Zach's working in AZ for a little bit, so we met up halfway at Lake Havasu for the weekend. The town itself is not much, just your average little waterfront tourist town, but that in itself is something right? It means there's water to play at, for starters! And the weather really was perfect. Clear and warm and sunny the day we were playing, and then rainy and drizzly as we were just hanging about the town (yes, living in the desert we really do get excited about rain on trips - weather!! Wheeee!).
I was so excited to get back on the water! Kayaking was just a perfect day. The tour we took put us in at the top of the Gorge, about 13 miles upstream from the top of the Lake. It was about a 5 hour day to paddle all the way. I can't even begin to explain how happy I was to get back on the water. Not that I've done tons of kayaking back east, don't own my own or anything (yet!) but I have done a lot, and I've definitely done tons of canoeing each summer in FL. I may have grown up on the beach, but I've realized as I've gotten older that I'm more of a Big Water person than an Ocean person, if you understand. Lakes and rivers make me just as happy as the ocean. I just want to see water!
And of course we saw the London Bridge there crossing the water. It really is the London Bridge (well, the 1831 edition) which a developer in Havasu purchased from the City of London and rebuilt in AZ in the late 1960s. Was looking for a tourist attraction for the expanding town of Lake Havasu City, and London was willing to sell the bridge, since they were expanding that bridge anyway. Everyone wins! Oh, and apparently the urban legend that they thought they were purchasing the Tower Bridge instead is just that: an urban legend. (More at Wikipedia.) We got a kick out of it, because it was grey and rainy the day we were seeing it, so the bridge suited the weather perfectly. Of course the palm trees and other desert flora there in the picture make me chuckle, but it is still AZ after all!
Lake Havasu is apparently home to more lighthouses than any other city in America, something I didn't realize until we got back. These are all 1/3 scale replicas of other lighthouses in the country. You can see some of the other lighthouses they've replicated here. All I could think when we were driving around the Island and saw them was "Cute! Wee and small!" Our route took us past 2 different ones, but we only walked out to the one below because it was cold and rainy after all :) They were kinda an optical illusion when we first saw them, because it is hard to tell how far away something is in the desert, so you can't tell at first if it's just far away or if it really IS that small. Well, here, they really are that small!
Side note on tourist towns. I swear that every water based tourist town has the same cheesy t-shirts in their shops. Like an unwritten rule, or something. Just one of those quirks, you know, but having grown up in a tourist area (not it's only industry, like Havasu, but still a lot of tourists) it makes me laugh when I travel across the country and see the same T-shirts in AZ that I see in shops in VB.
Oh, and all of this would've been written up last week, but Zach was very kind and sharing when we met at Havasu, and thoughtfully gave me his cold. So, last week was spent coughing and sniffling instead of sorting pictures. :\ Still, they got up eventually, right?
I was so excited to get back on the water! Kayaking was just a perfect day. The tour we took put us in at the top of the Gorge, about 13 miles upstream from the top of the Lake. It was about a 5 hour day to paddle all the way. I can't even begin to explain how happy I was to get back on the water. Not that I've done tons of kayaking back east, don't own my own or anything (yet!) but I have done a lot, and I've definitely done tons of canoeing each summer in FL. I may have grown up on the beach, but I've realized as I've gotten older that I'm more of a Big Water person than an Ocean person, if you understand. Lakes and rivers make me just as happy as the ocean. I just want to see water!
Oh, this picture of me here is just about the only one we got of me that day. It's a lot harder to pass the camera back and forth between boats than it is to just hand it back and forth when hiking. Didn't think to bring the second one, but don't think it would have made too much difference. I'm the shutterbug, Zach likes looking at the pictures later :)
And the most fun? I can keep up with Zach paddling, unlike hiking :) Not when he launches himself all out, just to go fast because he can, but there are much fewer times paddling than hiking when he gets carried away and leaves me in his dust.
And of course we saw the London Bridge there crossing the water. It really is the London Bridge (well, the 1831 edition) which a developer in Havasu purchased from the City of London and rebuilt in AZ in the late 1960s. Was looking for a tourist attraction for the expanding town of Lake Havasu City, and London was willing to sell the bridge, since they were expanding that bridge anyway. Everyone wins! Oh, and apparently the urban legend that they thought they were purchasing the Tower Bridge instead is just that: an urban legend. (More at Wikipedia.) We got a kick out of it, because it was grey and rainy the day we were seeing it, so the bridge suited the weather perfectly. Of course the palm trees and other desert flora there in the picture make me chuckle, but it is still AZ after all!
Lake Havasu is apparently home to more lighthouses than any other city in America, something I didn't realize until we got back. These are all 1/3 scale replicas of other lighthouses in the country. You can see some of the other lighthouses they've replicated here. All I could think when we were driving around the Island and saw them was "Cute! Wee and small!" Our route took us past 2 different ones, but we only walked out to the one below because it was cold and rainy after all :) They were kinda an optical illusion when we first saw them, because it is hard to tell how far away something is in the desert, so you can't tell at first if it's just far away or if it really IS that small. Well, here, they really are that small!
Oh, and all of this would've been written up last week, but Zach was very kind and sharing when we met at Havasu, and thoughtfully gave me his cold. So, last week was spent coughing and sniffling instead of sorting pictures. :\ Still, they got up eventually, right?
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