It was amazing! Our nearest neighbour was probably 5 miles away so it was absolutely silent and pitch dark! It was a tiny bit spooky too though because we are completely ignorant about what kind of critters live in the desert. We know there are rattle snakes, but what else??
The sunset was magical. The colours were unbelievable. The photos really don't do it justice.
We took a nice drive around the neighbourhood the next day. I love the desert landscape. It’s so stark and foreign looking, but beautiful in its own way.
Late in the day we headed off in search of Squaw Lake. We chose that campground because the pictures on the internet looked nice. Hmmm – pictures can be deceiving… We hated it! It made the Riverside campground in Lake Havasu (the parking lot) look like paradise. We only stayed there because it was getting late and we were tired. This is a campground that was set up in the 60’s. You were meant to park in the parking lot and hike into the trees with your tent. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work today. The area with trees is off limits to vehicles, so all there is really is a parking lot with a view of trees in the distance.
We decided to drive around the campground that we had passed on the way there just to satisfy our curiosity. We were dumbfounded by what we saw. There are hundreds and hundreds of people living in what is essentially a gravel pit. Why??? I guess the price is right – $180.00 for the season’s pass – but really people – a gravel pit? Surely you can find somewhere a bit more scenic…
We were about to leave when I spotted 3 or 4 units camping down the hill right on the beach. Now that’s more like it! We asked the campground host and he said that that was for short term stays only – no more than 14 days at a time. Okay, now we’re talking. We scouted out a spot tucked into some bushes right at the edge of the water and settled in for a few days. During a walk along the beach the next day, we spotted an Airstream trailer on the other side of the lake – sitting right on the beach – all alone. Well, we figured if he can get there, so can we. So we took a drive along 4 miles of really bad road until we reached the Airstream. Everybody must have been scared off by the road because there was NOBODY else on the north side of the lake. Airstream guy was very nice and pointed us towards this wonderful spot and we decided to call it home for awhile. It doesn’t get much better than this. It was ALMOST perfect! We were right on the lake, it was quiet & peaceful (most of the time), the scenery was beautiful and because there wasn’t anybody around, Taz didn’t have to be tied up. She just walked out the door and was in the water.
Yes, ALMOST perfect – except for the bombs….
The US military proving ground is only a few miles away so there was a steady stream of explosions. I didn’t mind the small ones that sounded like the Stampede fireworks only right next door (the furry member of our expedition wasn’t happy though) , but the ear-splitting, ground-rumbling, van-shaking ones were terrifying!!! There was one night when they went off every 10 minutes or so for a couple of hours. I would’ve been under the table, but of course that space was already occupied.
I realize that this blog is a little heavy on the Taz photos, but I have a new camera that I'm trying to learn how to use and she's the only one that doesn't groan and pull a face when I point it at her. I saw a photo similar to this one (only technically perfect) on one of the photo sharing websites and I've been following Taz around trying to capture her shaking ever since. I threw at least a thousand sticks into the lake before I got one that I don't hate. It's not THE picture yet, but I'm getting there.
The sunrises have been quite nice too, although admittedly, we haven't seen too many of them.
Just as we were pulling out of the campground in Lake Havasu a couple of weeks ago, we were flagged down by Bob. Bob was easy to spot because he was driving a pink 60's vintage VW bus. We stopped and chatted for ages and he told us about the VW bus show next weekend (The 16th & 17th). It's called Busses By The Bridge (London Bridge, remember?) So, we've back-tracked and we're back in Lake Havasu again. I think it'll be fun to introduce Vincent to some members of his own species. (He's starting to get an inferiority complex being surrounded by enormous diesel pushers all of the time...) I'll let you know how it goes.
