Lake Havasu

We followed US-95 south through Arizona to Lake Havasu.  It is beautiful rugged country with the Colorado River winding through miles of otherwise parched desert. 

The Colorado River is visible at times, but is mostly hidden by the rugged country it flows through.

Arriving in Lake Havasu City

We stayed at Crazy Horse Campground on the Pittsburgh Point peninsula.

Our intrepid boat

Captain Brett

We headed north out of Lake Havasu, bound for Topock Gorge.

At the north end of Topock Gorge there are several bridges that span the river.  The closest one with the hanging sign carries a natural gas pipeline across the bridge.  The concrete bridge is I-40.  The old bridge that was part of Route 66 crossed in this area but is no longer there.

The London Bridge was originally build in London in 1930 to span the Thames River.  In 1968 the man that established Lake Havasu City bought it and had it shipped to Arizona.  After the bridge was in place, a navigable channel was cut that turned Pittsburgh Peninsula into an island.

Once we got back to Lake Havasu we motored through the London Bridge channel.

London Bridge at Lake Havasu City

The current London Bridge in London

We emerged from the channel and motored our way around the island to get back to the dock.

Pittsburgh Peninsula from our boat

About a quarter mile from the dock we ran out of gas.  I called the boat rental company who assured me that I should have plenty of fuel left.  He gave me some things to try, none of which worked.  Then he said that it sounded like I had run out of gas.

Pittsburgh Peninsula where we ran out of gas. 

Later that afternoon the wind picked up and blew through the night and all day the next day.  At this point in time I had not connected the new batteries to the main fuse box for the trailer so the old battery was running all of the DC circuits in the trailer.  Well the old battery went bad and wouldn't take or hold a charge.  I ended up crawling under the trailer amid the blowing sand to run two large cables from the batteries a the rear of the coach to the junction box at the front of the coach.  Since the bottom was enclosed this was a difficult, slow process.  At least I had sand blowing in my hair and down my shirt.

Sunset at Lake Havasu City

We left Lake Havasu the next day with a mostly complete upgraded electrical system and headed south toward Joshua Tree.

Lake Havasu is formed by Parker Dam, which is about 15 miles downstream from where we were staying.  It forms a long skinny lake, the widest part being where Lake Havasu City is located.

Just upstream from Parker Dam is the Whitsett Intake Pumping Plant.  This is the first step of the Colorado River Aqueduct that is a major source of drinking water for Southern California.

We crossed the Colorado River for the last time at the city of Parker, downstream from Parker Dam.  The flow in the river is considerably lower here.