Friday, March 20, 2009

A trip to Lake Havasu City, Arizona

What about visiting Lake Havasu City when staying in the Bullhead City, Arizona or Laughlin, Nevada areas?

The drive from Bullhead City to Lake Havasu City takes you through several small towns that line the highway and through barren desert landscape that frankly was not that interesting. The drive itself took over an hour. The only thing that is slightly attention-grabbing on the trip south was the price of gas when you cross over and travel into California for a small stretch. The gas prices in Needles, California ranged from $.80 to $1 higher than those in Arizona. It was shocking. Needless to say, make sure you fill-up before leaving Arizona.

The main attractions in Lake Havasu City are the famous London Bridge (it’s the actual bridge that once crossed the Thames Rive in London, England), the lake itself, and the spectacle of the college spring breakers now converging onto the Paradise Channel portion of the lake. Paradise Channel is a person-made channel that is lined with hotels, restaurants and shops, and forms the large island in the lake. It a nice walk, albeit it takes only about 15 minutes to walk the length. There is a grassy, shady dog park, restrooms, and nice views of the channels and Lake Havasu. The London Bridge connects this island to the city, and is easily viewable from the Paradise Channel walkway.

If you are a boater or a desert lover, then the attraction to this area is obvious, but if you are just a tourist exploring the area, then your time is better spent elsewhere. However............one positive was the resurrection of the ABC Car Game. When we're bored on a long stretch of road, we've played this game. Here's how, in case you are either ever in the car with us, or are simply bored on a drive as well. Basically, you look for stationary signs with the letters of the alphabet, and see who gets through the entire alphabet first. For example, as you're driving along and see Applebee's, you can say/scream "A in Applebee's". The other person cannot use Applebee's for A. Then it's "B in StarBucks!" and so on..... You get the idea. The Q is a tough one - look for liQuor stores, Dairy Queens, and liQuidation sales. Z can also be tough, but not in AriZona!




2 comments:

Camille Carnell Pronovost said...

I like that..."person-made canal"!

Jerry and Suzy said...

Although we are desert lovers (as well as dessert lovers!) we have never found the Colorado River area to be inviting or even pleasant. Yeah, the bridge is interesting, but the RV parks aren't. (This is heresy, according to a lot of RVers who can't wait to get there, but too bad - it's our truth!)

Head up to Oatman if you want to enjoy a day, and bring plenty of carrots, or plenty of dollars to buy carrots. Those burros won't stop eating until there are no more carrots in town.

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