Found Montana in Arizona

Posted on January 8th, 2010 by Jean

On Wednesday, my youngest daughter, Pearl, and I ventured to Lake Havasu City to see Montana Lady Golfer. Montana and I have been friends on MySpace and Facebook for about a year.

Montana gave us a warm welcome, jumping up & down and giving us hugs upon arrival. Once inside her lovely home, Montana served my favorite wine (sauvignon blanc), crackers, and an assortment of delicious cheeses! I hand delivered a package of fruits & cheese to Montana from her 2009 Secret Santa. Montana was so pleased and said it was the perfect gift.

Ever so thoughtful, Montana carefully opened a fishing game and challenged Pearl to a round. Pearl mopped the floor with her, but our host may have thrown the game.

Time to hop into Montana’s convertible and drop her hubby off at the golf course. Then we girls were off for Fast Food and Shopping.

Pearl loves McDonalds, and was excited to have an Alvin & The Chipmonks Happy Meal. We took the scenic route to the new mall, and Montana spoiled Pearl with a Deluxe Bead Kit and 3 smaller bead sets from Michael’s.

A leisurely drive across the London Bridge led us to The Naked Turtle for beach time!

We found a few shells & pretty rocks, and got our tootsies wet. It was a beautiful day with temps in the high 60’s. Something about playing on the beach makes you hungry. The Beach Bar was undergoing some renovations, but the restaurant upstairs was open. Wow is their food GOOD!! We shared orders of calamari and fish & chips while Pearl had an ice cream sundae.

This day just FLEW by! It was nearly 5pm, and we had to pick up Montana’s hubby from the golf course. I hope he had a good day!

Montana wrapped up some shish-kebobs for Pearl and I to take home. We were running out of daylight, and my hubby and eldest daughter were at home awaiting on return.

Natalie and Pearl are still having a GREAT time making bracelets & necklaces. Tom and I are grilling the kebobs tonight!

• Have you been to Lake Havasu?
• Do you let children beat you at games?
• What’s on your shish-kabob?

Tags: Arizona, beads, facebook, friends, fun, golf, Lake Havasu, London Bridge, lunch, Montana, MySpace, Naked Turtle, Shopping, tourist

Baby Burros

Posted on October 3rd, 2009 by Jean

Oatman @ the turn of the century and today.

In the early 1900’s Oatman Arizona was a gold mining town. The mines have closed and miners are long gone, but their burros remain. Oatman is now a tourist attraction drawing in visitors from around the world to visit this ghost town off of Historic Route 66.

Although the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently requested that the public stop feeding the burros, I noticed visitors with bags of carrots and hay cubes. One exuberant guest shared a few of her cubes with my daughters who fed the friendly animals. Baby burros (who were still nursing) wore stickers bearing the universal sign for, “Don’t Feed Me Carrots”.

We popped into a few of the shops which line Main Street and admired the assorted souvenirs. There were polished rocks, hot salsas, desert-themed ornaments, Route 66 t-shirts, roadrunner statues, scorpion and tarantula paperweights to name a few. We bought a canned soda and continued our stroll. Cowboys with rifles caught our attention, and I knew a loud gun battle would ensue. Throughout the day there are staged bank robberies and gun fights. Normally I would stick around to enjoy the show, but my daughters’ are sensitive to loud noises, so I herded them back to the car. We had a great day and a nice excursion.

• What attractions draw tourists to your area?
• Do you like burros and staged gun fights?
• What sticker should be on your forehead?

Tags: Arizona, Burros, Ghost Town, PhotoShop, Tourism, wildlife

Picture of the Day ~ Week 4

Posted on June 26th, 2009 by Jean

These past four weeks went so quickly. I was able to meet my goal, and take 1 photo (sometimes more) per day. I can now say I have:
• read my camera’s Owner’s Manual;
• entered a Reader’s Digest Summer Photo contest;
• been asked to submit one of my photos to an Arizona group of photographers on Flickr.

This has been a rewarding challenge, and I encourage everyone to try it.
Pool Time

Tom and the girls enjoy some pool time. ~ June 20, 2009

This playful photo has gotten nearly 60 hits on Flickr! (I usually average between 0-3 hits.)

Twilight

June 21, 2009

After a long day of work, I only had time to shoot the setting sun.

FLYphone

June 22, 2009

You’ve heard of an iPhone. Here’s my FLYphone! This pesky, persistent fly made himself at home for quite a while. The tricky part was getting my camera to focus on him and not the background.

Cold One

June 23, 2009

After another long day of work, I snapped this photo of Tom’s beer. Speak of the devil, there he goes to spritz his horses with fly spray. Maybe I can borrow some of that for my phone.

Power

June 24, 2009

Captured the view of this power pole from my deck. The Needles Mountains in the background remind me of a huge wave.

Reddish Egret

June 25, 2009

I stopped on the way to Natalie’s school to photograph this Laughlin Ranch water feature. What a surprise finding a bird perched up there! I hope I have identified him correctly. I also snapped a photo of the golf course (below).

Sand Trap

June 25, 2009