Islander RV Resort
April 5-16, 2014
We are so excited....we're joining Susan and Bob here in Lake Havasu City....they have come from their regular trip to Florida and traveled so far along Route 10 through Texas and New Mexico and Arizona to meet us here for further adventures into Utah!! Because our "rendezvous" with cosmic cousins Greg and Marilyn Gundy didn't work out, we arrived a couple of days early to a different site; but with a nice view of the Lake.
We spent the first couple of days exploring the immediate area and looking into "tours" along Lake Havasu and the Colorado River that might interest both Susan and Bob and us as well. Have I ever told you how much I love "exploring"?
We spent some time around the London Bridge. The purchase and transporting of London Bridge helped Lake Havasu City grow into what it is today.
London Bridge, built in 1831 formerly spanned the River Thames in London, England until it was dismantled in 1967. It was bought by Robert P. McCulloch from the City of London and had the exterior granite blocks from the original bridge numbered and transported to America to be reconstructed into the present bridge in Lake Havasu City, a planned community McCulloch established in 1964. The bridge was completed in 1971, along with a canal, that links an island in the Colorado River with the main part of Lake Havasu City.
And, just enjoying our surroundings:
We moved over to our new site and waited for Susan and Bob's arrival. We have met so many new people on the road this trip (Rich and Karen Solle, Mike and Tina, Annemie and John) and have so reconnected with others (Bob and Barb Sanderson) and with high school favorites (Joe and Karen Pine and soon to be Bev and Kevin Manning);
and it's always great to reconnect with family!!
Our first adventure was a jet boat tour to Topock Gorge aboard the "Starship 2010". We traveled through the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, through Devils Elbow. The Starship 2010 is an air-conditioned boat with large viewing windows; and, because I booked early, we had front row seats! Thank goodness for the air conditioning as the afternoon proved to go way over 100 degrees!!!
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| Leaving the London Bridge dock heading into Lake Havasu. |
As, promised we saw some wild burro, but as much as we searched, didn't get any big horn sheep or coyote
Scenery started to change from the sandy, desert hills to some spectacular rocks along the shore...to sheer cliffs sitting in the water.
To Devils Elbow....I know one of my daughters, Jodie, and her husband, Dennis, were made for this area. It was so great going through this part of the river and seeing people pull up on a small, available piece of land to set up their chairs and enjoy the day...made us all want to go buy a boat to travel up and down this river.
The tour took us to Pirate Cove Resort on the Colorado River in Needles, California (see, without even knowing it, we visited California this trip too). What a beautiful resort...if only we could celebrate "Luckfest" here some year....beautiful cabins; rv sites right on the river; boat rentals; plenty for the kids to do...okay, who is game???
Only dark side of the tour was our trip back...our coveted front row seats were bathed in sunlight; and of course my seat was west facing.....the strongest sunlight of the 100+ degree day. Had to move to the cheap seats...which were much more comfortable on the trip back.
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| Indian on the Mountain....reminds me of New Hampshire's Man on the Mountain which is with us no more!
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Next outing was a trip to Oatman, Arizona, born in 1906 as a tent camp and flourished as a gold mining center that was stricken with a near fatal blow in 1942 when Congress declared that gold mining was no longer essential to the war effort. Today, over 500,000 visitors come to Oatman to visit their many gift shops and to feed all those wild burros who meander through Main Street, even walking along the same sidewalks with the tourists. 
Of course, there were the "gunfights" on Main Street. (Can't help it, even though I know it's coming, every time that gun was shot, I jumped!!) 
We enjoyed lunch at the Oatman Hotel Restaurant & Saloon with live music, a good hamburger and surrounded by over $90,000 in $1.00 bills. It was a fun day and not even hot...only reaching just over 90 degrees!
On the trip home, we stopped at a sight we had seen on the way in. (Believe me, it wasn't an easy trip in or out of.) On first sight, we though it was a memorial to trail riders who might have met an untimely demise in the area; but it turned out to be a memorial to veterans from the area who had served their country. A moving tribute!!!
Of course, we spent a few nights at our sight, when it had finally cooled down; even sometimes requiring getting the sweatshirts out. We truly enjoyed the night of the pink moon!
I have not mentioned how many toys we have seen here....if it's not a trailer with a boat, it's a trailer with one or more jet skis. Lake Havasu City is the home of more boats, jet skis, and on-road ATV's you will ever see...
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| And we have a front row viewing seat!! |
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| More toys!!
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We finally got the kayaks in the water and headed over to the London Bridge. While here, we have driven over, walked over and under, jet-boated and kayaked through this bridge. I think I know where every original bullet hole is. |
| Checked out our jet boat from our Topock Gorge Tour. |
You will be proud to know that we made the nine mile round-the-island trip. Upon our return to our site, I was suffering from kayak-elbow.
We started our last night in Lake Havasu City with dinner at the Martini Bar in the London Bridge Resort. The meal was fabulous but a little rushed as we needed to get to our Sunset Cruise on the Serenity Now, a beautiful pontoon boat, with Captain Kenny as our guide.
The tour was everything it was promised to be. We spent over three hours cruising, checking out Copper Canyon along with other little nooks and crannies along the Colorado River.
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| There were replica lighthouses along the shore.
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We stayed out and watched the sun fall behind the hills.
And then, the thrill of the night...watching the full moon come up.
We leave Susan and Bob tomorrow and head for Las Vegas, Nevada. We are leaving Arizona after being here since February 23rd.
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