Havasu Springs Resort, Arizona

This is the beginning of The Mother Of All Road Trips!  I think it will be 5000 miles by the time we get back to Kincardine but we will have knocked many things off the bucket list on the way.  Yeehaw!  How exciting!  After leaving the Lake Havasu area we are heading to California, Las Vegas, Colorado and then Calgary Alberta before going home. 

It took about 6 hours to drive to Havasu Springs Resort on the Colorado River.  It should have been 5 but there were construction delays.  This is one of many resorts on the River between Parker and Lake Havasu Arizona.  On the other side of the river California beckons and that will be our next stop.  

We drove through now familiar desert terrain for several hours before noticing a change in the mountains and vegetation.  More mountains if that is possible and fewer cacti.  And the smell!  We crossed parts of the Arizona Canal Project several times and noticed the effects of irrigation.  That’s what I was smelling...cut hay and manure!  We saw a couple of humungous dairy farms.  The thousands of cows are corralled and some feeding at confining troughs with fans blowing on them. They looked to be solar powered. (not the cows, the fans) There are roofed structures with no walls.  It is so strange and different from any dairy farm I have seen at home that I can hardly describe it.  I also thought I could smell water, and spring!  I guess after a few months in the desert I am craving these smells.

The approach to the Colorado River becomes more rugged and beautiful the closer you get.  In some ways the rock formations remind me of Sedona, the Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert combined. The river is so blue and when you get close, clear.  

Parker Dam and the Canal project feed Tucson, Phoenix and more as well as providing irrigation and recreation for the area around Lake Havasu.  What a playground!  The RV Parks and Resorts abound.  How strange to see boats again!  It is a bit much really, reminiscent of Niagara Falls or Grand Bend in spots but with its own flavour of course.  These resorts are nestled among the mountains with the river or lake winding through.  They seem endless along this stretch of the River.  Power lines mar the landscape but the power generated by the dam is huge and vacationers and snowbirds don’t seem to mind. 

We were hoping to golf at one of the gorgeous courses in the area, especially Emerald Canyon.  John has been calling this course for over a week but we just can’t get on; it is that busy!  There is a little par three on our resort property that looks interesting so will try that.

We went up to Lake Havasu City today and tried a couple of other golf courses.  No luck.  So we made our way to London Bridge.  Yes, you heard that right.  The old London Bridge that had to be replaced in England was taken apart piece by piece by an Arizona Entrepreneur and put back together at Lake Havasu City.  It is the second most visited tourist attraction in AZ after the Grand Canyon.  It is an interesting story and the architecture is...well...out of place but beautiful.  There’s a bit of a circus going on around it with a fairground atmosphere.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_%28Lake_Havasu_City%29

Our motel at Havasu Springs Resort looks better from the outside than in but is comfortable enough.  It needs updating but we have a small kitchenette and a pretty view of the river and mountains.  A night in the motel room is a bit cheaper than an RV site here!  There are also park models, homes and condos at this resort.  We will be staying with friends and family on this trip but at motels/hotels in between.  My biggest fear is bed bugs!