Boat Ride! Casino for Lunch, I Made it to the Pool!

Lake Havasu City, AZ

Thursday, Mar. 5^th we slept in until close to 7. I know it was really late when Bill came to bed but I was gone by 9:30, not able to keep my eyes open. The heat pump had come on this morning which surprised us, knowing we had it set to 65F. Neither of us expected colder temperatures overnight. It was 55F outside and just 65F inside so that explained it. It wasn't on for long before it shut off.

So, there is a public area across the road where I can
stand and wait for the sunrise

I dressed for my walk which didn’t mean more than my hoody with capris on my legs. I always have my cotton neck scarf and mini gloves with me in case I need them and usually I put them on. There were no winds again and we knew it would be another great sunny, hot day. Today, we’ve all planned to catch the Havasu Landing ferry and go across to the new casino in California for lunch. This should be fun as none of the others have been over.

There are some very pretty views from this park

Made better by that beautiful sunshine

We hope the lunch at the new casino is as good as at the old one. Jo-Anne texted offering us to ride with them and we’d already planned on hitching along! Woops, we shouldn’t have assumed but we accepted their offer. Keith will be riding in with Ken and Kim as we can’t all fit in one vehicle. It is a perfect day for a boat ride! Bill had some toast early and I had a couple of clementines with my tea which would be just enough until noon.

It was a quiet couple of hours and just after 10, Kim, Ken and Keith drove in. They followed us, Bob drove, to meet the ferry. I don’t know what they call the place, Havasu Landing, I guess. There were quite a few people for the first trip at 11 but we were within the first 10 aboard. We took the stairs to the top open-air level and Bob and Keith stayed down on the main deck and stood at the rail. The boat was pretty full.

Waiting for our ferry ride

Ken missed the group picture but I found him

This was the perfect day for a boat ride. The Tecopa ferry is a $2 round trip ride from Lake Havasu, AZ across the Colorado River to Havasu Landing Casino, CA. When we arrived, our friends signed up for their player’s cards and were rewarded with 10% off their meals today at the restaurant. Bill and I already had cards so were not eligible. That’s okay, we expected that. We were all hungry so went to the restaurant and got seated. The sign ‘Please wait to be seated’ was turned around so we found our own two tables. Woops!

The Tecopa ferry comes and turns around in front of us

Look back at London Bridge while on the ferry

Bill and Kim ordered the Bacon Burger meal, Ken had a Pulled Pork Sandwich meal, Keith and Bob had a Sausage/Ribs Combo meal, Jo-Anne had a Cobb’s Salad and I had a Chicken Quesadilla. I think everyone was pleased with their choices and we paid our bills and walked out through the casino. A few of us played a bit of slots (Bill and I spent $3) and Bob dabbled at Black Jack before we all met outside and the boys had a beer on the patio. The beach looked nice; we haven’t seen a lot of water in the areas we've been in.

Ken and Bill

Patsy, Kim and Jo-Anne

Keith and Bob chose to stand down by the rail

We caught the ferry at 1:30 for the ride back to Lake Havasu. We walked the promenade and us girls stuck our heads in a few shops but didn’t buy anything. By this time, we were all hot, tired and ready for home so we said goodbye to the blm group (K, K & K) and Bob drove us home. I changed into my bathing suit right away and after chatting with my son on text, I went to the pool. Yay! He had success picking up my Fitbit Alta tonight. I’m excited!

This is the old Casino

This is the new one
Quite a bit more impressive

At the pool, I was the only one. What is wrong with this picture? There was shade to sit in but no one needed to cool off, I guess. It was only 80F. I swam back and forth a couple of times and then stretched out on a lounge chair with my book for about an hour and a half. I didn’t mean to stay quite so long but their clock is behind time by 30 minutes. When I came back and changed, I started getting ready to cook the roast.

Today's lunch was quite good

The beach as we sat on the Lounge patio

And the ferry returns to pick us up on the half hour

After sautéing it, I added the last 3 (need to be eaten) potatoes, some carrots and an onion. Because the roast was so small, I only set it for 25 minutes and will do a NR. If we aren’t hungry enough, it will be easily reheated in Madame IP tomorrow night. The roast took longer than I thought it should but that could be attributed to the poor-quality beef. Anyway, once it was done, we’d already decided that we would eat it tomorrow night. After our big lunch today, we didn’t need such a big meal.

My sweetie on the ride back to L.H.

I like the bright colours as we returned to the Bridge

I wrapped things up and put them in the fridge. Bill decided on crackers and cheese for his meal and I opted to put together some lettuce, salmon, cheese and black olives in tacos. It filled me but I think the taco shells are stale as it wasn’t great. We did the few dishes up right away and sat to watch some tv. I worked on my post and downloaded today’s pictures so I can finish my blog. This was a fun day with lunch out with our friends.

My tacos look better than they tasted

A cute picture taken of Kim today
Good night from Lake Havasu City

Thank you for stopping by!

Falling Back to an Early Rising, Just a Hop, Skip and a Jump Today to Another Casino

It was 4:52 when I first looked at my watch on Sunday, Nov. 4^th. I lifted my blind to look out at the Casino lights. It was a nice view shining in my window. It was 10:30 last night when I closed my book up in bed. Bill was falling asleep reading so we went upstairs together. I managed to finish my book Orchid Beach by Stuart Woods. A good page turner about Sheriff Holly Barker.

This was our overnight site with hookups

With the new standard time, we were an hour ahead of the game tonight and we turned our clocks back in the Suite. Our Fitbits, phones and my computer automatically switched. That’s a ‘switch!’ We had our coffee and tea around 6 and I went for a walk at 7, it was light enough out by that time. I walked the perimeter of the casino lot and it was a tad cool so I needed my hoody and wind breaker. Just a few steps away, I spotted a young deer but didn’t have my zoom lens, of course.

I don't know if you can make her out but she is watching me

We had toast and a yogourt inside and Bill cleaned dishes up while I took Clemson out for his business and a teeny walk. The sun was trying to break through the wispy clouds by this time and the sky was blue to the west. Should be a good day to travel even though we only have a couple hundred miles to go. 

Another very nice casino, elaborate buildings

We had heavy rain and some thunder overnight so the ground is a bit muddy around us. We began the packing up process although not in any rush this morning.

Electric Security cars were prominent but not a nuisance
Nice to know they are out and about at all times
We never feel insecure in these places

Bill and Rob drove up to the corner to see about filling up with fuel before they hooked up. We were soon on the highway, I-40w to be exact and Bill took the lead and it was 49F, sunny and it was just past 8:30. 

thank you Cherokee for the overnight stay!

Today was a short drive after a longish one yesterday so that would be a nice break. We drove on the outskirts of Checotah, OK the birthplace of the 2005 American Idol winner, Carrie Underwood, and I’m sure you all feel better knowing that.

This is the river that goes with the above sign

We crossed a couple of rivers, North Canadian River being one and Lake Euphala which was a large body of water both north and south of us. 

Hobby Lobby for our daughter, Charlotte

It was another one of those very pleasant drives, with good highways and only about 6 miles of construction. No big deal there since it was Sunday and there were no workers so we didn’t have to worry about huge fines or jail time for hitting one of them. Phew!

Beautiful views

At 10:30 we pulled off at a No Facility Rest Area and we opened up to use the bathroom and to make ourselves a coffee. It was just that time of the morning when we needed something. Pat and Rob were Face-timing Aunt Mary with their daughter being the ‘go-between’ and then I did the same with Mom and Donna, who was visiting her this morning. That was very nice of Pat and Sandra to help out with that. Mom looked great, although confused and Donna said later that Mom was happy to see my face.

We met a couple in Roswell, NM last spring who owned a Casita
they were remodelling it inside and loved it

By 11:50 we were skirting around Oklahoma City on I-40W and we didn’t have to change lanes at all. Love the signs on the pavement and there was no congestion so it was easy peasey. We pulled off at a Pilot fuel station but their power was off so no fuel tank accessibility. Hmm, oh well, we weren’t desperate for diesel although Rob was getting low, but we got to run in and use their facilities. That was a bit desperate.

Yup, yup, we'll follow you
Hey, wait a minute, we're already having a good time!

Black gold?

Sod farming

Don't we all!!

This was the construction section and I loved seeing the red earth

It was not far to our destination and with the sun, we had warmed up considerably from the rest area stop where it felt quite chilly. It was 55F and 12:30 when we backed into 2 of 12 free full-service sites at Lucky Star Casino at El Reno, OK. 

Now, Bill's favourite fast food place down here
this is the first one we've seen on this trip

cute water tower

You probably all recognize this structure in Oklahoma

Traffic around Oklahoma City was almost non-existent on a late Sunday morning

First thing on the guys agenda was to set up the satellite dishes, which proved easy, and on mine and probably Pat’s agenda was to get some lunch. I warmed up a bowl of my green tomato bacon soup (yum!) and made Bill a peanut butter and cheese sandwich. Not quite an Elvis taste, but close!

Lovely!

El Reno gets ready for their Christmas season

We met out in the sunshine with our chairs and a drink and sat for maybe an hour watching the prairie dogs and relaxing together. 

Across the fence
"can you see her watching us?" "Yes, I think she is the paparazzi"
"I think this is my best profile"

You little guys are so darned cute!

We've all heard of passwords on free WiFi "Happy Camper"
Well, they don't come much happier than this!!

This pretty Ford drove in and parked across the lines
I sure hope it doesn't get hit like our pretty Ford did in the Spring of 2017
almost in the same spot

Soon enough, most of us were displaying exhaustion so we moved inside and there were 4 people and 1 dog who had an afternoon snooze today. The last few days have worn us plumb out! We chatted about eating in and then going to the casino for an hour but after eating and doing dishes, our minds were changed. Let’s stay put tonight.

the sky was quite beautiful tonight

I fried up mini sausages and served mixed salad on the side for Bill and I and it was just enough to satisfy our hunger. This has been a good day and we have a full day tomorrow to relax and do whatever we have a mind to do. The boys drove over to fuel up and got a good price for diesel at $3.19/gal. Those are the prices that we like. I hope you have enjoyed your day and are safely settled for the night as well.

goodnight from our second Casino of the weekend

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