Lake Havasu City & Parker, AZ - Nov. 10 - 24, 2008
Lake Havasu City, AZ - Nov. 10 - 18, 2008
We traveled 215 miles south to a boondocking site Bill had selected about 10 miles south of Lake Havasu City (LHC). After a bit of off road exploring we found a fairly level, hard surfaced site and settled in. The next morning we explored the very rugged, mountainous area and determined there would be limited bicycling or hiking opportunities. It was, however, a very popular ATV paradise.
After two nights and with high winds in the forecast we decided to relocate to Lake Havasu State Park. This was a great decision. We had a huge campsite directly across the road from a small beach and with great views across the lake to California. The park is located about a mile north of the London Bridge and the two-mile promenade that runs along the waterfront. Additionally, there is easy access across the bridge to the island and its four-mile bike/pedestrian path.
Perhaps a little history on the London Bridge is in order. In the late '60s, the London Bridge was sinking into the clay of London, England's Thames River. Built in 1831, it was the victim of its own immense weight. London Bridge was falling down. A new bridge was commissioned, but what was to be done with the old bridge?
Robert McCulloch to the rescue. McCulloch bought the bridge for $2.4 million, had it disassembled, shipped to Lake Havasu City and reassembled over a newly trenched lagoon. By 1971 it was open for business. As the saying goes, "Build it and they will come." London Bridge brought prosperity to the desert and LHC is now a popular tourist spot.
The first two days in LHC were so windy there were good size waves crashing on 'our' beach. The remaining days were perfect. On the 18th we dusted off the kayak and paddled north to London Bridge. Susan was totally thrilled to celebrating her birthday by kayaking under the London Bridge.
Oh yes. Susan passed one of those zero-year birthday milestones (they say its the new 40) while at LHC. But enough of that. Lets move on to La Paz County.
La Paz County Park, Parker, AZ - Nov. 19 - 24, 2008
On November 19th we migrated 38 miles south to La Paz County Park on the banks of the Colorado River in an area called The Parker Strip. Parker Strip is a series of resort communities and RV parks running from the Parker Dam south to the town of Parker. The resorts occupy both the Arizona and California sides of the river and vary from decrepit trailer parks to $700,000+ homes - all set among swaying palms.
La Paz County Park is a hodgepodge of sites offering everything from full hook-ups to dry camping. The park was probably about 95% occupied and, judging by license plates about 60% were from Canada, 20% from South Dakota and the rest from other points north. We had a wonderful "dry camp" site overlooking the river with a large ramada straddling a concrete pad. We were very pleased with our location and quite happy not to be in the crowded, smelly full hook-up sites that were set back from the river.
On our first night wild burros braying their resentment to the world startled and amused us. The river canyon amplified their plaintive cries so well that Susan fetched her plants inside to save them from marauding, munching donkeys.
La Paz County Park was also the site of a four day RV show during our stay. La Mesa RV decided to show off 30 or more of their used and new RV stock in hopes of tempting some of the local residents to upgrade their rigs. We're not sure if they were successful, but no doubt they had a lot of cleaning to do after a few days of people tracking dirt and mud into the RVs. The park also hosts a weekly flea market type event on Saturday's. We were only tempted by a few small inexpensive items.
Towards the end of our stay we went kayaking at the Bill Williams River Wildlife Refuge upstream from Parker Dam. Before Hoover Dam on the Colorado River (followed by numerous smaller dams) and the Alamo Dam on the Bill Williams River were built, the lower Colorado basin habitat included expansive wetlands and cottonwood forests. Today the Bill Williams River no longer flows into the Colorado and the Wildlife Refuge is actually an arm of Lake Havasu preserving 105 acres of the Colorado's riparian habitat.
We launched at a convenient kayak/canoe access point near the refuge and after a short paddle across the lake we entered the reedy wetlands. It was eerie to paddle the quiet waters, listening to the numerous birds that live among the cattails and cottonwoods, including grebes, herons, egrets, coots, geese, red-winged black birds, warblers, and many more.
On November 25th we ended our lazy tropical idle on the banks of the Colorado River and headed toward the Quartzsite, the RV desert mecca of the Southwest.
