Mary Roberts

As summer nears to an end, the boating crowd often thinks that Lake Havasu just shuts down. We drain the lake, turn off all the lights and padlock the doors. Anything could be further than the truth. One of the aspects of Lake Havasu I like best is that we have two distinct seasons - HOT and not hot! Now personally, I don't really enjoy when it is 115° during the day and dipping to 108° during the 'cooler' evening hours. I know, there are a lot of people who love it, but I just don't like the feeling that I about ready to combust at any minute.

During the summer, activities pretty much revolve around the lake or pools. There is no wandering the streets on a mid-week afternoon stroll. There is no 'let's sit on the patio and enjoy the nice weather' conversations. Most people will try to go as fast as they can from one air conditioned place to another.

As summer begins its departure, we all look forward to not hearing our air conditioners running 24/7. We look forward to cool days and even cooler mornings. We look forward to be able to park our car in the open and not having to worry about burning our hands, and other body parts, on the interior of our car. But most of all, we enjoy being able to go outside and enjoy our wonderful city. Not only can we still enjoy the lake, since the average temperature can range from 50-70°. But my favorite thing that opens up for all to enjoy during the cooler weather is the massive amount of open space in the desert surrounding the city.

Weather it be for hiking, dirt bike riding, quading, or 4 wheeling, there is just an unlimited amount of trails and washes that is out there for the taking. Most of the desert can be accessed directly from the city proper. There are trails that start from the extreme south (Standard Wash) to the extreme North (Craggy Wash and Havasu Heights) along with many interior entrances throughout the Eastern edges of the city. A surprise to many visitors is that one is able to license off road vehicles to be able to drive on the streets around the city. This makes it especially nice so that you don't have to necessarily trailer the vehicles for a ride in the sesert You will find a lot of vehicles, like the Yamaha Rhino pictured below.

People will use these during the week to go to the grocery store, take the kids to school and to just tool around in the nice, fresh weather. On the weekends, you will find dozens of groups out in the desert enjoying a day of awesome views and fun rides. There is always someplace new to go, new friends to make and just a plain old fun time to be had. So even though some think that Havasu closes down after the summer is over, to me, the beauty and joy of Havasu has just begun.

I know, I know! Please don't berate, belittle or befriend (oh, I guess it is DE-friend) me, but in any case, I have known for over a year now that I should be blogging. I have told myself that I was going to do it - tomorrow! Well, after 365 or so tomorrows, I have put the gauntlet down and told myself that I am not going to procrastinate anymore. Why do you ask? What made the difference? RAINCAMP! Yesterday, I travelled a total of 300 miles roundtrip to travel from my home in Lake Havasu City, AZ to Las Vegas to attend Raincamp, sponsored by none other than Active Rain (woot)! I met one of my dear friends, Carra Riley (aka Ms. Cosmic Cow Pie), who ever so gently told me "DO IT!" She used to be a REALTOR in my area and knows the make up of the members and 'reminded' me, since she has been trying to get this thru my pea brain, that if I just embrace this blogging thing and really make myself the "Voice of Lake Havasu," it would easily catapult me into "stardom." Well, maybe she didn't promise me all that. I like to embellish a little just to make my life appear a little more exciting! But seriously, the benefits of coming from a small community (aka BFE) is that I don't have a lot of competition. I could be the first one in the area who really would be the one to turn to! I have really jumped aboard the Social Media bandwagon in all other aspects but blogging. Honestly, there is not another REALTOR in Havasu who I am in competition with when it comes to networking via Facebook or Twitter (the common comment - Twitter, oh yeah, I don't really get that).

I digress (maybe one of the reasons I felt I might suck at blogging)! What did I get from Raincamp? Lots of links, got to meet up with some people I know from the Vegas area and best of all, got to me Ben Kinney, Bob Stewart and Brad Andersohn. I knew of Ben because I am a Keller Williams agent and I knew that he helped write @Social with MREA coauther Jay Papasan and had a really super productive team in Bellingham Washington. I knew 'of' Brad just because of my use of Twitter and I knew he was in the re.net sphere. I only had the opportunity of knowing of Bob when I was looking for a deal (via Twitter, of course - did I mention I am a twitterholic) to attend Raincamp. I won a contest to get into Inman SF last year, so I know that there is always a deal to be made. Bob offered me a discount of $20, but fortunately, I had already received a free Premium ticket through Docusign (thanks An). Now, after spending the day with Ben, Bob and Brad, I know them better and now I can do what I like best - I can reach out to them on one of the platforms I am comfortable with, FB or Twitter, and interact and they will know who I am. What a concept! In the past year, I have done just the opposite! I have gotten to know hundreds of re.net people via Twitter and then finally through a RE Bar Camps (I went to Phx and San Fran) or Inman, I was able to meet sooo many of them in person.

Another tip I got is not be too wordy! You will bore your readers. So, if you aren't nodding over your keyboard at the moment, please take a 'nice' pill and leave me a comment. Give me some hints on what you have found that has worked for you. I LOVE learning from others!

With kind regards and Easter wishes -