This was probably the best holiday weekend I've had in a long time! Usually I'm in Parker for holiday weekends and since I've been out of town for most of last month, it was nice to be home in Havasu with no set agenda for 4 days.
My holiday weekend started off with excitement as I got a call from my roommate (Awtum) letting me know she would be coming into town Tuesday night. I was excited because I hadn't seen her since before she was in terrible car accident a few months back. She had just gotten her Halo off and was just wearing the neck brace now. Her doctor gave her the ok to get out of the house and enjoy the weekend in Havasu, so long as there was no boat rides involved. Then I got some even better news when she got here, her neck brace will be off in a few weeks with no surgery in sight and she will be back in town in about a month!
She loves to BBQ so I ran to the store Tuesday evening so I could barbeque up some chicken and a new side dish I wanted to try , zucchini topped with mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses and sliced up tomato for lunch the following day to celebrate her being home and the great news about her recovery.
We had some beers, grubbed and reminisced, it was great to see her in such a great mood and such a positive "nothing is going to keep me down" attitude. Her parents (Greg and Cynthia) showed up later in the afternoon, so we downed a few more Coors Lights with them. Cynthia is known for her amazing Mexican dishes so I had to have her try one of the Homemade Tamales I had bought, I don't know if I was sweating from the heat or being nervous that the Tamales this "wedo" bought were going to be up to snuff for Cynthia. She approved, then said "I'm going to teach your white ass how to make Tamales, I'll send you MY recipe!"
I had later afternoon/evening plans as RD had invited me over to Casa De Johnson for "Mexican night" and a dip in the pool so the tamales were perfect , got the Mexican approval and I didn't have to cook anything. Just drink RD's beer.
Upon arrival at Casa De Johnson, there was a pink taco pan frying some fish, Stacy was also in the kitchen cutting up some Asada, Chicken and playing up some beans, rice, pico de gallo, guacamole, and other things for some tacos. It appeared that the kitchen was in good hands so I helped myself to RD's beers while we kept an eye on the kiddos.
Ricky from "Maxed Out Marine" showed up with Sam from "Precision Transport" with his Girlfriend and ther daughter (Emma) for some dinner a short while later. Sierra and Emma quickly became pals, Sierra grabbed her shopping cart and gave Emma a grand tour of the house and eventually dove into her toy bin to show and share her toys with her new found friend.
Dinner turned out amazing and was probably the best Mexican food I've had since I've lived in Havasu. For a night cap, I dipped into my bottle of JD, and ended up polishing it off, that i keep stashed at Dave's while we were enjoying the pool and the jacuzzi . The rest is a blur other than Stacy calling me a cab.
Thursday, INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!! My favorite day to celebrate, the 4th of July. I had some things to take care of in the morning and I wanted to spend some time with my roommate and she wanted to see the shit show that was the channel. I obliged and we went to the channel later in the afternoon . I could only handle a couple hours down there and I've grown to hate everything about the channel on a holiday weekend. The people, the trash , the newbies , and the people that cruise the channel a dozen times dancing on the boat like fools with the stereo set on kill acting as if it were a HEY LAM douche bag parade!
Paul65k was nice enough to take us out on his pontoon to watch the fireworks in Thompson Bay so I had to get to Dave's at around 5-5:30 so I didn't miss the boat. I called every cab company in town to get a ride from Javelinas to Dave's and it was 45 minute wait. I said, "screw it, lets hoof it across the bridge and Hail a cab around McCulloch and the 95. " NO DICE!! Walked all the way past K-Mart and none of the cabbies stopped when I tried to stop them. It had to be a mile or two but felt like 10. I was done, a few minutes later a cab stopped and took me to Dave's . Nord, Stacy, Dave and the kids were enjoying the A/C in the house when I got there only to find out we weren't leaving till 7-7:30 to meet up with Paul. Fine with me , I just dropped two sizes in the waist from my Ten mile walk, I need to cool down and have a beer or two and put my "healthy" weight back on !
We packed up the kids, and piled into Dave's truck , It felt like we were in a single cab Toyota in the valley taking the whole familia to dinner ! Lol. All we were missing was one of those stickers on the rear window with the two parents and 5 kids in tow !
We met up with Paul and his wife, Jean at Mavericks liqueur store. Paul keeps his Pontoon in a slip at the Marina so it was a breeze to cruise into the parking lot VIP status with our parking pass. Loaded up the kids and coolers onto Paul's Pontoon and headed out into Thompson Bay for the fireworks show. It was my first time watching a show on the water as well as in Havasu. It was awesome !!! There was so many boats and Nav lights it was crazy !!
We docked up with a few of Dave's buddy's that were already anchored up and were nice enough to let us side tie to them and watch the show
After the fireworks show Paul navigated us through the traffic back to his dock in the marina, which under normal circumstances would be a breeze but with all the boats heading back and it was now dark made it a bit tricky . The guy coming out of the marina with very dim Nav lights didn't help either. Everyone was headed into the marina to dock their boats for the evening. Hell of a time to head out into Thompson Bay . We successfully got Paul and Jean's pontoon docked in what is a somewhat tight fit in the slip. It was hot and muggy in the marina, there is no breeze at all that travels through the marina and it quickly reminded us of the humidity we endured on our trip to Texas.
By this time we were pretty hungry, Daniel and Sierra had passed out by the end of the show and it was time to get them home and put them to bed . The Johnson's offered for to have everyone back for some Pizza and a dip in the pool. We once again piled into RD's family truckster to sit in some traffic getting across the bridge. Turns out we weren't the only ones hungry !!The mellow little 7 month old better known as little RD (River Daniel) decided he was hungry too ! He was screaming so loud you'd think he was in some kind of unbearable physical pain ! Nothing was going to stop him until he got his food. Damn that kid has some lungs ! The cooler was in the back so a bottle wasn't really easy to get to while we were in traffic. Stacy knew exactly what was wrong with him as I tried everything to calm him down! He finally got hooked up with a bottle and returned to his usual mellow little self.
Being that it was late on the 4th just about everything was closed except for Rosatti's Pizza. We ordered a few pizzas and some wings anticipating a few other guests who never showed. The food bill rivaled one of my many epic solo bar tabs I've had over the years. I couldn't believe pizza and wings could ever be that expensive ! The food was great, as it always has been when I've ordered from Rosatti's , just a little more pricey than I recall. After we ate, we all hit up the pool , talking about boats and eventually getting into each others backgrounds to how we ended up where we are today. I've always been fascinated by people's stories and life experiences , especially my peers. You can learn a lot from listening to others life stories and more often than not put some of their experiences into play in your life. After a few beers and talking shop it was now 2 am and time to hit the hay.
Seeing how none of us had a set agenda for the weekend we got up and lounged around the house a little bit , wiped down RD's boat while we contemplated going to Parker or launching here in Havasu. We decided that we would stay in town and meet up with JenBen and her crew in the channel.
While we went through a quick check list on the boat Nord noticed the stereo was loose in the cubby it sits in. Nord fiddled with it for quite awhile to see if he could get it to stay in place. He did, with the use of a beer coozie ! RD opted to call Ron's Custom Detail to see if they could set it in place properly and if they had time. They said no problem, well we were all hungry at this point so we dropped Nord, the kids and Stacy off at In n Out while Dave and I cruised over to Ron's to get the stereo mounted properly. They were so fast that by the time we got back to In N Out our order wasn't even ready yet ! Thanks again to the guys at Ron's !
We launched at Windsor and headed over to the north side of the channel to meet up with their friend better known as JenBen and her crew ! We beached just north of the condos . It was a cool spot, mellow you could watch the boats cruise through and it was a good place for Daniel and Sierra to swim around and play in the water ! I really liked it because it was away from the chaos that is on the south side of the bridge, kid friendly as well !
After a little while of Dave helping Sierra get over her fear of swimming on her own , she was off ! After that anytime we'd come near her to get her closer shed push us away !!! She's really becoming independent, almost too independent at times.
RD and Sierra
RD, Nord and Sierra
After a few hours of relaxing checking out the different boats it was time to put the Schiada back on the trailer and head back home to figure out what to eat. Evidently it was Stacy's "party" night as she had gotten a baby sitter from 10-2 and we as Nord puts it were headed ,"to the Baaaah" We ended up stopping by Smiths to BBQ up some steaks, we got a killer deal on our food ! $26 for 4 steaks, corn on the cob and beans !!! Nord manned the BBQ and cooked up some killer meat and Stacy handled the sides . After dinner we got cleaned up headed to the bar to meet up with JenBen and a few others at none other than The Flying X Saloon....
We waited outside for a few minutes as they were at capacity and then we rolled in to grab a few drinks and check out the new bar ... For being at capacity it wasn't that crowded to me and there was plenty of room for me to cut a rug on the dance floor! Service was great and we never waited for longer than a few minutes for a drink. There was plenty of eye candy around and a live band. The vibe was great ! No tuff guys looking for a fight or to cause problems which sometimes happens at other watering holes in town on a busy holiday weekend...
We ran into STV Keith and his buddy while we were there and mingled with several other people we knew ..... We ended up closing down the bar , it's been awhile since I've been somewhere and lights came on and I was still upright
Dave, Stacy, Nord and JenBen
I can't speak for anyone else but I had a great time all night and it I will definitely be back there again. I believe they serve "bar food" as well, another cool feature of the bar is they have a narrow strip of Ice that goes from end of the bar to the other to keep your beers cold ! I forgot to take a picture of it though.
Part II coming next!
My holiday weekend started off with excitement as I got a call from my roommate (Awtum) letting me know she would be coming into town Tuesday night. I was excited because I hadn't seen her since before she was in terrible car accident a few months back. She had just gotten her Halo off and was just wearing the neck brace now. Her doctor gave her the ok to get out of the house and enjoy the weekend in Havasu, so long as there was no boat rides involved. Then I got some even better news when she got here, her neck brace will be off in a few weeks with no surgery in sight and she will be back in town in about a month!
She loves to BBQ so I ran to the store Tuesday evening so I could barbeque up some chicken and a new side dish I wanted to try , zucchini topped with mozzarella, Parmesan cheeses and sliced up tomato for lunch the following day to celebrate her being home and the great news about her recovery.
We had some beers, grubbed and reminisced, it was great to see her in such a great mood and such a positive "nothing is going to keep me down" attitude. Her parents (Greg and Cynthia) showed up later in the afternoon, so we downed a few more Coors Lights with them. Cynthia is known for her amazing Mexican dishes so I had to have her try one of the Homemade Tamales I had bought, I don't know if I was sweating from the heat or being nervous that the Tamales this "wedo" bought were going to be up to snuff for Cynthia. She approved, then said "I'm going to teach your white ass how to make Tamales, I'll send you MY recipe!"
I had later afternoon/evening plans as RD had invited me over to Casa De Johnson for "Mexican night" and a dip in the pool so the tamales were perfect , got the Mexican approval and I didn't have to cook anything. Just drink RD's beer.
Upon arrival at Casa De Johnson, there was a pink taco pan frying some fish, Stacy was also in the kitchen cutting up some Asada, Chicken and playing up some beans, rice, pico de gallo, guacamole, and other things for some tacos. It appeared that the kitchen was in good hands so I helped myself to RD's beers while we kept an eye on the kiddos.
Ricky from "Maxed Out Marine" showed up with Sam from "Precision Transport" with his Girlfriend and ther daughter (Emma) for some dinner a short while later. Sierra and Emma quickly became pals, Sierra grabbed her shopping cart and gave Emma a grand tour of the house and eventually dove into her toy bin to show and share her toys with her new found friend.
Dinner turned out amazing and was probably the best Mexican food I've had since I've lived in Havasu. For a night cap, I dipped into my bottle of JD, and ended up polishing it off, that i keep stashed at Dave's while we were enjoying the pool and the jacuzzi . The rest is a blur other than Stacy calling me a cab.
Thursday, INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!! My favorite day to celebrate, the 4th of July. I had some things to take care of in the morning and I wanted to spend some time with my roommate and she wanted to see the shit show that was the channel. I obliged and we went to the channel later in the afternoon . I could only handle a couple hours down there and I've grown to hate everything about the channel on a holiday weekend. The people, the trash , the newbies , and the people that cruise the channel a dozen times dancing on the boat like fools with the stereo set on kill acting as if it were a HEY LAM douche bag parade!
Paul65k was nice enough to take us out on his pontoon to watch the fireworks in Thompson Bay so I had to get to Dave's at around 5-5:30 so I didn't miss the boat. I called every cab company in town to get a ride from Javelinas to Dave's and it was 45 minute wait. I said, "screw it, lets hoof it across the bridge and Hail a cab around McCulloch and the 95. " NO DICE!! Walked all the way past K-Mart and none of the cabbies stopped when I tried to stop them. It had to be a mile or two but felt like 10. I was done, a few minutes later a cab stopped and took me to Dave's . Nord, Stacy, Dave and the kids were enjoying the A/C in the house when I got there only to find out we weren't leaving till 7-7:30 to meet up with Paul. Fine with me , I just dropped two sizes in the waist from my Ten mile walk, I need to cool down and have a beer or two and put my "healthy" weight back on !
We packed up the kids, and piled into Dave's truck , It felt like we were in a single cab Toyota in the valley taking the whole familia to dinner ! Lol. All we were missing was one of those stickers on the rear window with the two parents and 5 kids in tow !
We met up with Paul and his wife, Jean at Mavericks liqueur store. Paul keeps his Pontoon in a slip at the Marina so it was a breeze to cruise into the parking lot VIP status with our parking pass. Loaded up the kids and coolers onto Paul's Pontoon and headed out into Thompson Bay for the fireworks show. It was my first time watching a show on the water as well as in Havasu. It was awesome !!! There was so many boats and Nav lights it was crazy !!
We docked up with a few of Dave's buddy's that were already anchored up and were nice enough to let us side tie to them and watch the show
After the fireworks show Paul navigated us through the traffic back to his dock in the marina, which under normal circumstances would be a breeze but with all the boats heading back and it was now dark made it a bit tricky . The guy coming out of the marina with very dim Nav lights didn't help either. Everyone was headed into the marina to dock their boats for the evening. Hell of a time to head out into Thompson Bay . We successfully got Paul and Jean's pontoon docked in what is a somewhat tight fit in the slip. It was hot and muggy in the marina, there is no breeze at all that travels through the marina and it quickly reminded us of the humidity we endured on our trip to Texas.
By this time we were pretty hungry, Daniel and Sierra had passed out by the end of the show and it was time to get them home and put them to bed . The Johnson's offered for to have everyone back for some Pizza and a dip in the pool. We once again piled into RD's family truckster to sit in some traffic getting across the bridge. Turns out we weren't the only ones hungry !!The mellow little 7 month old better known as little RD (River Daniel) decided he was hungry too ! He was screaming so loud you'd think he was in some kind of unbearable physical pain ! Nothing was going to stop him until he got his food. Damn that kid has some lungs ! The cooler was in the back so a bottle wasn't really easy to get to while we were in traffic. Stacy knew exactly what was wrong with him as I tried everything to calm him down! He finally got hooked up with a bottle and returned to his usual mellow little self.
Being that it was late on the 4th just about everything was closed except for Rosatti's Pizza. We ordered a few pizzas and some wings anticipating a few other guests who never showed. The food bill rivaled one of my many epic solo bar tabs I've had over the years. I couldn't believe pizza and wings could ever be that expensive ! The food was great, as it always has been when I've ordered from Rosatti's , just a little more pricey than I recall. After we ate, we all hit up the pool , talking about boats and eventually getting into each others backgrounds to how we ended up where we are today. I've always been fascinated by people's stories and life experiences , especially my peers. You can learn a lot from listening to others life stories and more often than not put some of their experiences into play in your life. After a few beers and talking shop it was now 2 am and time to hit the hay.
Seeing how none of us had a set agenda for the weekend we got up and lounged around the house a little bit , wiped down RD's boat while we contemplated going to Parker or launching here in Havasu. We decided that we would stay in town and meet up with JenBen and her crew in the channel.
While we went through a quick check list on the boat Nord noticed the stereo was loose in the cubby it sits in. Nord fiddled with it for quite awhile to see if he could get it to stay in place. He did, with the use of a beer coozie ! RD opted to call Ron's Custom Detail to see if they could set it in place properly and if they had time. They said no problem, well we were all hungry at this point so we dropped Nord, the kids and Stacy off at In n Out while Dave and I cruised over to Ron's to get the stereo mounted properly. They were so fast that by the time we got back to In N Out our order wasn't even ready yet ! Thanks again to the guys at Ron's !
We launched at Windsor and headed over to the north side of the channel to meet up with their friend better known as JenBen and her crew ! We beached just north of the condos . It was a cool spot, mellow you could watch the boats cruise through and it was a good place for Daniel and Sierra to swim around and play in the water ! I really liked it because it was away from the chaos that is on the south side of the bridge, kid friendly as well !
After a little while of Dave helping Sierra get over her fear of swimming on her own , she was off ! After that anytime we'd come near her to get her closer shed push us away !!!
She's really becoming independent, almost too independent at times. RD and Sierra
RD, Nord and Sierra
After a few hours of relaxing checking out the different boats it was time to put the Schiada back on the trailer and head back home to figure out what to eat. Evidently it was Stacy's "party" night as she had gotten a baby sitter from 10-2 and we as Nord puts it were headed ,"to the Baaaah"
We ended up stopping by Smiths to BBQ up some steaks, we got a killer deal on our food ! $26 for 4 steaks, corn on the cob and beans !!! Nord manned the BBQ and cooked up some killer meat and Stacy handled the sides . After dinner we got cleaned up headed to the bar to meet up with JenBen and a few others at none other than The Flying X Saloon.... We waited outside for a few minutes as they were at capacity and then we rolled in to grab a few drinks and check out the new bar ... For being at capacity it wasn't that crowded to me and there was plenty of room for me to cut a rug on the dance floor
! Service was great and we never waited for longer than a few minutes for a drink. There was plenty of eye candy around and a live band. The vibe was great ! No tuff guys looking for a fight or to cause problems which sometimes happens at other watering holes in town on a busy holiday weekend...We ran into STV Keith and his buddy while we were there and mingled with several other people we knew ..... We ended up closing down the bar , it's been awhile since I've been somewhere and lights came on and I was still upright
Dave, Stacy, Nord and JenBen
I can't speak for anyone else but I had a great time all night and it I will definitely be back there again. I believe they serve "bar food" as well, another cool feature of the bar is they have a narrow strip of Ice that goes from end of the bar to the other to keep your beers cold ! I forgot to take a picture of it though.
Part II coming next!
