Lake Havasu City, AZ

Lake Havasu…a new destination for us. We have skirted around the edges of this city a few times on our way north and south but this is the first time we’ve actually put the feet of the RV down on the cement. And cement it is! This somewhat expensive RV “resort” is basically a parking lot with RV hookups. There is no grass and few trees in the entire place. The roadway is blacktopped, the RV parking spaces are cement pads and the “patio” areas are crushed (as in not smooth) rock. I can’t imagine this park in the summer heat.

Our main focus here was on seeing the London Bridge and the lake.

 

THE London Bridge, now relocated in Lake Havasu City, AZ

The Bridge is pretty interesting. When in London, the bridge was sinking so London put it up for sale. Lake Havasu City’s founder, Robert McCullough (of McCullough chain saws), paid $2.6 million for it in 1967. To move it, the bridge had to be dismantled but first each block was meticulously numbered. Then it was shipped to California via the Panama Canal and trucked to Lake Havasu City where it was re-assembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Then a small “English Village” was built complete with Dr. Who Tardis’s and most of the local business establishments (hotels, restaurants, etc.) followed suit.

 

Fountain in front of the "English" Village

Chris & Tardis

Across the bridge is an island that is much quieter than the main city. We didn’t really see a lot of the lake itself but there is no shortage of extremely pricey new homes (as there are on the city-side). Oddly, in a place that has a substantial amount of sunshine year-round, we saw only THREE houses with solar panels.

We searched hard to find restaurants for lunch but there are surprisingly few. Not that there isn’t anywhere to eat. The number and variety of fast food places is mind boggling! We finally located a couple brew pubs with good food and beer (and high prices) but the only “restaurants” were in hotels & resorts.

A really big part of the local culture here seems to be what Chris & I affectionately call "penis boats". Everywhere you look, there they are. 

About every third vehicle on the roads is a pickup truck towing a cigarette boat and, of course, they are everywhere on the water.

We saw two small sailboats parked in a dusty parking lot on the Island but none on the lake so I asked one of our waiters if there is any sailing on the lake. He looked confused so I specified that I meant sailing as in sail-boat. He said nope. Only the occasional small sailboat. Seemed kind of weird given the size of this piece of water…but…then harkened back to my sailing days on the Columbia River when the power boaters seemed to consider it “sport” to speed past us slow boats throwing a big wake and watching to see if they managed to cause damage. 

Given these speed boats can hit speeds far above those on the River, I can see the hesitation when there are hundreds of them on the water.

 

I can't imagine that this would end well.

During our stay, I really needed to get a couple of small items for the counted cross-stitch project I am working on and I was convinced there would be a fabric or craft store here. Hah! The ONLY store of that type is a Hobby Lobby. I have long managed to avoid this establishment (I dislike their politics and the way they treat their employees) but I REALLY needed these items so steeled myself and went in. Good Grief. It must have been at least a city block in size so just FINDING the right section was a major project.

Chris & I also enjoy spending time (especially hot afternoons) browsing in bookstores so I looked on line to see what was available. Huh. TWO bookstores in the whole city. One sells used books and one sells “adult” books. OK. Scratch that.

 

This guy floated right over the top of us the morning we were leaving.

Chris was quick to tell me not to even THINK about living here because it is too, too hot (said the Arizona boy), but no worries. The busy, testosterone driven atmosphere is the deal breaker for me!