So on our 2nd day at Parker, we wasted no time getting pulled on the raft... which it seems fun until you get back there. Now I am not saying it was scary but it definitely made you feel nervous as we were on the edge of the waves many times.
Later we realized that we needed to extend the rope out and get a bit further away from the waves that the boat was creating. This made it less nerve wracking and more enjoyable.
As you can see my brother in law Billy is very much at home in these environments.
So later in the day, I get a call from Billy that they dropped off my mother and father in law at the local casino. Then 20 mins later I get a call for a pick up. Looked like they weren't so lucky gambling the slots that day. They lost a good sum of money but them smiles... must of hurt bad lol.
I was burnt out most of the day because of yesterday's activities. So I do what I like to do best when I am chillin' at home, I cook! My mother in law grabbed some beautiful skirt flap meat at Costco the day before we left. This is one of my most favorite cuts of meats cause of its ability to absorb marinades and even more importantly, lime juice!
I had some beautiful tomatoes, red onion and cilantro and made pico de gallo as a topping for our asada tacos. Only thing that was missing was some heat, habanero, serranos or my favorite, thai chilis.
Loved watching the kids play a round of Monopoly... while the sounds of an old school movie played in the back. Now it was starting to feel like a vacation...
Bishop was already back at fishing. He had caught a larger bass in the early morning and he was on the hunt for another. This boy loves fishing!
Took some landscapes of our view from the dock. You can see California across the river... the land where everything is expensive and taxes are high. It was nice to be on the AZ side.
At night, I decided to bring out the tripod and get some starscapes and various shots of the rocky terrain. The stars were shinny so bright that night. It was partly cloudy but more and more they started to dissipate. It gave me a chance to capture the stars and it was so dark outside, the stars really stood out.
As I noticed the Milky Way Galaxy above me and bummed that I didn't bring a lens wider than a 24mm, I only got smaller segments of the MWG. So instead I started to look for constellations. I was mainly looking for the Big Dipper because it has been so long since I have seen it. If you look at the photo above, you can see the Big Dipper if you look close enough.
I photoshopped the lines above so it is easier to see the Big Dipper. It was so big above the horizon. I was blown away by its scale. One to remember for sure.
Got a few shots of the house rental at night and one of the Milky Way and a shooting star blowing by. So cool...!
Next morning we started to pack up and then got together for a family portrait. Got one of the kids too... I already feel sad because I know they will look grow next year and we will look back at how small they were... ugh. :(
Found a local diner that served American Style Breakfast. I ordered the ham steak cause the waitress told me it was 1.5lbs. She wasn't kidding. The ham was super salty... but a good memory we had was when she came to check up on us later, she said, "The ham is really good. It is not salty or anything!". I nearly laughed my ass off when she said that but she was such a sweet old woman I left it as it is. Memories. lol.
On our way home, the Suburban got stopped. Needed to check and see if we weren't importing dangerous plants over from AZ. lol
There were so many beautiful clouds hanging around all day. The brown from the land and the blues form the skies were so harmonious.
Then we found this... a place where people leave their shoes for some reason....? It smelt like a dingy old locker. So glad we stopped here. My life wouldn't have been complete without witnessing it.
More landscapes and love's. Nuts and Iced Tea FTW.
Was a wonderful weekend to get away from the land of the crazy but glad to be back in action.
I know a lot of you out there work a lot, don't work enough, wish you could travel more, etc. Stop making excuses in your life. Be the change you want to see. I know making change is not easy to do but with small steps, you can turn something mountainous and turn it into something you can handle on a day to day basis.
Til the next,
Andrew Manley