Merry Christmas from Lake Havasu!
The London Bridge
DECEMBER 20, 2013.
If someone had predicted that we would be celebrating Christmas at Lake Havasu this year I’d have thought he was nuts! But here we are. We arrived on December 20th at the Havasu RV Resort, not far from the London Bridge and the brilliant blue water of Lake Havasu. The Lake is 45 miles long, formed by the Parker Dam on the Colorado River and has earned a reputation as the personal watercraft capitol of the world by hosting the annual World Racing Finals. There are more than 75 miles of water-adventure along the Colorado River from Parker to Bullhead City and Laughlin, Nevada. These were some of our old stomping grounds where we’d take our jet skis, all the kids and usually Brad’s friend Whill.
View from the restaurant on Christmas Eve.
We haven’t done any Christmas shopping and I’m doubting that there are too many treasures to be found in this little community in the desert, but we’ll find something to open under our foot-tall tree on Christmas morning I’m sure. Maybe the local Walt-mart or Big Lots has a “resort-wear” department where I can find a snazzy outfit for Florence. Ha! It’s funny, we’ve run the whole gamut of Christmas decorations, trees and celebrations over the years. Each year when we lived on Mt. Helix we’d decorate a 20 foot tree in the family room, about the size of the ones you see in the major department stores at this time of year. I recall one holiday when Florence made more than 600 bows for the tree and, believe it or not, Steph and I spent two entire days hanging lights…more than 100,000 of those tiny little white ones! That tree was spectacular! This year we had Christmas Eve dinner in Lake Havasu at a restaurant called Shugrues, right on the Lake overlooking the London Bridge. We’d not eaten there before so the other day we took a peak inside and it appeared to be fine dining in a relaxed atmosphere. Makes sense…I don’t suspect anyone in this entire city owns a coat and tie! Anyhow, we were very surprised and happy with our restaurant selection. We were lucky enough to be seated at a table right by the window, overlooking the water and all the Christmas lights on the bridge and across the bay. It was truly gorgeous. The menu was extensive, the ambiance far better than we’d expected and our server was very familiar with the menu and made some great recommendations. If we were going to be here much longer I’d return for sure!
Islander RV Resort. Earlier today, it dawned bright and sunny, without a trace of wind. The temperature mid-day was probably close to 70 degrees. This is the weather we’d expected and after all the cold weather in Sedona, it’s is a welcome change. We took a look at another RV park…this one just as nice as the one where we’re staying. It’s located right on the water. called the Islander RV Resort and we were so impressed we’ve even talked about spending a month or two there next year during the winter. No reservations yet, however, as we may find ourselves by then in Florida or some other distant spot!
Our Christmas Bear, Ted, sat on our dashboard every night during the holidays.
Lake Havasu State Park
We also discovered Lake Havasu State Park at Windsor Beach. We’d not seen this facility on previous trips. It’s a good one to remember. Campsites are literally right on the Lake shore. Site reservations are available by calling the Reservation Center at 520-586-2283 or you can call seven days a week, from 8 am to 5 pm, MST. You can also reserve campsites 24/7 online. All sites have 50 amp electrical hookups. Access to potable water is available in the campground, but not at all individual sites. Camping fee is $30.00 per night. Beachfront sites are $35.00. Beachfront sites are numbers: 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 14, 16, 34, 36, 38, 40 and 41. Camping fees include use of showers and restrooms, water, dump station and all day-use facilities. Sites include a picnic table and a fire ring. Most sites have shade armadas. Maximum length of stay is 14 nights. PWC rentals are available. If you don’t need full hook-ups, this is the place to stay…beautiful!
The grounds at Havasu RV Resort were beautiful.
Havasu RV Resort, where we’re staying, is rated one of the premier RV resorts along the Colorado River Valley. It’s a beautiful community of luxury RV’s parked on individually owned lots (rented to us) with adjacent casitas. Each casita seems unique: some are like tiny apartments, others house “water toys” and some have been configured as elaborate outdoor barbeque and entertaining areas. Only big rigs are allowed and each space has 100 amp electric service. What a treat…never seen that before now. There is trash pickup daily right at the street. The place is beautifully landscaped and clean as a whistle. There are meandering trails along flowing water features The Resort has two elaborate clubhouses, several swimming pools and jacuzzi areas, a dining room and library, several small gyms complete with as much equipment as you’d find at 24 hour Fitness! All the residents call this “home base” when they’re not traveling. Most do travel all but a few months a year, but when the come “home” to Lake Havasu they have friends and familiar surroundings. And if you like water sports, this is the place to be. All the residents have been extraordinarily friendly and welcoming to us. Most have their tiny casitas decorated with holiday lights and some have elaborate displays that you’d only expect to see in established residential neighborhoods with large homes.
Everyone’s got a golf cart or a utility cart to use around the resort rather than cars. Some of these little vehicles are so decorated for Christmas they almost look like floats you’d see in the Rose Parade. The only other apparent prerequisite for membership here is having a small “RV-type dog.” I think we’re the only ones in the place without one! So far, then, we know of three very nice places to stay at Havasu. If we come back some day we’ll know the ropes and know where to look for reservations.
Hot air balloons over Lake Havasu.
While we were waiting to be seated for dinner this evening, we met a couple who live in the area and they told us about a Hot Air Balloon Festival held here each year. It’s the 17th – 19th of January and although we didn’t have plans to be here that long, we’re toying with the idea of either staying an additional two weeks to see it or in the alternative returning at that time. They said the Festival began three years ago with 32 balloons and it’s grown each year. This year 75 balloonists have already registered and folks come from as far away as Canada to see it. The locals say it’s a pretty big deal and the pictures I’ve seen look awfully good. If we can book one of those RV sites at the State Park right on the lake we might just have an extraordinarily good place to view the balloons. One of the really neat things about being completely retired on a trip like this is that we really don’t have to follow any set schedule or itinerary. We can do what we please, stay were we please and stay there as long or as short a time as we wish.
