2016 Lake Havasu, Arizona

Three hours north from Yuma is Lake Havasu.

Desert but no cactus.  It always surprises me that plants vary depending so much on the elevation.  One constant is sand, though

 Some might get bored with the desert landscape, but the variety of mountains always amaze this flat lander!

 Random areas close to the Mexican border have Border Patrol road blocks.  We roll the driver window down and the heavily armed officer looks us over and wishes us a "Have a nice Day"

 See what I mean about more mountain views

 The Colorado River looks different in the midst of the mountains.  All semi flat surfaces close to the water are packed with RVs

Layers of mountain ranges

I can't give you a good idea of Lake Havasu without these Internet pictures

Notice the island.



This is a great picture of the "mainland" on the left and the island on the right with London Bridge across the Colorado River. Seriously, that is the original London Bridge built by Peter of Colechurch between 1176 and 1209. Robert P. McCulloch placed the winning bid of $2,460,000 on April 18, 1968. McCulloch came by this figure by doubling the estimated cost of dismantling the structure, which was $1.2 million, bringing the price to $2.4 million. He then added on $60,000 – a thousand dollars for each year of his age at the time he estimated the bridge would be reconstructed in Arizona. Each block was meticulously numbered before the bridge was disassembled. The blocks were then shipped overseas through the Panama Canal to California and trucked from Long Beach to Arizona. Following reconstruction of the London Bridge, Lake Havasu City rededicated it in a ceremony on October 10, 1971. 

The British theme is complete with the London Bridge Resort.  The buildings look like a castle.

There are some interesting shops under the bridge.

You can walk across the bridge or drive over it.  We decided to skip the steps.

  

 
 It didn't take Jim long to spot the sailboats.

Parking a pontoon boat is easy - just drive up on the sand and tie up to the wall.

The day was sunny, the temp was 70ish with a nice breeze to keep us cool.

 There was a nice level paved walk way along the river

This is the view of the park on the island across the channel.



Even a golf course

 Must watch this small sailboat

 And the larger sailboat.  White caps are kicking up.

 Another marina across the channel on the island

 Lighthouses on both sides

 This is the view from our hotel room

 That's the California side of Lake Havasu.  Saturday's weather was the best.

 Sunday afternoon, dark clouds began to gather.

 The wind increased and clouds of sand began to blow around.  Nice safe view from our window

I can't understand how these skinny palm tree trucks stand up to the wind.

 No more sunshine

 

 Sunset on a stormy day.

 Monday.  Time to head to Green Valley. We waited till the storm blew through.  You have to worry about water flooding the roads and high winds blowing sand that cause low visibility.  There was just enough of a sprinkle to keep the blowing sand down.


Imagine.  You can stuff a golf course in between the hills.

 Goodbye Colorado River

 "Seymore", the CRV, navigate us to Green Valley.

2016 Trip to Arizona and Yuma, AZ

2016 Road Trip to Arizona.
Heading out on Jan 22, early to attend a 6 session seminar at University of Arizona, "Ever Changing Brain" which starts on Jan 27.    This is our 9th road trip to Arizona ( 2 for software classes for only 2 weeks, 4 to Tucson, and 3 to Green Valley).  We've planned to take "off interstate" roads to see new territory.

We had the very best weather, no precipitation, no wind, lots of blue skies and not much traffic on our "back roads."  We shortened our drive time to just 7 hours a day which got us to our overnight destination before dark.  Very relaxing days.  Friday = Kenosha to Chillicothe, MO.  Saturday=Chillicothe to Liberal, Kansas.  Sunday=Liberal Kansas to Santa Rosa, NM.  Monday=Santa Rosa to Willcox, AZ.  Tuesday = Tucson, AZ for our 1st class.




Our professor is very knowledgeable and passionate about neuroscience.  We have recommended reading ( 2 books and 2 science articles that are pretty detailed.)  She provides a copy of the slides she presents.  Average age 65 in the class.  We are going to learn alot about the newest advances in understanding how the brain works.  We met a nice couple who have just moved to Tucson from Chicago.

Wednesday afternoon we drove to our old area in Oro Valley north of Tucson and ate at our favorite Mexican Restaurant, Mi Tierra.  It was delicious. And we caught the afternoon showing of The Short Sell.  Not a 'feel good" movie because the bankers and Wall Street are still the really bad crooks.

Thursday we drove to Yuma, AZ.

Lovely old buildings and fountains

This fountain has water running over the ball which has all the countries of the world.

It was pretty quiet in downtown Yuma. - no cyclists.

Off to the River Walk
There is so much history about the settlers along the Colorado River, first the Indians, then Mexicans, and all those caught up in the Gold Rush.  There is a wonderful river walk.  We started at the East Wetland Park.

Walking, hiking and equestrian paths.

 This is the Ocean to Ocean Highway connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic.  A very busy rail line shares the same  bridge frame as car/truck traffic.  Very long freight trains rattled through this bridge about every 15 minutes.  And still there are 3 or 4 trains backed up in the rail yard waiting for their turn to cross over into CA.

 More pictures to come................... We're settled in Green Valley now. So I can start to catch up on our adventuring.  These are still from Yuma.

 With all the rail road history here, this old steam engine, built in 1907, has a prominent place. 

The Engineer sits on the black seat and looks out the window

This is where the coal would be shoveled in to make the steam 

 It was a lovely walk along the Colorado River.

  It is hard to believe we are in Arizona where palm trees and adobe churches are a normal part of the landscape.

 I do so love to see flowers.

 This is a less manicured park than the East Wetlands.  However, it has a huge children's playhouse and playground, a hummingbird garden, a solar field and a historical monument.

Solar screens

The Mormon Battalion was the only religious "unit" in American military history, serving from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican War. It was a division of General Stephen Kearny’s U.S. Army of the West. The battalion was a volunteer unit of over 500 soldiers, nearly all LDS men with regular army officers, under the command of Lt. Col. Philip St. George Cooke. The battalion made a grueling march from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Diego, California, the longest march in U.S. military history.  The Battalion's march and service was instrumental in helping secure new lands in several Western states, and was especially influential in the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, which includes most of southern Arizona.  The Mormon Battalion also opened a southern wagon route to California.

Our last stop was Smucker Park in Yuma.   It also had wonderful walking paths.  

I can't pass up the first rose of a Yuma spring.

Palm trees, scrubby desert plants and then, these magnificent trees.  We loved the history, and the lovely landscape.  Off to Lake Havasu tomorrow.