Parker, Az

5th – 7^th April –

We left Yuma in search of some quiet waters for the maiden voyage of the kayak.  We were recommended not to go up to Lake Havasu just yet as the school holidays were still on and the place would be busy.  So we booked in at a County Park on the banks of the Colorado River, 30 miles south of Lake Havasu City.  This stretch of the Colorado river forms the state line between Arizona and California.

 

 

It was, of course, school holidays everywhere and this stretch of the river was no exception.  There were motor boats, jet-skis, water-skiers and paragliding everywhere.  The continuous noise did not let up until 22.30hrs in the evening.  It started again just after 06.00hrs the next morning!

 

This was not the water to test the kayak on.  So we sat and enjoyed the sunshine and watched the younger generations at play; and visited one of the bars either end of the camp site. 

Eventually the noise died down towards the end of Sunday and by Monday morning the river was empty.  However high winds had picked up and wind gusts of 50mph was not the time to be playing around with an inflatable boat.  So Monday we set off for Lake Havasu.

 

8th – 10th April – Lake Havasu City, Az

The Lake looked lovely – in the sunshine.  The lake was created when Parker Dam was built.  It is the deepest dam, in USA, of over 320ft of which barely 100ft is above ground. 

However on the first day there was dust in the air from the high winds and you could barely see the California side of the waters. 

Lake Havasu City is where the London Bridge was reconstructed after it was purchased for $2.46m in 1969.  It was transported via the Panama Canal and California and inaugurated in 1971.  The final cost was $5.1m.  The city was founded in 1964, so the acquisition of the bridge at that time was pretty visionary.  The population has since grown to around 16,000; and the city is still developing.

From Lake Havasu we took a day trip up Route 66 to Oatman.  This town began in 1906 as a gold mining town.  Once the town was by-passed by the Interstate the place died down, as many places did on Route 66.  So it now exists as a tourist attraction and they have made every effort to keep it as authentic as possible.  One of their attractions are wild Burros that come into town for the tourists to feed them carrots and apples; as well as a gun-fight in the high street at noon.




Route 66 was established in 1926 as the first paved highway across USA, running 2448 miles, from Chicago to Santa Monica, and was decommissioned in 1985.

 

The high winds limit our activities.  Of concern on the news is ‘Valley Fever’ which can be caused from the bacteria and spores carried in the dust being blown by the wind.  We had started a BBQ when shortly afterwards a dust storm blew up.  Paul was the hero and rescued the meat.

 

11^th April  Launch the Kayak.

Today the winds have subsided and the lake was almost empty so in the afternoon we decided to give the Kayak it’s inaugural dip in the water.

We spent the next couple of hours testing it to see how it handled, we were very pleased to find out that it was very stable and easy to paddle. ( Manual say’s that it is almost impossible to overturn) Our verdict? A very good buy.

 

 

 

 

12th April.

 

This morning was taken up with all the conformation letters going back to the company for our White Water Rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. It was also the second outing for the Kayak.  

As we had been on the water for most of the afternoon we decided not to cook at home, so we went into town. Some people would call this fate, out of all the restaurants in town to choose from, we chose one just as a couple from Southampton were going in. We then spent a very pleasant evening with Graham and Sara. Once again "Happy Birthday" Sara. Have a great holiday.

 

Tomorrow we are on the move again, this time we are heading for Flagstaff.