7.17.2012: The REALLY Long Road Home

On the way home from Vegas, back to Phoenix, Vince and I were driving in the Tahoe (with Avery, Mike, and Olivia) behind the truck with Brent, Alisa, Andrew, and Brianna....when all of a sudden, the truck broke down.  Right in the middle of nowhere, with nothing around...and sketchy phone reception.  Brent called the tow truck....which they said was an hour away (best case).  It was a balmy 120-ish out....with no A/C and no shelter from the sun.  So after discussing what to do, we decided that Vince and I would take Olivia, Avery and Brianna in the Tahoe and hit the road.  Brent, Alisa,, Mike and Andrew would wait with the truck for the tow truck.    So, we went on our way.  Luckily, the tow truck wasn't too far behind us and got them on the road quickly.  He towed them to Wickenburg where Brent went to an auto parts store, bought the parts he needed, and fixed the truck right there in the parking lot.  Amazing...and lucky!!  Set the whole trip home back a couple hours, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been!!!



 

07.16.2012: Final Dinner and Awards Ceremony

After we dock the boat, trailer our toys, and unload everything....we all head back over to the Rio for some much needed showers (finally), some all-you-can-eat-buffett, and our coveted awards ceremony.  We all so much enjoy our group dinner back at the hotel...and getting a nice hot shower...and sleeping in soft comfy beds.....however, it is bitter-sweet because it means our trip has come to an end and we are about to head home and back to the real world.

 

Now that dinner is over, we moved up to Mom & Dad's room for the awards ceremony.  Usually we do the presentations at dinner, but it was too crowded and we didn't have our usual private room....so we took it back upstairs.  It was a fun ceremony...I think most people got some sort of medal...all the true competitions had trophies...and of course, the Captain's Award was presented to Scott for the second time.

 The Captains Award

 The kids with their awards

 The single guys....Best Meal Winners

 The real winner!!!

07.16.2012: The Long Road Home

Our time here has come to an end once again.  It sure seemed as if this year's trip went by really, really fast.  Just as we get settled and into our routine of lazy relaxation and detachment from the world, it is time to pack up and head home.  It is a sad lonely ride home each time.  One that can ony be soothed with wine.

 



The Wine Club...our ritual!

 We were tossing Lex Bud Lights for him & Ken on the Doo ride back in....only got a few of them....there are one or two at the bottom of Lake Mead.

 Christina decided to jump ship and join Lex on the Doo.  Not sure if this was quite legal, seeing as how we were waiting for the tower-iner-guy to take us in.  Oh well....she wasn't the only one!!

07.16.2012: Early Morning Fishing & Last Tubing Run

On our last morning, Scott woke early and started fishing.  He wanted to make sure that all the kids got to catch at least one fish on this trip.  He did his job....they all got one!  So the kids fished for a while off the back of the boat while the day was still.

 

 The little ones also wanted one last tubing run in before we had to leave. Mom and Dad loaded up the boat and took them on a last ride. They loved it!

07.15.2012: Anniversary Celebration & Firework Show

In a few weeks, Brent & Alisa will celebrate their 10 year anniversary.  They always said they wanted to renew their vows on the beach for their 10 year.  (I think somewhere in there they actually said, like in Costa Rica)...but that wasn't happening this August.  So originally we thought it would be cool to have them renew their vows on the beach, at Lake Mead!!  But instead, we ended up just celebrating with a toast and some speeches.  It was a nice little celebration and I think they enjoyed it!  It was a surpirse after all.....

 



 

Scott always brings fireworks for us....and he truly outdid himself this year!!  It was an amazing, amazing show!!  Him & Chris put on the show for us after dark.  I didn't get many pics of it, but you will have to trust me when I say it was professional level.  People pay to see stuff like this!!!

After the fireworks show, and a few more cocktails, we played Name That Tune on the front of the boat.  Brent played DJ, and the rest of us played contestants.  Every few songs would result in a mini dance party.  The kids got into it for a while, then got tired....and the adults took over!  It was a long, long night up on the front of the boat!!  We stayed up really late...and eventually people got walked to their beds and we went to sleep for our last evening on the boat.