Author: Easin' Along

We departed Lake Havasu, AZ after a very delightful and relaxing few days before leaving Arizona until we visit Page and the Grand Canyon in a couple of weeks. In our mind, the next destination was San Diego but, to stay within my driving limit of four hours, we needed an interim stopover. We chose Palm Oasis RV Park located on the Naval Air Station in El Centro, CA, about 15 miles north of the Mexican border.

Our reservations were for only two nights. Therefore, we looked at this stop as “downtime” and a chance to do laundry, catch up on email and phone calls, and do some maintenance on Lucy.  Besides, we knew nothing about the area and had no plans. On the way there, Helen, as she usually does, did some digging on the internet to see if there are any exciting sightseeing opportunities.

She learned that El Centro is in the middle of California’s Imperial Valley where farms covering thousands of acres have produced a significant portion of the nation’s fruit and vegetables since the 1930s.  When dams along the Colorado River made irrigation possible, farms flourished, and the previously impoverished Imperial Valley inhabitants suddenly had a means of making a substantial income. We decided to drive through the Valley and pay a visit to the nearby Salton Sea instead of doing laundry.

Checking into the Palm Oasis RV Park was smooth and efficient, but the weather was something else. The wind kicked up to 50-mile gusts, and Lucy rocked to them all night.  The next day, the winds subsided, but the temperatures approached 100 degrees. We ignored the temperatures and drove into the Imperial Valley and the Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge, named for the singer and former Congressman from Southern California.

Along the highway, fields of crops of every variety stretched as far as the eye could see. We spotted corn, onions, sugar beets, wheat, dates, and cabbage. Everywhere we looked, fields of green filled our view. I had heard of the Imperial Valley but thought it was somewhere between Los Angeles and San Francisco, not in the desert region of the state. I was impressed.

We visited the Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge but saw no wildlife, only some pretty flowers. After a short hike in the 100-degree heat, we thought we might be better off driving to the Salton Sea, a body of water created in 1905 when the Colorado River broke through a poorly constructed dam and filled the Salton Basin over the next two years. We did not know that the Salton Sea, is now considered toxic and that evaporation has caused the salinity to rise significantly.

I later learned that the sea was a tourist hotspot in the 1950s and ’60s, but now is abandoned.  We could not find an access road to the shores but did venture down a trail we thought would lead us there, only to find an abandoned trailer park. This picture shows that perhaps better days for the Salton Sea have passed.

Driving back to El Centro, Helen decided that she had to have a “Date Shake,” a milkshake flavored with fresh dates.  We pulled into the only Date Shake spot mentioned on Trip Advisor. Helen got a shake while I sampled a variety of dates. All were good, and I ended up with two containers. I haven’t had dates since I was a child and my mother always had a box of Dromedary Dates on hand at Christmas. While there we saw signs advertising the annual El Centro Town Festival.  We love Festivals.

Although things were getting underway when we arrived in the town center, parking was tight. We found a spot behind the corner filling station and walked toward the music. Vendor booths lined two streets, and a band was tuning their instruments. The vendors primarily offered local produce, but there was the usual assortment of makeup dealers, jewelry vendors, and baked goods. We purchased some beautiful vegetables then passed by a stand offering pies.  I had to have an apple/peach. One pie went home with us.

The next day promised more 50-mile winds and 100 degree plus temperatures. I was ready for San Diego but glad that we had the opportunity to learn about an essential region of the country.  A note for our Military Living readers—Palm Oasis is a very nice campground with full hookups and offers a variety of recreational opportunities.  El Centro is the winter training site for the Blue Angels, the Navy’s precision flying team, and the full-time RVers told us that the training flights are almost as good as an air show. I’m sorry we missed them.

That’s about it from the Imperial Valley. Thanks so much for joining us. We’re Easin’ Along to San Diego.

I am stunned by the natural beauty of Arizona. We had our first taste in Tucson, followed by a second course around Apache Junction and the Superstition Mountains. The dessert came when we took in the Red Rocks of Sedona. By that time, I thought we had seen it all. Nevertheless, when we witnessed the stunning beauty of the mountains as a backdrop to the crystal blue waters of Lake Havasu, we found a dazzling combination. Throw some Arizona sunsets into the mix, and we probably had seen it all, even though I’m not ready to quit looking.

We arrived in Lake Havasu for six nights at the State Park. Ingrid, my blogging friend (Live, Laugh, RV) that readers met a few weeks ago at Lost Dutchman State Park suggested a visit when we began planning our trip west.  Lake Havasu, often mentioned in articles about fun places in Arizona, so I made reservations about a year ago. We were looking forward to our time there.

In 2016, Helen and I met John and Janet, Lake Havasu residents and friends of friends, on our trip through Minnesota lake country. Thankfully, I stored that information in my memory bank. We obtained contact information for Janet from those friends, and Helen sent her a text message reminding her of our previous meeting and asking for suggestions of things to see and do. Shortly after that, Janet called.  She was busy preparing for the arrival of family guests but gave us several ideas including a visit to the Lake Havasu Museum as a must-see.  Janet also said that John would like to meet us the next day for a drive around the area and, if the winds cooperated, a boat ride on the Lake. There was no way we could turn that offer down, and we met at ten the next morning.

The day was a bit cloudy when John met us at the London Bridge parking lot.  He remembered us from our previous meeting and invited us to ride in his car while he gave us a history lesson on Lake Havasu. The city was founded in 1963 by a man named Robert McCulloch, a manufacturer of chain saws and outboard motors. Mr. McCulloch spotted the Lake on a flight over the area and thought it would be a great place to test outboards. Long story short, a city grew around his manufacturing facility. Later, to attract tourists and residents, he purchased the London Bridge that was falling (yes, that London Bridge) for two million dollars and had it shipped to Lake Havasu where it was reassembled one block at a time. The London Bridge is now the second-most visited attraction in Arizona after the Grand Canyon.

After our car ride, John brought us aboard his pontoon boat for a tour of the Lake, created by a dam on the Colorado River.  By this time, the sky had cleared, and the breeze was slight…a delightful day for a boat ride. John loves the area and loves to share it with visitors. One of the unique features on Lake Havasu is the many miniature lighthouses built by volunteer organizations in the city. The lighthouses are functional and serve as markers for navigation. We saw many of them, some of which are replicas of lighthouses from around the world. John also took us into several beautiful coves along the Lake that make great spots for camping or boat parties.  The day ended all too soon, but John had family duties and needed to get home.  We thanked him for his kind hospitality, but there was no way to thank him enough.

We spent time during the remainder of our stay in Lake Havasu relaxing and taking in the beauty of the area. Lake Havasu State Park has several trails for hiking as well as an extensive cactus garden. The cactus flowers are in full bloom now, and we felt fortunate to see them. Arizona sunsets are fantastic, and on one evening we hiked to the top of a ridge adjacent to the campground to take pictures of the sunset and the mountains to the northeast and the south. A close look at this picture shows Lucy (trailer) in the lower left corner.

On another evening, we paid two dollars for a ferry ride to the California side of the Lake to try our luck at the casino on Havasu Landing.  That was an unfortunate experience, but at least the boat ride was enjoyable. We visited the Lake Havasu Historical Museum as recommended by Janet and were greeted warmly by the Museum volunteers who seemed excited to welcome a couple of tourists from Tennessee. They were fun.

Sadly, our stay came to an end, but we felt relaxed and ready to move on to the next stop, El Centro, California and the lush Imperial Valley. We passed the remarkable North Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area.  Much like White Sands, NM, this area was nothing but a sand-covered region. Unlike White Sands, dune buggies and four-wheelers buzzed everywhere. A sizeable rally was about to begin on the day we drove through.  Big trucks had moved into some parking areas and unloaded Off-Road Vehicles for a day on the sand.

I’ll leave you now, but we’ll be back.  Here’s a few more pictures…we’re Easin’ Along.

Two years ago, Helen and I spent one night at Dead Horse Ranch in Cottonwood, AZ and drove through Sedona, AZ to get there.  It only took that brief visit to make us realize that we had to return for an extended stay. We got that opportunity on this trip. Our time in Apache Junction was delightful as well as very relaxing, but we knew that the area we were moving into would be sightseeing gold (or red).

We checked in and settled into our campsite. Later that afternoon, Helen and I took a short hike to the top of a steep slope behind Lucy. From that vantage point, we had a view of the entire campground on one side of the ridge and the town of Cottonwood on the other. I made that hike again the next morning to capture Cottonwood Canyon in better light conditions. The crisp morning air felt awesome.

That same morning, we learned at the State Park Rangers offered a class on “Venomous Desert Critters,” a class I dubbed “snake school.” Our brief meeting with a rattlesnake in the Tucson desert suggested that a class might be helpful. The class was packed with young and old alike and taught by Clint, a wildlife expert who had all of the fingers on his right hand missing.  Everyone assumed that those missing fingers were the result of a rattlesnake encounter, but the instructor explained that it was frostbite that took them. He was the lone survivor of a backpacking group that became buried under an avalanche.

Clint gave us a presentation on Gila Monsters, poisonous spiders, and several varieties of venomous snakes. At one point, he removed a Gila Monster from a cage and held it to give everyone an opportunity to pet the creature. Children were the most eager.  He did not offer any rattlers to the curious, but he did pull a giant Gopher snake out of a bag for a quick look by anyone who wanted to hold it.  Helen jumped at the opportunity to show her grandchildren how tough she was.  I took her picture, and it is my favorite picture of our trip so far.

Later that afternoon, we felt a need to walk out some of the kinks from traveling and took a one-mile hike around Dead Horse Lake at the eastern end of the State Park.  Like many of the days in Arizona, this was another glorious one with clear skies, light breezes, temps in the low 70’s.  Adjacent to the lake was a large picnic area filled with families out for the afternoon. Dead Horse Ranch has excellent facilities including clean showers, nature classes, and several well-maintained picnic areas like this one.

Of course, we had to make several trips into Sedona, just 15 miles away for hiking and sightseeing. On our first trip into town, we went to Sliding Rock State Park to hike the nature trails and eat lunch. Sliding Rock, named for one area of a large creek where the rocky bottom forms a natural slide and visitors line up to take advantage. The temperatures were a bit too cold for me but didn’t seem to affect eager sliders all around us. I watched as one reticent wader stuck a foot in the creek, then slipped and fell in the water up to his hat. He quickly scaled the rocky shore and traded his hat for a towel.

Our next trip to Sedona started with a hike through Red Rock State Park.  This hike would be longer than the one at Sliding Rock, but it didn’t matter because the scenery was something to behold. We pulled into the parking lot in time to scatter a herd of deer. After a short bit of browsing through the Park Office and gift shop where Helen got some trail information from a Ranger, we took off. Soon we began a climb up to a plateau where a rock formation known as The Cathedrals came squarely into our view. That was just the beginning of a day filled with stunning scenes and incredible red rock formations.  I had to restrain myself to keep from using up the one camera battery I had on hand.

Downtown Sedona is a busy place, even on a weekday.  The only comparison I can make to it is the similarity Sedona has to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  In no way am I making the comparison as a criticism because I love Gatlinburg, it’s just that Sedona, with plenty of well-kept shops and restaurants, has the same feel as Gatlinburg. The difference is that in Sedona, you can see the mountains. In Gatlinburg, the foliage blocks the mountains from view in many directions.  Helen and I walked both sides of the main street as well as an outdoor shopping mall. The statues along the sidewalk made for some excellent points of interest. We shopped only for a few small items then drove back to Dead Horse Ranch.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. I loved taking them! Come back next week…we’re Easin’ Along to Lake Havasu, AZ.