Old Time Region in the South

It has come to my attention recently that I have missed an important piece of comedy.  Thank you Beth and Ron for bringing this to my attention.

This would be the Ray Steven's hit of "the Mississippi Squirrel Revival".  I found it on You-Tube and after chuckling with Left Brain over it, had to share it with you.

 

 

Long Live the Squirrel Loving Queen

 

The Step Killer

After rolling out of Yuma we landed here at The Benches near Lake Havasu.  We were graced with a view of the Colorado River on one side and majestic mountains on the other.  I didn’t think we’d be doing any boondocking again so soon, but it sure is easier to just pull up and set up camp.

 

We did have one mishap during the set up.  One might call it a failure to communicate.  I placed the chairs against the wheels and the step under the rig since it didn’t seem needed at that point.

And then Left  Brain decided to ease forward for a more level spot.  And when the wheels on the bus go round and round….they ran over the steps.   Ooops.

But as we do with most of these situations we end up laughing about it and making the most of it.  My favorite version is that they are bowing down to The Queen in homage.  My least favorite is the one that indicates I need to lose a few pounds.

 

 Long Live the Queen of Motorhome Mishaps

Memories of Lake Havasu-

 

The Visitors Center is set a quaint English theme, very fitting since the London Bridge is right next door.
 

 

 

I’m glad Left Brain is so amenable and willing to pose for me. 

Here he is in an old English phone booth on his cell phone. 

I always wanted one of these for my gardens on the hillside. 

I can give up that goal now since the garden is gone.

The fountain and gate provide a nice setting as you enter the area.
 

Long Live the Queen of London

 

The lighthouses of Lake Havasu

 

Picture it:  over 200 miles from any body of water large enough to warrant a lighthouse and Lake Havasu has 20 of them.

 

Granted, they are replicas down in a smaller scale, but still….that’s a lot of lighthouses.

 

Some are of an original design and many are replicas of lighthouses that exist elsewhere.

I simply had to visit my favorite one, Split Rock Lighthouse from Two Harbors MN on Lake Superior.

Long Live the Lighthouse Keeper Queen

Meeting new friends in Lake Havasu

We did our touristy bit today and ventured into town to see the sights.

 

This whole area is stunning with the Colorado River going into Lake Havasu, the mountains and the first wildflowers starting to peek out of the rocks.

 

 

The city is quaint and I was so looking forward to the walking tour of London Bridge.  After handing over our money and getting on the list we were told they needed one more person before they could do the tour.  So we snooped around the Visitor Center, gathering up brochures for the area and surrounding towns.

At eleven o’clock the manager sadly announced that there were not enough people to make it a go and refunded our money.  Left Brain went back to the car to get the computers since they did have free WiFi there.

I found an outlet (I’m always looking for some kind of outlet it seems) and plugged in my computer and my phone which seemed to be totally run down.  Right next to the outlet was the nicest gentleman and we struck up a conversation.

When responding to the mandated question of “where are you from?” I replied that we hailed from the state of Wisconsin.  He responded that his neighbor was from Wisconsin, from a little town called Spooner.  Huh?  Now Left Brain was tuned into the conversation. 

Then he said that she had remarried to which I asked if her name was Kathy.  He nodded his head left and looked at me a bit more closely.  I asked if her name had been Peterson.  Another yes.  So I went in for the kill and asked if her husband was BJ.  By now his mouth had opened and he looked truly surprised. 

BJ was married to my cousin Bonnie before she died and had remarried Kathy.  They had a winter home in Arizona, that much I remembered.  But I had no idea it was in Lake Havasu.

Since I had internet available I sent an email to BJ’s daughter, Shayna, to ask for Kathy’s email address.  Then I sent her an email to let her know I was in the area for a couple of days.  It would sure be fun to meet up for lunch and see her again.

We found a nice lady to snap a couple of photos for me of us with Ed.  Then we ran into him again outside where they were installing memorial bricks and he wanted to make sure his wife’s was placed in the correct area.  So he took a photo of Left Brain and me in front of London Bridge.

 

What a small world!  Left Brain and I walked around for a while and then decided to have lunch here at Jersey’s.  My regret was that I hadn’t been quick enough to think to ask Ed to join us to get to know him better.

The manager looked confused when I thanked him for not being able to do the tour that morning.  If he had we never would have met Ed and shared our common stories.  This is the part of traveling I enjoy the most – connecting with new people, especially when there’s a connection to old people.  Well, not old people, but old people…you know what I mean.

Long Live the Queen of Cool Connections