Tuesday, March 22
Two things last
night: 1. Wind….Sometime in the evening, it got windy, but because we had been up by the clubhouse, we didn’t realize how
hard it was blowing until we headed back to the campsite. The
tent sides were blowing inward, crowding the air mattress, mostly on my side.
Tied the tent poles to the pavilion poles, which helped with the sides crowding
in but there was still the noise of the tent fabric snapping in the wind. 2. Light….Every campsite has a little
dusk to dawn light…not a bad thing unless you’re in a tent with yellow sides. I’ve been putting a fabric reusable grocery
bag over it at night to minimize the light shining in the tent. Last night because of the wind, I couldn’t
put the bag over the light…it would have blown away. So we had the wind messing with the tent and
the light shining through full tilt. Not
a good combination when trying to get to sleep. Woke up sometime during the night and it registered that the wind stopped blowing…thankful for
that. But I still needed to shield my eyes from the light.
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The London Bridge - Lake Havasu City’s
Claim to Fame
In 1967, the Common Council of the City of
London began to look for potential buyers for the (old soon to be replaced) London
Bridge. Lake Havasu City founder and entrepreneur 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. Since then, it has consistently remained a favorite among Arizona attractions, drawing in visitors from around the globe.
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. Since then, it has consistently remained a favorite among Arizona attractions, drawing in visitors from around the globe.
Rode to Lake Havasu
City today, home of the beautiful Lake Havasu and the London Bridge. When we got to town, I navigated us to the
London Bridge by following the signs for it.
Crossed over it, went to a beach, then crossed back over the bridge to
find a store. After leaving the store,
we wanted to go back over the bridge…eat lunch nearby, take pictures of it,
walk across it….basic touristy things. I
was in the lead again…and couldn’t find the bridge the second time around. We took a tour of the city in my attempt to
find the bridge. Come on, it’s the
London Bridge, for goodness sake. It’s
big…it has flags on it…it’s not like it fell down or got moved.J Eventually had to consult Rapunzel, who was
happy to show us the way. So much for my
navigational skills….missed a sign at a crucial intersection.
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 |
| Located at the corner of Happy and Healthy ...J |
Both Arizona and
California allow the use of medicinal
marijuana and the dispensaries are not
afraid to advertise. We’ve seen many
in our travels the last few days. The
city of Needles seems to be big on 4-way stops at intersections. Probably 6 times we’ve passed through the
intersection of W. Broadway and Hwy 95, which I’ve come to think of as ‘The
Corner of Happy and Healthy’. The
Health Center, an obvious dispensary by its sign, is located at that corner and
there are two signboards at the intersections advertising it. I’m not aware of dispensaries in our corner
of Michigan advertising so boldly….I know they do advertise but it seems to be
a little more subtle.
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We headed south
from Lake Havasu City to Parker, AZ, for no other reason than that’s where we
could pick up 95 North back to Needles.
I thought it would be one of the scenic routes (desert scenic, that is) that
are just nice to ride. And that was true…it
was 49 miles of scenery and nice riding.
But it was also a route for semis….and at the time we were on it, there
was heavy semi traffic. Other than that,
today’s 170 miles were a good ride.
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I’m not a
violent person. Hurting someone
physically is never my first instinct. However,
when a driver passes us on a double yellow line…and it’s double yellow for a
reason, people!....I want to throw rocks at his/her head. I don’t care if it hurts.
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We rode through
the Heart of the Mojave today….at least that’s what the sign said.
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Arrived back at
the campground today to find that the front of our tent had moved about 3 feet,
despite the fact that most of our stuff was inside and should have anchored it….air
mattress with heavy sleeping bag, loaded and heavy t-bags, and various other
things. One of the back poles got wedged
in by the concrete footing for the pavilion so that corner stayed put and the
front edge crowded backward. When we
arrived the other day, it was calm and the ground isn’t real hospitable for
staking, so we figured not staking it wouldn’t be a problem. It wasn’t a problem…until it was.
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Yesterday and
today were both windy days out on the road.
But it wasn’t a cool wind. Still
able to ride in shirt sleeves with no jacket.
We both have light jackets on board because it’s hard to tell with
elevation changes what the temperature is going to do. But we haven’t needed warm gear. Yesterday I did put my long sleeve shirt on just
to give my arms some relief from the sun…and that extra layer actually felt
good in the shadows we encountered. But
all in all, it’s been good riding temperatures.
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