LizzieBelle's New Adventure

The beautiful Colorado River is less than a thirty minute drive from where we're staying.  We have seen the river on several occassions and in various locations but have never actually been 'in' the river.  This past weekend we went with a coworker of CountryBoy and his wife and thier two pups down to the river.  We decided to take Miss LizzieBelle for her first (as far we know) swimming experience!

She did really well in a strange environment with so many new things going on at once.

Her doggy paddle is so cute!  CountryBoy was holding her at one point and she was still doggy paddling on his shoulder, ha!

We took a break from 'swimming lessons' and she sat on my lap while I was in the float.  I think she enjoyed that.  Her favorite part of the day was eating tiny bits of breakfast sausage and hot dogs (given to her by her new friend's Momma!) and rolling around in the dirt and grass.  Boy, was she a dirty, soggy mess but grinning from ear to ear!

Speaking of her new friends, let me introduce Sophie...

and Savannah...

These two pups are full of energy!  It took LizzieBelle a while to warm up to them and get used to their energy levels and how fast they move.

By the end of the day, all three pups were wore slap out and slept the whole way home and the rest of the evening!  (LizzieBelle's Mom & Dad were wore out too!)

The Colorado River is a beautiful river but sadly, the people who visit the public areas do not appreciate the beauty nor do they respect the land.  There was trash everywhere.  Broken beer bottles.  Dirty diapers.  Paper plates.  Plastic bags.  Tijuana anyone?  It was horrible.  There are even signs posted everywhere that says 'No Littering' and each vehicle is given a large trash bag when entering the park.  You would think people would get a clue.  Maybe it was a language barrier thing.  I don't know.  Whatever the case, show some respect, people, no matter what your culture is especially if it is asked of you to clean up after yourself when you're on public property.

Enough about that before someone decides to call me racist.  Of which I am not.  I DO, however, expect everyone to abide by the rules and show some respect no matter their race or color of skin.

Other than that, it was a great way to beat the heat and a fun day.  The water temp was a perfect 82 degrees; quite comfy in triple digit weather!

Now where's my float?!

Till next time,

I tried to post this yesterday but once again I'm having issues with creating a post.  I won't go into detail but apparently Google Chrome and Blogger don't play nice together.  I'll have to figure something else out or find another internet browser.  Any suggestions for me?

Meanwhile, I wanted to show you a picture of the Grand Canyon from the tower at the Desert View...

Shooting through the windows of the tower gave it a painterly effect.

Although the South Rim of the Canyon was breathtaking and gorgeous as well, the Desert View was my favorite part of the Canyon.

It was less crowded and a ranger set up a high-powered telescope so that we (the guests) could look at the rapids of the Colorado River.  Very cool!

Till next time,

Dinner Out

One of our favorite restaurants is Joe's Crab Shack.

Luckily, there is one not too far from us in the town of Laughlin, or mini Las Vegas as I call it since the town is mostly a small strip of one casino after another.

In order to get to the restaurant, you must go in through the casino at the Golden Nugget.

I really like this tropical look that they've created.  Kinda looks like home!

Some plants are real while some are not but it's still lovely and quite peaceful when walking through there.

The casino is just beyond the end of the walkway where the orange glow is.

After walking through the casino and going down the escalator you will find Joe's.

Last Friday evening was a perfect evening for sitting outside on the deck at Joe's.

We were seated at a table by the water's edge!

To the right of the Colorado River is Nevada and on the left is Arizona.

So pretty and peaceful!

We enjoyed a delicious meal of Snow Crabs for me and Queen Crabs for CountryBoy in a glorious setting and thanking God for the many blessings He's bestowed on us!

Till next time,

The Beautiful Colorado River

After touring the Techatticup Mine, we drove about five miles further to the Colorado River and what was once Nelson's Landing.

At one time, there was a marina, some cabins and a store in this cove until September of 1974 when a flash flood washed it all into Lake Mohave.  Nine people were killed.

This section of the river is between The Hoover Dam in Boulder City, Nevada and Davis Dam in Laughlin, Nevada.

CountryBoy and I walked around and explored the natural beauty of this place that is so different from the lake and beach shores of Florida that we're used to.

My CountryBoy!

 Some of the very few flowers that I've seen growing wild.

Of course, I was thrilled to see butterflies and bees humming around these yellow flowers!

And, you just never know what you'll find when exploring...

At least we didn't find any remains, thank goodness!

After scoping out the water's edge, we drove to a higher vantage point...

Nelson's Landing at a better angle...

As I was taking all these photos, my ever curious CountryBoy is checking out a small cave...

Good thing it was too small for him to crawl into otherwise I'd probably still be looking for him!

We did find a cave on the way back large enough for us to walk around in.  Sadly, there was graffiti painted all over the place.

The 'walls' surrounding the cave...

And last, but not least, my Jeep finally doing what it was meant to do...

exploring unchartered territory as CountryBoy and I say when we venture off to some place new!

Till next time,

13 Years on the 13th

CountryBoy and I celebrated 13 years of marital bliss on the 13th of November!  As with most marriages we've had our ups and downs physically and financially but through it all we have stuck by each other, even without any arguments (hard to believe but it's true).  It's been an awesome adventure and we're praying for many, many more years to share together!

Speaking of adventure, we're about to embark on a new one as I mentioned HERE.  But, back to our anniversary.  CountryBoy took the day off and we drove around the countryside so that I could get some photos and see this extraordinary (and so different than what we're used to!) landscape.

We stopped at the Nevada Arizona border and had a picnic lunch by the Colorado River.  Arizona is to the left of the river and Nevada to the right.

A view of Nevada and one of its many casinos.

One pigeon came to visit while we were eating and CountryBoy couldn't resist giving it a cracker.  Next thing we knew we were swarmed with all sorts of birds!

Here's a few of CountryBoy's buddies...

On the way to our picnic spot, the brakes started freezing up on us (not good when you're traveling through the mountains, yikes!) so we ended up having to spend the afternoon killing some time while we had some work done to the truck.  They replaced the master cylinder, rotors, pads, yep, the whole nine yards.  Cha-ching.  Happy Anniversary Babe!

Oh well, we were happy that they could fix it in a couple of hours and that we were much safer now on the road.

Meanwhile, we found a nice coffee shop and sat down for a cuppa Joe then we meandered over to Joann's where I bought some gorgeous Christmas fabric that was 50% off.  (That's when I checked out the sewing machines.)  While I was getting the fabric cut, CountryBoy sat down at the pattern tables and promptly dozed off.

In stores such as Joann's or Michael's I can shop as long as I want as long as there's a man-bench, as CountryBoy calls them, or in this case a chair.  He will sit and people watch or fall asleep.  It's a win-win for both of us!

That evening, we had a free night's stay at a hotel so we packed an overnight bag and headed that way.  It was horrible.  The walls were thin.  Our neighbors had the TV blaring and were trying to talk above the TV. The AC/heater did not have a fan setting where you could just run the fan that would've helped drown out the neighbors.  The mattress was too firm.  And the buffet left much to be desired.  Needless to say, we were happy to leave when morning came and in this instance, we got what we paid for, ha!

We headed to Boulder City on our way to the Hoover Dam and had a yummy breakfast at Mel's Diner.

They advertised farm fresh eggs on the menu and they really were farm fresh and the hash browns had onions in them, yum!  We were really pleased (and full).  Much better than the night before and a great way to start the day.

Boulder City is a cute town.

Could it be that the palm trees reminded me of home?!

We drove on over to Hoover Dam.  Wow!  What an amazing feat!

Even the bridge is amazing.  We walked halfway across it so I could get the previous shots of the dam.

And here we have people throwing money away...

I wonder how old some of those coins are!

Till next time,