My Side of the Adventure

This post has taken a while because I was having trouble uploading the big video files. I hope someone watches the videos if only because I had to jump through so many hoops to get them online! : ) Below are both photos and videos.

I told Christi’s sister, who was nice enough to save us stadium seats, that all my life, I’ve compared every firework display I’ve ever seen to one I saw by the St. Louis Arch (shot from a Mississippi River barge!) as a teenager. None had ever remotely compared to it — until this one! But don’t judge from my amateur video – It’s nothing like being there. The displays were absolutely astounding!! Again, I highly recommend purchasing a grandstand ticket to this event. You will not be disappointed.
One more disclaimer: this is raw video – I didn’t edit at all. : )

We purposely arrived in Lake Havasu city a couple days early to find a spot for the fireworks. We ended up parking directly across Highway 95 from the Lake Havasu Speedway where the fireworks were being set off. This is “Arizona State Land” for which a $16 permit/parking pass is required. The good news about this permit is it can easily be acquired online and is good for the whole year. The bad news about this particular location is that everyone and their dog (and their razors and motorcycles) were there, too. I recommend a stay at the Lake Havasu area and the “Western Winter Blast Pyrotechnics Show” but–I must be getting old–this camping location was too much for me. I may come for the fireworks again but I will not stay here. There is other state land just south and also BLM land nearby. I do highly recommend going into the actual venue and sitting in the grandstand at least one evening for the full pyrotechnics experience. It was simply phenomenal! First, some images from before the fireworks. (As usual, more info is in the photo captions.)

After the whirlwind trip to Lake Mittry, I returned with friends to Lake Havasu City for a long-planned attendance at the “Western Winter Blast” Pyrotechnics Show. More photos and videos to follow.

The final days/hours at Mittry Lake included a hike, camp views, and a group shot. As usual, see the photo captions for further info. Again, I highly recommend a stay at the Mittry Lake area.

Like I said, I took quite a few photos here. : ) You’ll notice in the first few photos, we *did* see a “non-bird” one day.

[If you’re seeing this in an email, I highly recommend clicking the title above, so you go directly to the actual blog post with photo captions.]
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Thank you

I have quite a few images from Mittry Lake. Photographing the birds especially was a lot of fun and good practice for me. (Note there are two different photo sets and a video in this post).

[If you’re seeing this in an email, I highly recommend clicking the title above, so you go directly to the actual blog post with photo captions.]

–Click first photo for larger versions
–Click “i” for full captions
–Click the “bubble” icon next to the “i” for comments on individual photos.
–Enjoy the post? Click “like” at the bottom and/or comment.

Thank you

Even though I knew I would soon be traveling right back, I left Lake Havasu to go to Mittry Lake near Yuma, AZ. Friends already camping there were convinced I would love it there – and they were right! Photo ops – mostly of several types of beautiful water birds – abounded. I was up early on a few mornings to take advantage of those. (I spent a good bit of time looking up the birds I didn’t know and identified most of the ones I photographed. I’d like to learn more about bird identification.) There was a fishing tournament one day while we were there, too, so apparently, the fishing’s good for humans, too.

I recommend a stay in that area during the winter. It was warm and the water was nice for a change in the desert. (Not that I recommend swimming although a couple of us got brave and took a “polar plunge” one day. I stayed in the water approximately 5 seconds. One of the guys camping with us let us borrow his kayak while we were there which I thoroughly enjoyed; still thinking about getting one of those) For those who want to stay a while, you may want to take note of which spots are for day use only and which are for overnight camping. There are also dumpsters and a pit toilet.

[If you’re seeing this in an email, I highly recommend clicking the title above, so you go directly to the actual blog post with photo captions.]

–Click first photo for larger versions
–Click “i” for full captions
–Click the “bubble” icon next to the “i” for comments on individual photos.
–Enjoy the post? Click “like” at the bottom and/or comment.

Thank you

Obligatory camping spot photos and views of the lake from a roadside pulloff.

[If you’re seeing this in an email, I highly recommend clicking the title above, so you go directly to the actual blog post with photo captions.]

–Click first photo for larger versions
–Click “i” for full captions
–Click the “bubble” icon next to the “i” for comments on individual photos.
–Enjoy the post? Click “like” at the bottom and/or comment.

Thank you

After a one-day delay, I went exploring in Lake Havasu City (“Lake Havasu”, for short). There is a lot to see and nice amenities for those who are camping and traveling.

Part of the time they were working on my hitch, I was able to keep my vehicle. I stumbled on a treasure – a day use area on Lake Havasu’s “Mesquite Bay”. Nice walking path, a long fishing dock, signage about local floral/fauna (although some were showing severe wear), stunning views of Lake Havasu, and–wait for it–a dumpster in the parking lot. As I’ve said several times before, it’s funny what can excite a nomad. : ) It was nice to be able to dispose of a small bag of trash there.