flowering shrubs and palm trees and cactus plants. There are a few that need pruning and some that have died and need to be removed but again these are projects that can wait a few more weeks until the weather changes.

Faith likes to have her morning coffee outside under the shaded patio. We've got to replace the shades but for now they work just fine. I'd also like to trim back some of the bushes and trees that are close to the house.The mornings have cooled down quite a bit and it's usually in the 60s when Faith is out there. We're looking forward to the time when we can be outside grilling and having dinner instead of heating up the kitchen. I'm told that time will come very soon.

We very rarely use the front door because the garage door is usually open and it's easier to park and come in through the garage. It's a nice sized garage but with Faith's truck and my trike in there, the Toyota must be left outside. But I hope to be using the trike a lot more so maybe the car will be parked inside and the trike left where it is more accessible.

Until yesterday the garage was very cluttered with boxes and tools and who knows what. So even though we were tired and thought that we had enough with the moving and organizing, we tackled the garage and it actually looks pretty neat and tidy right now. All of my tools and things are along the right wall and all of those boxes stacked behind the trike are going to stay there until I can create my " man cave". They are all of my Harley collectibles and memorabilia and a bunch of bar signs and mugs and other cave things. I never realized how much I've accumulated over the years.

Ok, so we spent some time in the garage getting things looking a little neat and organized but now let's go inside and look at what we've done in the five weeks that we've been here. Like I said, the place was a little more run down and neglected than we had hoped for but together we gave new life to this old house. I gotta tell you, Faith may not have liked it or had much fun these past few weeks but she was right beside me every day whether it was painting or repairing or replacing or whatever. The door on the right is the entry from the garage. The tenants had painted this area and the entire living room a dark brown color and although we didn't really like it, we left it on a few of the walls only because it took 3 or more coats of paint to cover it.

The living room carpet and all of the walls throughout the house were so bad that we decided to paint the back bedrooms and bath and then get new carpet. So we left the dark brown on most of the walls and freshened up the two spare rooms and the guest bath with some paint and then had new carpet installed from the living room through the hall and into those rooms. Project #1 complete! The living room furniture just came this week so we've been watching TV on the floor or on our bedroom mattress for the past few weeks.

Besides climbing on ladders to paint and clean Faith has done a fantastic job of scrubbing every sink and tub and toilet and all of the tile floors in the whole house. Most of the grout was dark and we thought that it was supposed to look like that but when Faith got finished with it, the floors look entirely different and much cleaner. Now if only the tenants hadn't run off with the toilet seat!!

Let's call this back bedroom "Brian's Room". He is supposed to come out here with Laura to spend some time and perhaps make it an extended stay. It's ready for guests and hopefully Brian will be here soon.

This room also doubles as the computer room. You can see that there are still some things that need to be put away but the rooms are getting more and more livable and the rest is just a matter of finding a place for the things that are left. When we got here a few weeks ago we found that the tenants had taken all of the window treatments down and even some of the hardware. So just last week we had new blinds put in all of the windows and new verticals in the kitchen.

And then of course we have "Laura's Room". She's got her ticket and will be coming out in a week and a half. How long she'll stay is up in the air. We're looking forward to having her stay with us and I'm kinda hoping that it's not a short term thing.

Her room is ready and I think that she will really like it out here. We're coming into the great weather part of the year and there's so much to see and do that I don't think she'll get homesick for quite some time.

If we go back out through the living room we get to the kitchen. As with many of the homes in the area, it's a small galley kitchen with an eating area to the side. We are finding that the cabinet space we have here falls far short of what we're used to but we're also finding that we really didn't need a lot of that extra stuff we had. That far wall and the wall above with the vent were painted the same brown as the living room so these were just a couple of the ones that we felt were worth 3 coats of paint to brighten up the wall and make the room seem a little happier.

The wall that the blinds are on was also brown. Another 3 coats and a much nicer look. Although we're not crazy about the color scheme in the tile floor, it's not that easy to replace all of the tile in the kitchen and entry so we'll live with it for now. Faith has been scrubbing the grout and it really doesn't look too bad once it's cleaned.

And last but not least is the master bedroom and bath. We saved this room because we figured we could sleep in either of the other two until we found furniture we liked. Then about a week and a half ago we found something that we both liked so it was ordered and then we had to get to work on the room to get it ready. Again Faith wasn't looking forward to more painting and scrubbing but she did a great job and we got the room painted and carpeted just in time. The new bedroom set came yesterday and last night I slept better than I have in weeks!

I know the walls are kind of bare but we have tons of pictures and other accents that will dress the room up nicely. Right now it's just so nice to be able to relax a bit and feel that we're not pressured to get something done by tomorrow. The house has done a complete turn around from when we got here and now everything is clean and fresh and new we can pack up our paint brushes and start to enjoy this wonderful place and the lake and the weather.

The room that needed the least amount of work was the master bath. A fresh coat of paint and new blinds along with a thorough scrubbing by Faith and we're good to go.

 So today we treated ourselves to a nice ride and absolutely no housework. We hit one of the local watering holes and met some other riders who invited us to join them on their weekly breakfast/ lunch rides. We also have our first ride with the local HOG chapter this Saturday so we're looking forward to meeting more new friends and spending more time on the trike and less time in the house.

We also want to let everyone know that we worked our butts off getting this place ready for company so there is an open invitation for all of you. Friends and family from New Jersey to North Carolina to Oklahoma to Florida to California to Arizona to New York. Friends to the north in Canada and just about anywhere that you are. And all of our friends that we used to work with.

Our door is always open and if you're ever in the area you have a place to stay. We look forward to seeing all of you and hope that you plan a trip out our way soon.

Thanx again honey...You stuck with me and got everything done and the place looks great!!

Rob goes to work ?!?!?

Sometime last year during one of our visits to Lake Havasu I was checking into putting solar panels on the house to save some money. While speaking with one of the salesmen, I happened to mention that when we finally moved out here I might want to keep busy doing little odds and ends jobs or getting involved in some of the events that take place all the time in town and on the lake. He told me to give him a call when we got here so I stopped by to see him and he told me that he could use me right away. This weekend we are having the Sea-Doo championship races on the lake. If I'd be interested I could volunteer to help with security on a boat out on the lake. Sounded like fun to me so on Wednesday I went to "work". 

 Well, first of all, when I showed up one of the other volunteers came into the marina on a jet ski and told me that he'd take me out to my boat which was already anchored in position. Our first attempt at boarding the ski resulted in me taking a cool dunking in the water. We tried again and finally got both of us on the ski. But we couldn't get moving because it was a smaller jet ski and there was no way he was going to get me out to the boat. So one of the other boats had to come in to pick me up. I had no idea what to expect so I didn't pack any other clothes or jacket or anything! They dropped me onto the boat pictured above and told me not to let anyone past me towards the race area. There I sat, soaked and stuck on a boat for the next 8+ hours. Luckily, another of the security guys gave me his phone to call home and get a sweatshirt. It had gotten rather windy so I dried off quickly but still had no idea what I was going to do for all that time.

Although the main events were this weekend, the qualifying runs started on Wednesday so I could work the lake all 5 days if I'd like. I had a nice view of the town of Lake Havsau from where I was and I could see the races but I was still kind of far away. All that I could do was sit for a while and then pace back and forth on the boat and then sit and then pace and then sit, etc.

 The day was a little cloudy and windy but it was nice to just sit there adrift. But after a few hours it started getting a little old. Maybe because it was mid-week and there weren't too many people on the lake but I didn't have to turn anyone away the whole time I was out there. Between the clouds and the late afternoon sun setting, I got some nice pics of the area.

By the time I got picked up from my boat and we got back to the marina it was nearly 6pm. I had plenty of time during my shift to plan a much better day for tomorrow. I figured I could bring some snacks and a book or maybe some crossword puzzles. Yep, that would help pass the time. I knew that the races started around 9 so I asked what time I should show up if I wanted to do it again. He told me that they like to meet around 6:30am so that they could get the boats out on the water and anchored in by 7 to be ready for the day. So, needless to say, that was my first and last day as a security guard for the jet ski races. I don't mind the volunteering part and I wouldn't even mind the 9 hours alone on a boat just sitting in the water as long as I had things to do to keep me occupied. But I don't do 6:30am any more!!! 
So now it's back to painting and cleaning at the house. We should be getting carpet in the master bedroom on Monday and new blinds throughout the house on Tuesday. If all goes according to plan, a sofa and recliner along with a new bedroom set should all be here and in place by next weekend. WOW, so much accomplished in such a short time.
No house work tomorrow because I'm taking the trike down to Main Street for the "Big Boy Toys" event. Check back for pics and stories. Should be a very nice day.

Home Sweet Home

Well, after that wonderful trip through the north and western U.S., we are at our new home in Lake Havasu City, AZ. I haven't had a lot of blogging time because the house was in worse shape than we had hoped for so we've been really busy cleaning and painting and ripping out carpets. We're getting a lot accomplished and we take a little break every day to go to the lake for a refreshing dip and then back home for dinner and some relaxing time. It's been rather warm but when we talk to friends and family back in Jersey, we figure that we can put up with the heat rather than the rain and cold.

This is our view of the lake from the driveway. I think we're going to enjoy living here. It's such a dramatic change from what we're used to. I think that I left a lot of my road rage and "hurry up" attitude behind. I think I'll be able to adapt to this slower paced lifestyle rather well. There are so many activities and events going on in town that we can keep ourselves busy for most of the time and the riding season here is almost the whole year so check back often to see where we go and what we do.

We took a ride to Kingman last week to join the local HOG chapter. Looking forward to meeting some new friends and taking some interesting rides. I think maybe by next weekend we'll be ready to get out of the house and join in all of the festivities around the area. We have the two back bedrooms and the 2nd bath painted and new carpet has been installed. The kitchen has some fresh paint and is scrubbed clean (Faith did a great job). So the only rooms left are the master bed and bath. A little paint and a new bedroom set and then we can say that we're settled in and start taking some time for ourselves. I think we deserve it.

Don't forget to stop by often to keep up with the adventures of RobnFaith !!!