Las Vegas Downtown Container Park (Wednesday, August 10th 2016)

We've been in Lake Havasu for about a week now, and have enjoyed time catching up with friends, but now, our youngest daughter and her boy friend are coming down to spend time with us. Our daughter has finished her summer school classes, her boyfriend has finished working for the week, and now they finally get their much needed summer vacation.  They are flying from Denver to Las Vegas so we will make a trip and pick them up.

When we headed to Las Vegas to Pick up the kids, we went early to spend some time there.  Steve did some research ahead of time, and found that near the downtown Fremont Street area, there is an area called the Downtown Container Park. 



 It is a park and mall made strictly out of cargo containers. In front of the park stands a praying mantis that comes to life at sundown. We first saw it during the day, and were amazed by it.

When we got past the praying mantis, we entered the container park. It is a fee free area with two parks and lots of shops and restaurants to explore, and it is all made from cargo containers.

Looking down at the praying mantis from the second floor

We visited the reptile store where we met this cute little guy!

This is a monitor lizard, like we saw in Thailand, but this one isn't as big as an alligator

After shopping around the Downtown Container Park for awhile, we headed down to Fremont Street to take a look around.

The first thing we saw was the heart attack grill, so we went in for a closer look.

We had to weigh in to see if we would be able to eat for free.

Guess I won't be eating free...probably for the best

After we got a few laughs at the Heart Attack Grill, we made our way down Fremont Street.

They have a zip line that runs the entire length of Fremont Street.  You can sit, like a normal zip line, or head first like you are flying.

People coming out of the zip line gates

There are a lot of bars on Fremont Street that sell the giant daiquiris.

Near the top you can see some people going head first on the zip lines.

All over Las Vegas there a actors and impersonators.  Fremont Street is no exception.

An Elvis impersonator

When we finished at Fremont Street, we looked up the kids flight, and realized that it had been delayed for about an hour.  So instead of heading to the airport, we went back to the Downtown Container Park, where there were lots of great places to sit and relax.  We sat on a comfortable couch overlooking this park and watched the local families as they enjoyed some outdoor time with the fans and misters to keep them cool.

When we left the Container Park, it was sundown, and the praying mantis was coming to life.

It shoots fire from it's antennas

When the kids flight finally came in, we picked them up and headed straight for In-N-Out Burger.  The first of three In-N-Out's we would visit during their stay.

We don't have In-n-Out in Colorado, so this is always a treat!

Boat Tow (Friday, August 5th, 2016)

We are once again in Lake Havasu City, enjoying time with friends. This time of year that usually means hanging out in the lake.  The temps are hovering around 110 - 115 F in August, so lake water or air conditioning are a necessity.  

A usual day at the lake

We went out with our friends Alan and Linda this morning on their boat, and pulled down to a cove about half way between the island and the Parker dam.  We set our anchor and just hung out in the cove all day.  It was a fabulous day.  We had the whole cove to ourselves with nothing to do but relax!

When it was finally time to pull up anchor, we tugged at it a few times, and it wasn't budging.  So Alan put his boat in gear, and we gave it another tug.  Nothing.  So he put the boat in reverse and backed up pretty fast to try again to get the anchor to release.  Just then, we got a big backfire, and the engine stopped.  He tried to start it again, and all we got was a big thump.  Nothing. 

After a few times of trying, we decided that it had hydrolocked, which basically means it got water into the pistons.  What happened was, when we backed up quickly the water started to come in through exhaust pipes. When the motor stopped the water was able to flow back into the exhaust tips and get into the motor. 

It's not a bad situation, but it's a situation where you're not going to get the boat started again until you dry it out.  And if you don't dry it out, you'll ruin your motor. To solve the issue you need to pull the spark plugs and then turn the motor over with the starter to force the water out to the cylinders.  Then reinstall the spark plugs and change the motor oil.  With luck all should be fine, which it was for us once we got home and were able to work on it.

Although we were certain of what had happened, Alan didn't want to be towed in (he's boated lots for 30+ years and had never needed to be towed back by a tow company!), so he fretted for awhile trying to figure out if there was another way.  We were all thinking.....we have a stuck anchor, and a hydrolocked engine, and if we don't make a call soon, we're going to be stuck out here for the night.  It's really warm out, and spending the night wouldn't be that bad, but Alan finally decided to give Boat Tow US a call.  

You can buy an annual membership with Boat Tow US, which costs $72 for the year, and provides you with unlimited tows.  Alan had a membership, so it wasn't a big deal.  He made the call and tried to describe where were were.  Steve sent them an email with a pin of where we were, so they would know exactly how to find us.

You have to love technology.  This is what Steve sent to Boat Tow US.

They told us it would be 45 minutes to an hour before we would see our rescue boat, so we sat back and relaxed and waited for our tow. We finally saw him out in the main channel of the lake and flagged him down.  He came in and hooked up to us.  He told us that his name was Ross, and we told him that not only were we broken down, but we also had a stuck anchor.  He didn't have a problem with that at all. 

Alan reaching over the front of the boat to hook the tow rope on

Captain Ross gave us a few good pulls, and our anchor finally gave up.  We were free, and he started towing us in.

We're not sure what our anchor was hooked on, but it was hooked well.  It was completely twisted when the lake finally gave it back to us!

We sat back and enjoyed our tow in

As we made our way in, it continued to get darker, and we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset!

Everywhere we looked, the sunset just got more beautiful!  I don't think I've ever seen sunsets more beautiful than those you find in Lake Havasu City!  Such a fun and relaxing evening, thanks to Captain Ross and our tow to the boat ramp.  He dropped Linda off at the ramp so she could go get the truck and trailer, and then he loaded us right onto the trailer.

Alan heard later that without the annual membership, this tow would have cost over $400, but since we all have our boat tow insurance, this was a very beautiful, relaxing night!

Moving Day in a College Town (Saturday, July 30th, 2016)

It's that time of year again in the college towns all around the country.  All of the kids are moving out, and moving in, and the towns are in chaos.  Our youngest daughter's boyfriend is one of the lucky one's that got caught up in this shuffle. He has to move out of his current house, and into a new house, but of course, it's just not that simple.  

He has to be out of his current house by noon on July 31st, and can't move into his new house until noon on August 1st.  So what is a poor guy to do in between?

His timing is impeccable!  We still have the trailer in Colorado from helping our oldest daughter and her husband move into their new home, so we told him that we would bring it up and help out.

He lives in a house with three other guys, so there was a lot of stuff that had to be taken care of, but he had spent the last week getting rid of old stuff, packing and organizing all of his stuff, so it was ready to go.  We pulled the trailer up to the house at about 10:00, and the move began.  

All of the guys in the house were great about helping each other with their stuff, so Steve and I were able to just stay in the trailer, and pack the items in an organized manner as they were carried out. By the time lunch rolled around, we had the trailer pretty much loaded.  

We all headed to Cosmos Pizza for lunch, and enjoyed the cold water, air conditioning, and great pizza.  After lunch we headed back to the house to finish up a few last minute things before leaving the kids to have a nice night on their own.

It was a busy day, but so glad we could help.  In two days, we'll move him into his new place with the help of his family and it will be the start to another school year.  But first, we all have to have a little fun!