Lake Havasu.. bring your water toys, Quartzsite... bring your water

Thank You for attending History 101, please take your seats and we will begin.

Lake Havasu was created when the Parker Dam was built amid turmoil in the late '30's on the Colorado River.  It was to feed water to the growing populous and farming in Southern California and Arizona. 

What it also created was a great place to have fun on the water and surrounding desert, but it took some time for it to get there.

For this we can thank the chainsaw...HUH?...I hear you say.

In 1964, Robert P. McCulloch founded Lake Havasu.  He also happened to make chainsaws, Paxton superchargers, airplanes and many other things he made plenty of money at.  He was an interesting guy with an interesting life if you want to read up on him, but for us, we can thank him for his vision and wanting to sell real estate to retirees and thus make even more money. 

We came to Lake Havasu because many people winter here and we wanted to see what was up.  Turns out it's more of a summer resort town for the people of L.A., Vegas and Phoenix.  An easy 2/3 hour drive from these places when the temps hit the low hundreds and you want to cool off on the water.  Don't get me wrong there are many people here now too but much of the touristy things are scaled back or closed completely. 

Havasu is the place for adults with toys.  Everywhere you go you see RV's, ATV's, boats, dune buggies, ultralites in the air.  The local gas station selling aviation fuel to feed the 800hp engines in your offshore boat or your modified sand rail.  Drive through the neighborhoods and you see everyone has some sort of toy or two in the driveway.  There was one couple at Cattail Cove that had two Dodge duallies, one pulling a fifth wheel and a bass boat, the other with a camper pulling a two seat ATV on a trailer.  While they were here they bought two wave runners that they had to figure out how to get home.

Mr. McCulloch also did something else big to draw people to this oasis in the desert.  In 1968 he bought the London Bridge at auction. A little under $2.5 million (big bucks in '68) and three years later it was reassembled brick by numbered brick on land and then they dug a canal to pass under it and created an island in the process.

We spent three days here at Cattail Cove State Park on the lower end of the lake, south of the city.  A smaller park that is well kept, nice beach, a boat ramp and we even had a lemon tree on our site.  It was fairly busy so make reservations if it's a holiday or long week-end.  Now that we are seasoned hikers after Sedona, we set off on another mile and half trail along the water.  There are a few different trail loops of various length to enjoy.

El Fresco office

Abby looking sour under our lemon tree.

Fire and ice and the Leafs win!

Nice view on our hike. 

Quartzsite was our next stop just a 1 1/2 hour drive down the highway.  If you are an RV'er you've heard of this place, if not, in short it is the mecca every winter for hundreds of thousands of Rv'ers attending a huge RV show in the middle of the desert.  It goes from a population of 3000 people to Arizona's third largest city for the month of January. While we aren't here for the show there are always venders and RV'ers here in the winter months.  

Most of the surrounding lands are BLM (Bureau of Land Management). Here you can boondock for free for up to 14 days without any amenities or for a small fee, $40 for14 days or $180 for the winter, there are LTVA (Long Term Visitor Areas) where you can have access to water, dump station and garbage disposal.  It is easy and cheap... find a spot, set-up camp then sit back and enjoy. 

Our camp site #1

Abby guarding her rock pile.

Right before we walked the dog.

We on the other hand set-up, sit back and enjoy a beer, take Abby for a walk, Detra sees a nicer camping spot, we go back, tear down everything, pack up everything, drive deeper into the desert, set it all up again, sit back and then mumble things into your beer.

Camp site #2

Detra building a fire pit...again

Nice pit.. she learnt a thing or two from the first one.

A Quartzsite sunset.

We are not really outfitted for dry camping so we only spent one night around the fire, under the stars and watched the sun pop up the next morning.  Many people with solar panels, generators and strong constitutions spend weeks or even months out here, spread out across the land.  There is a feeling of freedom that comes with this type of camping that would be worth the investment in all the equipment needed to sustain yourself, but for now we are more the RV resort types.

Phoenix is the next stop while we make our way to Tucson for a whole month of relaxing in one spot.

Basking in the Warmth,
Scott

Sedona - An Earthly Experience

There is a beautiful place on Earth, a place to feel close to the planet, a land of healing and calm, This is Sedona.  We were told that it was nice, we had heard it was scenic, but it can not be described and then properly understood with words.  You have to be here, to stand in the middle of it, to touch the red soil to take it in with all your senses to appreciate the beauty of it all.

We have spent a week here soaking it in, but you could spend a lifetime and not tire of looking at the rocks and buttes around Sedona.  It truly is the most jaw dropping landscape we have seen to this point in our lives. 

We arrived after our cold and much shortened journey across the U.S. mid-west.  The original plan was to stretch it out for a month to end up in Tucson for the beginning of Dec., but we have always known our plans are written in sand and are meant to change with the wind.  We will be back someday to take in what we blew through on our way to the warm and sunny times in Sedona.

Hwy 17 south out of Flagstaff was a nice road except for the hill you have to get down.  18 miles of hill! Most of the hill at 4 and 6 percent grade it is a real fuel saver but you will pay for it in brakes.  Actually the truck handled it very well, the exhaust brake doing most of the work and the service brakes were used just a few times.  At one point there is a sign telling you "Emergency run-off in 10 Miles", I wouldn't want to be the trucker trying keep 80,000 lbs on the winding road at 100+ mph until it showed up.

Distant Drums Rv Park was our home for the week here, it's a nice park with concrete pads and patios.  The workampers here are very good at keeping this place spotless and making sure you are happy with everything.  This park is about 20 miles south of Sedona and 15 from Cottonwood.  It might sound like it is too far from things, but the great benefit is that you have to take Red Rock Scenic Byway to get to Sedona.  This is the scenic road of scenic roads.  Driving through The Coconino National Forest the byway is 7.5 miles of oohs and ahs at every turn.  I'm not sure how many times we drove this road in our week here but it wasn't enough. 

There is a casino (Cliff Castle Casino) across the highway from the park and if you sign up for their loyalty card they give each of you a $10 credit and the park gives you another $10 voucher so you can gamble a little for free.  They have a good buffet restaurant that we had a lunch and a breakfast at for a reasonable price. 

Sedona itself is an eclectic town, with a mix of people from the mega rich in their mansions to the aging hippies in their vans. ( I know what I'm closer to on this scale, you don't have to point it out to me!)  This is a fantastic area for an outdoor and healthy lifestyle and that is the people you find here.  Mountain bikers with all the best gear are everywhere on the roads or the miles and miles of trails all over the area.  Plenty of meditation, healing, yoga and grass-eating types ( I joke, I joke) abound.  There are typical tourist businesses, rental Jeeps and ATV's, helicopters, souvenirs and condo/ timeshare sellers all over, but it can't take away from the beauty of the area.  Plenty of hiking and camping options everywhere in the surrounding parks.

Cottonwood has a historic "Old Town" section with art shops and restaurants which was interesting although much of it closes early or doesn't open at all on the winter Mondays which happened to be when we were there.  We also went to The Blazing M Ranch which is also in Cottonwood.  They put on western show and dinner that is worth seeing.  They have a little western town set up with shops, a tavern and a booth were we shot a real revolver with wax bullets and a smaller charge but it gave you an idea of shooting a real gun.  Turns out Detra has a better eye than I have, so we won't be purchasing firearms any time soon although...I think I could take her in a quick-draw situation.

Got 'em

Ghost Rider and the Gal

We felt we had to get out and experience the desert landscape up close, so we decided to do a hike around Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte.  This is a lovely 4.5 mile hike of which we thoroughly enjoyed the scenery, flora and fauna.  The map says it is a 4.3 mile hike but we took a wrong turn and added at least a few tenths of a mile.  So it turns out two totally inexperienced and unconditioned hikers walking through the desert, in the sun and the heat can have a very happy 4 mile hike, but that last half mile it was dry, dusty, god forsaken land of the devil... or maybe we were just tired.

 Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte, our hike took us around these.

Enjoying the view

How much further?

Find your own water this one is mine!

After our week here, it is a place I would return to if I was looking for a relaxing time to just sit and breathe it all in, a place to go gonzo mountain biking on fantastic trails, golf on pristine courses, hike and sleep under more stars than you have ever seen, take in the arts or an enema at one of the health retreats, be pampered in a 5-star resort or camp under a tarp,

Sedona is the place that has it all!

If you ever need a reset or to get in touch with nature or your inner self, come sit on a red rock in the middle of the desert here, breathe the air, soak in the sun, gaze at the beauty around you.  You will feel recharged, free, small and large at the same time, close to the Earth and a million miles from your demons. 

Happy Thanksgiving to our U.S. friends.

Rested, reset and returning,
Scott