Alpine SoCal Winter Blast Rally – Day 2 (Lake Havasu City, AZ)

It’s too easy to get behind on the blog posts here… with so many friends (old and new) to catch up with, coupled with late night firework displays to watch, and my “presidential” duties; it seems as if there’s just not enough time in the day (or evening) to keep up.  And on top of that, the internet connectivity slowed waaay down once more folks arrived in the park.  Anyway, here’s your Day 2 recap (better late than never, right?), starting with another copy of our Rally Schedule:

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As you can see from the schedule (above), each day is pretty much “free time” to do whatever you want with fellow Alpine Coach owner’s and friends.  Many folks go out sightseeing, others hang around the park and do hikes or other activities.

Our Day 2 (Friday) of the Rally kicked off with another awesome breakfast spread courtesy of our Host(s)/Co-Host(s) aka “Wagon Masters” David & Nicole Guhsé and Paul & Katie Lisec.  Dave went all out once again (just like at the Lake Powell Rally) and toasted bagels to order.  We also had hard-boiled eggs along with the usual complement of yogurts, fruits, and assorted pastries.  No one is complaining yet, except maybe about their waist lines 🙂

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Dave toasting bagels. We’re all still waiting on the Omelettes though 🙂
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Awesome Alpine breakfast spread.
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Full and contented Alpiner’s after breakfast.

After breakfast, I held an Alpine SoCal Board Meeting.  My first as the newly elected president.  We only have a small number of Board Members in attendance here at this particular Rally and it was relatively quick and painless 🙂  It was mostly an opportunity for me to prepare for tomorrow’s (Saturday) Membership Meeting.  Now, I just have to find time to write up the “minutes” of the meeting 🙁

Then Stilla and I took our grandson’s dog “Sheba” over to the SARA Dog Park again (like we did yesterday) but found out it was closed.  We are still dog-sitting until our daughter finds a place in Phoenix that allows pets.  Meanwhile, my Mom is dog-sitting our little dog “Coach” back in Casa Grande, AZ at the “dirt farm”.

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We went in search of another dog park in Lake Havasu and ended up  stopping by one of the beaches that is accessible to vehicles on the man-made island after crossing over London Bridge.

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Sheba had a great time running and playing on the beach and in the water:

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Then we stopped at London Bridge Beach

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… and found a nice ‘off-leash’ fenced-in dog park for her to play “catch”.

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She played “catch” until she was all tuckered out.

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Then we drove down to Parker, AZ to visit with old friends Bob & Mary.  They spend time during the winter here at an RV park in La Paz County next to the Pirate’s Den RV Resort.

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Bob & Mary are also good friends with my Dad and stepmom Elaine. They are members of the same camping group (FCRV Rolling Springs) in Colorado Springs, CO.  We are also still members of the same group.  We’ve attended a good number of camp-outs with them over the last few years along with my Dad & Elaine.  It was great to see them again and catch up on things 🙂  We missed the opportunity to visit with them while we were at the Quartzsite “Desert Rat Rally” in January because we just didn’t find the time.  Good to see ya again Bob & Mary!  Until next time… 🙂

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(L to R) Mary, Bob, and Stilla alongside the Colorado River in Parker, AZ.

We headed back to the SARA Rodeo Grounds for the evening’s fireworks show and got back just as it was getting dark.

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I was amazed at how many people were parked alongside the highway as we came back into Lake Havasu and neared the SARA Park Rodeo Grounds.  Folks were setting up at any place they could find to watch the fireworks:

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Some people found high vantage points (above) and others just parked alongside the highway (below).

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Happy Hour was in full-swing after we got back to our RV Park.  Those Alpiner’s sure know how to party (in moderation of course) 🙂

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I won’t bore you with lots of pictures of fireworks today, (especially since the battery died on my camera/iPhone) but here’s a couple that I “borrowed” from fellow Alpine Owner’s John & Lorraine Foster:

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Needless to say, the Western Pyrotechnics Association put on a pretty good show and it promises to be even “grander” tomorrow evening on Saturday.  And then, everything that’s left over gets shot off on Sunday we’re told.  The fireworks vendors aren’t allowed to leave with any unspent fireworks.

Unfortunately, “Sheba” didn’t do very well with the fireworks going off.  She trembled and panted quite a bit throughout the evening until the noise stopped at 10 PM or so.  The only way we could find to keep her calm was to have one of us stay with her in the bedroom of the Coach with the doors and windows closed and the radio turned up loud.  Stilla spent a lot of time in the Coach comforting her.

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Our little dog “Coach” handled the noise quite well last year when he was here with us, but every dog is different.  They all have their own unique personalities, don’t they?

Well, that’s all for now.  Check back soon for a recap of our Saturday activities.  I’ll try to get caught up quickly.  It’s now Sunday afternoon and I’ve got a lot of other things to get caught up on as well 🙂