Holiday wanderings

 We started to get ready for the holidays at home.    I ordered a live Christmas tree and Dave put up his favorite Christmas decorations.....I did a little cooking (but no cookies....) attended a car show where Tam was the star, and received a text from Pam that led to some fun holiday wanderings.   

French Pizza (JoAnn's recipe)

Pam and John were heading to Lake Havasu State Park for a quick, two day vacation to see the lights, did we want to join them?    DUH......of course we did!

site 2, seen from the water's edge

I quickly got online and was able to snag a waterfront site for three nights instead of two!     Yay.     Thus began our holiday wanderings.

Three days of visiting with dear friends, eating out each night, exploring the desert and walking amongst the Christmas lights.    It turned out to be a perfect time to visit, most people were home, getting ready for the big day.    We almost had the place to ourselves.

London Bridge by day

Dinners beside the London Bridge.   At night it was lit up beautifully!

We took a few desert drives, one looking for the infamous Desert Bar.....an off grid, middle of the desert bar with live music, dancing, and.....    We discovered it was only open on weekends, but we enjoyed the journey, nonetheless.

Another time we drove along the Bill Williams River, looking for what we could see.    The road ended rather unceremoniously, and we headed back the way we came.

We drove across the Parker Dam (after taking a few photos), discovered a whole family of wild Burros, complete with cute little foals and a memory rock wall where people had left small tokens and painted stones in clefts of the rock.

ahem.....

Someone wanted an unobstructed picture of the whole dam and found a "way" to do that.       Dave and John turned their backs so as not to be complicit in the guard rail breach.

 

love those fuzzy ears!

On our last evening, after dinner, we walked along under the beautiful Christmas light displays, along the river.    It was magical and a perfect start to our holiday.    There was even one spot where a machine was shooting out "snow" for kids and they were having a snowball fight!

Thanks, Pam, for a wonderful idea and for including us in it!   

We had such a good time, and this was just the beginning.     The next morning, we turned Beluga toward one of our favorite places - Borrego Springs - to continue our fun and impromptu holiday celebration.

I'll end this post right here.   Dave is a little under the weather today and I'm going to join him for a nap.    Stay tuned for the rest of our holiday.

Here's Annie!

Catch up

 

The weather has been beautiful this fall, with Christmas fast approaching one couldn't ask for bluer skies, more perfect temperatures.   I feel for all our friends back east, they're dealing with wind and lots of snow and the attendant grey skies.    That kind of weather is what made Dave crabby at this time of year.     He's a happy camper now that he doesn't have to deal with it anymore.      He's loving the fireplace on these coolish mornings and evenings, and loving being able to wear a t shirt and no socks in the afternoons.

 We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with Steve and MonaLiza this year - Honey Baked Ham!     Before dinner we sat outside and enjoyed happy hour until the sun went down and it got chilly.

Steve made sure Taos had plenty of his favorite ice cubes....

We're continuing with Taos training and exposures as he nears his first-year birthday at the end of December.    It's hard to believe that sweet little chubby puppy is almost a year old.

He was a good boy at our annual doctor's appointment.    She is a big dog lover, so we spent more time than normal in her office.     He found it difficult to pay attention after 45 minutes or so, and finally just rolled over onto his back and went to sleep.   He was the hit of the office!

practicing "leave it"

he helps vacuum and even allows us to vacuum him!

practicing "stay" while Dave works

he's a grocery shopping pro

safety inspector - hard hat passes muster

no barking at the other dog.....

Taos had a welcome and exciting surprise a few weeks ago!   Jerry send a big box of Benebones for us to share with our Guide Dog group and Taos got first choice!  He made several selections and proceeded to race around the house with each of them.   FUN!

Dave has been helping Steve reroute Tam's garage door opener.   A-1 Garage Specialists came, looked at the job and said it couldn't be done.    Don't say that to Dave!

the team

All done, the opener works like a dream, Steve is happy.   They do love to figure out "interesting" projects together.

We're getting ready for Christmas, as you all are.    The Palm Springs Christmas tree came out of storage and Dave put up Flat Stanley.   

This year we decided to forgo putting up the fresh cut tree, donating it to someone who needs it, and do something a little different.   Stay tuned.

Happy Holidays from our big sweetie

And.....here's Annie!

 

Judi!

 Judi has been one of my best friends since I was 7 years old.    We lived across the street from each other until we each got married.    I was in her wedding, she in mine.   She married one of Dave's good friends and we've stayed in close touch through the years.   We were so excited that she was coming out for a visit, her first time in Arizona.

The three of us talked and laughed and ate and reminisced for two weeks.  We drove off road, through the desert, to show her one of our favorite activities, ate at Lake Pleasant, (a lake in the desert?), we drove up to Prescott to show her that the desert isn't all sand.....and we went to Palm Springs to jiggle in the hot tub, enjoy the beautiful scenery and the great restaurants there. 

second cup

 Taos added her to his "pod" and stuck close by when she wasn't feeling well.   We rented a small transport chair for her to make the long walk down to Scorpion Bay Marina easier and more fun.

approaching the funicular

one of the wild Burro population along Castle Hot Springs rd. watches us pass by

We were able to rent the same Palm Springs house that we've used in the past.  Judi was supposed to join us there a few years ago, but it didn't work out, so we were happy to be able to recreate our aborted visit.     The home is located in a lovely quiet neighborhood, close to all we wanted to see and do.     Lots of sidewalks for Dave and Taos to do a bit of work.    All play and no work, ya know.....

The back yard is very private, surrounded by a tall, green hedge.   The pool and hot tub were perfect for us and Taos had plenty of place to explore and stretch his legs.

second cup, poolside

zoomies, poolside

Judi preferred the pool; Dave and I preferred the jiggly hot tub, especially Dave the Lizard.....

a hot and jiggly Happy Hour

Taos loved it all, except when his ball fell into the pool.   

help?

Sleeping is high on his list, once everyone is settled and accounted for.

We enjoyed some of our favorite restaurants and enjoyed the leftovers in our nice dining room.    Enjoyed the luxury of time with our good friend.

Blue Coyote's huge portions

Moules Frites makes Dave a happy man.

Judi flew home last week, and we all miss her.   

   

Here's another girl we miss.....

post Halloween fun?

  

 

  

Hmmmm....how did he get here?    My computer gremlin (or blogger gremlin) decided you needed to see Taos making eye contact with a parking lot burro at Lake Pleasant.