Needles CA, 10-20-2018

Another sunny day, it’s going to be in the high 80’s so we are up and ready to look around the Needles Marina & RV Park and River. The place is well done with many spaces available; you can see the full timers here have all the best spots near the river and are setup for long stays with patio areas around their RV. The river is beautiful with fast boats roaring by and the green lawn spilling down to the water’s edge. We need to get going as the clock continues to click for us to be in Texas. We take a look at the atlas, yep a paper map which shows us a number of ways to go. We look for a coffee shop, a usual thing for Angela, and find a convenient store which happens to have 3 state troopers parked in front. They also have a great wall painting of Route 66 which we capture. I go inside and approach the troopers, their faces express OK, what does this guy want. I explain we need some help on which road to take to Texas. After some discussion and debate they say take Hwy 40 to I-10 as it is the best route. Thanking them I head outside to pose in front of the Route 66 wall, and off we go with only 1,398 miles to go. We are headed south and start to see signs of Lake Havasu City, a place I always wanted to go and rent a house boat. We also see signs for the London Bridge which I explain to Angela the back ground of how it got to Lake Havasu City. Robert McCulloch of McCulloch chainsaw fame had purchased 26 sq. miles of land around the lake that became Lake Havasu City, the bridge was purchased in 1968 for 2.5 million and then dismantled and shipped here for an additional 7 million dollars. Mr. McCulloch wanted to have an attraction for the city and he got that. We decide to stop and have lunch here and enjoy this beautiful body of water in the middle of the desert. The city is fairly new as it was established in 1963. We follow the signs to the London Bridge Resort and find a big enough parking lot to accommodate our Happy Trails RV. Getting out of the RV we are faced with the desert heat and glad to have hats and sun glasses on today. A walk down to the resort finds us along the lakes edge with the London Bridge across the way, a person from the resort in a golf cart can see we are posing for a selfie and she offers to take our picture. Not only does she shoot the picture but gives a history of the bridge and resort. There is something about the sound of a high-powered boat of which there are many rumblings going by and underneath the bridge. It’s time for lunch and we ask our resort friends advice, she sends us down the boardwalk to Burgers by the Bridge restaurant. We were a little skeptical at first glance but then we saw the basket full of beautifully browned Cod and chips. We ordered and people watched as the tourists went by. These were the best fish and chips we have ever had. After lunch we head back to the RV and notice an unusual limo dressed up for Halloween (see pictures below). We have never been in such a warm and unusual area approaching Halloween. Driving out of town we soak up the scenery of the lake and see all the homes lined up along the Colorado River and Parker Dam which is the reason for the lake. We use gasbuddy to find our next fill up, we highly recommend this app and no just for RVing. There can be up to 30 cents a gallon difference and in a 57-gallon tank it can make a $15.60 difference. We continue on Hwy 95 to connect to Hwy I-10 which runs along the CA and AZ border. The junction is just outside Blythe CA and the we turn left on to I-10 going east towards Phoenix. The manager at our next stop Los Colinas RV Park was wise in giving us directions to turn on Hwy 85 to Hwy 8 and then on to the RV park that avoids the Phoenix traffic. We get a sand storm warning on our phones and can see in the distance clouds building, I think they are rain clouds but found out differently. We see warning signs on the side of the road they say that visibility is low and be ready to pull of the road and wait until the storm passes. As we climb the small pass the clouds surround us and the visibility lessens to about 200 feet. Thunder and lighting begin with strong winds. Our destination is but 20 miles away and cant wait to get there. We again arrive late but just in time to sign in as this is a gated RV park. The RV Park is very well established with some manufactured homes and tiny homes included in the mix. Everyone there is friendly and we get signed in. We are anxious to get setup so we can eat, there is the typical fast food around us but our new found friends suggest the Iron Skillet. We are given a garage door opener so we can get out and back in. We get set up and the thunder is louder with many lighting strikes, I catch one with my camera. In getting ready to walk to the restaurant Angela’s purse is missing, we retrace our steps and remember it was left in the office and sure enough we see it sitting on the counter, the door is locked and we ask around who could open it, the emergency call is made and a helper to the manager shows up in a golf cart, (a mainstay of transportation in RV parks) to open the office and off we go to the restaurant. As it turns out its a Truck stop but, a very nice one with a huge buffet and large menu. We order and can see there is a mix of tuckers and locals always a good sign. Our waitress is new by her own admission and of course Angela has found a new friend. The food is good and satisfying with enough to take home and keep in our refrigerator bag. With light sprinkles and thunder still persisting we walk home.