London Bridge in the USA?
We weren’t entirely happy to leave the camp at Lake Mead. It was a lovely, quiet location that we had enjoyed but we had to move on. We had just left Boulder City to cross a large valley basin and we noticed what looked like a playa lake with some water shimmering on the (right hand) side of it. It wasn’t until we came alongside it that we realised it was one humungous solar farm and the shimmering was the sun reflecting off the solar panels. This place is massive and one of the biggest solar farms we’d come across.
Pushing on we crossed the Nevada / California border several times as we ran south along the Colorado River. The Colorado River, I must say, is a very pretty river which passes through some incredible country (not the least of which is the Grand Canyon which we are yet to get to). This was to be proven yet again when we eventually made it to our next camp at a place called Big River RV Park. Like so many locations we’d stopped at it was over run by rabbits and hares. This didn’t detract from the park as it has a lovely beach on the river for boating, swimming and fishing.
A day trip to Lake Havasu
Next day we drove across the river to Parker to fill up and then we drove on down to Lake Havasu. Not real sure what the locals run their cars on here but Shane noticed they sold Avgas at the servo on the edge of town despite there being no airport around for miles. Rambling forward we had a look at Parker Dam before arriving at Havasu City. Again the focal point for the majority of recreation in Havasu is the river and the riverside beach here is extremely well set up for family fun.
Lake Havasu is very nice and is a noted location for “schoolies week” similar to the one our Australian kids have when they graduate from High School and terrorise the Gold Coast. Despite being inland Havasu has the most lighthouses of any city in the USA.
Another claim to fame for Havasu is that is also noted for being the location of the original London Bridge. It is a fascinating tale how an almost 200 year old bridge that once spanned the mighty Thames river in London came to be here in a desert in the USA. As the poem once said “London Bridge is falling down” so in 1968 the Common Council of London sold the bridge to Robert McCulloch (of McCulloch chain saw fame). Each brick in the bridge was numbered before it was dismantled, shipped to America and reassembled here in Havasu City. Making the most of this new acquisition a small mock up London town was built on the “mainland” side of the bridge for tourist to enjoy the river bank location. (Yes, we had fish and chips there for lunch.) All this contributes to Havasu’s reputation as a high calibre tourist town.
On the way back from Havasu we diverted up a dirt road and saw some spectacular mountain ranges that have been formed over millennia by the erosive action of the mighty Colorado River. The locals here have utilised the river in many ways but the most common way is through the establishment of the many riverside campsites which overflow with tourists in peak season.
In a ‘karma’ moment Shane photographed the goose with the large boat. We were doing about 70 mph (115 Kph) when he overtook up so fast I was going to get out of my car to see if we were still moving. About 5 or so miles up the road we saw him on the side of the road with only 3 wheels left on his trailer. He’d had a high speed blow out and was lucky he didn’t crash it. But stupidity can’t be tamed so he just carried on with 3 tyres and 1 rim for the next 30+ miles before we last saw him. Don’t know how much further he got but we were glad to see the back of him.
Onwards to San Diego
We left Big River and their version of the dog on the tucker box (a coyote and a mule by the gate). We passed a plane on a container in a paddock (maybe it was waiting for some of that Av Gas from Parker) before we once again crossed the border into California. Quite a way down the highway we couldn’t help but notice some high mullock heaps which turned out to be a huge gold mining operation.
We were no sooner past that and we found ourselves playing modern day Lawrence of Arabia crossing some fairly high sand dunes in a decent sized sandy desert known as the Imperial Sand Dunes. It shocked us as it just seemed to pop up out of the blue without any notice. You may see in two photos, the (Hugh T Osborne) Lookout Station on top of one of the dunes. This will indicate to you just how high those dunes are. We were flabbergastered.
At the end of the sandy desert we crossed another shrubby desert before crossing a mountain range of several thousand feet in height and made entirely of boulders. There was even a rock tower called the Desert View Tower. It was crazy. You would swear that someone had gathered these boulders (many much larger that a big house) and bulldozed them into heaps. Once through this mountain range it was literally down hill to San Diego and our next RV Park.
This had been one heck of a trip. From the banks of the Colorado River, through shrubby desert, past a gold mine, over a sandy desert then crossing a rocky mountain range before hitting the coast.
Well that’s it for this post. Next one is going to be huge as we extended our 1 week stay in San Diego to two weeks and what a two weeks it was.
Cheers for now.
Garry and Shane