Lake Havasu Area

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

When we arrived at the Lake Havasu area the weather was warm and at times it was necessary to use our air conditioner just to cool down the motorhome. The weather has turned a bit. The air conditioner is no longer needed. However, the furnace was turned on Tuesday night just to keep the coach from becoming frigid. Our plan was to hit the road on Wednesday. Other than shopping we felt we had accomplished everything we had intended to at this stop along the way. A visit to Oatman was one of the main reasons we had ventured up to Lake Havasu. We’ve now been there, done that.

The London Bridge is one of the main attractions in this little town. We actually visited here in 1972. Obviously, it’s quite different today than it was then. At that time we bought a lot of souvenir pieces of the bridge. The majority of people in town were just tourists here for a day or two. Now the town is flooded with residents and snowbirds. Using the word “flooded” doesn’t mean the town is packed with people. It’s not. Matter of fact, I doubt there is even a rush hour. There are just a lot more people than there were.

When we indicated we felt we had finished everything we wanted to do, a friend sent a post asking if we had gone to the casino via boat. We hadn’t done that. Within about 15 minutes we were out the door. That allowed just enough time to check online to see how to get to the boat and catch it. However, that was a difficult feat. The directions online were how to drive there and not how to get to the boat. It took us a while to realize that. Eventually, we ended up at the Visitor’s Center which was closed. You can park in the big lot at the center for free when it’s closed. During the day they charge you to park there. We were amazed at that. However, other people in the area were going to the boat so we just parked and followed them down the steps and there we were. The boat charges $3 for the round trip. It’s about a 22 minute ride. It would have been a really nice ride except it was dark and we couldn’t see much. It took us a lot longer to find where to go than we had expected.

The casino is very small but has lots of slot machines. The dinner menu was quite nice and very inexpensive considering it was a casino. Our idea was to play a few slots and then go eat prior to taking the ferry back. The ferry leaves from the Visitor’s Center on the hour and from the casino on the half hour. This meant we either had an hour or two hours. After sitting down at the slots and watching our money disappear as fast as we’d ever seen it go, we opted not to eat dinner and catch the very next shuttle out of there. The slots were extremely tight. We like playing the slots when we get teased. You know how it goes. They let you win a little and then lose a lot. These slots just kept taking it.

Another spot we had visited was the Lake Havasu State Park. It sure is beautiful and campsites border the lake. Some of them are right on the water’s edge and others not so close. Even though there are no hookups for the campers, water faucets were everywhere. Many of the rigs were hooked up to the faucets. The park also has a little desert garden. We walked through it. Other than a few mosquitos, it was pretty empty except for the worker and us. However, we enjoyed it.

We also discovered a whole other part of Lake Havasu City up the hill. When traveling through town it looks as though all the main stuff is around the bridge and on the main drag. That’s not so. We even stopped at the Black Bear Diner for lunch. Evidently this is a chain in the western part of the U.S. but it was the first time we had visited. We liked it.

We’ve had some winds around the area but Wednesday is supposed to be fairly calm so we’re heading to the Phoenix area. There are lots of things we want to redo while there including the Desert Botanical Gardens, Canyon Lake, Tortilla Flats, Lost Dutchman Mine and the ghost town. The list goes on. Then, there are also the restaurants we like including Joe’s BBQ. I’m still hungry for good Texas brisket.

Why is it that restaurants always top the list? Another question to add to that is why is it that once you get on the road in an RV you gain weight? Is it contagious? Why does it pack on so fast and yet it’s so hard to get off? I’ve gained so much weight in such a short time. Last year I bit the bullet and lost 8 pounds but gained back more. This year I dropped 21 pounds. I’m actually afraid to get back on the scale again but I need to. It seems you add it, you lose it, you add it and you lose it again. Maybe when we get to the Phoenix area I’ll fast a few days and start all over again. At least that’s what I’m hoping but then again, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Then, there’s Christmas and the food just doesn’t stop.

Time to get moving.