Buses By The Bridge

Or BBB to us insiders. Okay, THAT was FUN!!! I don't have the official count of VWs, but the highest registration number that I saw was 225. That's right - 225+ volkswagen buses in one place (Don't call them vans!) Most of them were mid-60's vintage in varying degrees of restoration - but all well-loved. It was fascinating! We just don't see many old VWs in Canada for obvious reasons. Air-cooled vehicles don't do well in Canadian winters. I know some of you remember scraping the inside of your windshields and driving with the defroster on full...(Right Dave, Lorne?)

Anyway, we had a blast. Vincent still didn't quite fit in - he was the newest and fanciest unit there, (Yes! Really!) but everybody was very kind. And the people - whoa - what a diverse bunch. Everything from retired army colonels, to Mexican immigrants to young kids less than ½ the age of their vehicles to old hippies. Man, I haven't seen that much tye-dyed clothing since 1969! And when was the last time anybody flashed you a peace sign???

They had slow-drag races, a polar bear swim (thongs were mandatory) a corn-hole toss event, a CV joint assembling contest and about a hundred raffle prizes. We bought tickets on the funky tie-dyed quilt with the VW bus on it, but passed on the others because really, what would we do with a transmission for a 66 splitty?

This is Bob; the reason we were there in the first place. He's the guy that flagged us down and told us about BBB. I followed him around all weekend trying to see what his hair was like under the hat and the only time he took it off, I didn't have my camera with me. (It's shoulder length and grey. )

The official T-shirt. They tell me that bullis is German for bus. I don't know - Ineke is that right?

VWs as far as the eye could see.

A forest of pop-tops.

These ones are for you, Connie:

Yes, that is Janis Joplin on the fridge.

Some of them aren't so pretty.

There's no minimum age limit for tie-died clothing.

We're back in Squaw Lake tonight. We're in the parking lot that we hated the first time that we were here, but we know the showers are clean and it's just an overnight stop anyway, so what the heck. Tomorrow we'll be in Puerto Peñasco. We can't wait to see Carl & Melody again!

There was another amazing sunset tonight (Ho hum - they're becoming quite routine)

I bought some cheap champagne before we left Lake Havasu. $3.99 a bottle. I haven't seen prices like that since the '85 Balloon championships when Bill & I discovered the Hungarian stuff. I couldn't NOT buy it. I think Taz's bear sums up the effect quite nicely.....

Desert Camping, Parking Lots and Bombs

When we left Lake Havasu we were heading to Squaw Lake. I'm sure nobody will be surprised to learn that we didn’t make it there. Well, we did eventually; but we were side-tracked along the way. We had noticed some RVs parked randomly just off the highway, so we figured off-road camping was okay. We followed a dirt track into the desert for about a ½ mile, pulled up beside a cactus and settled in for the night.

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.

T-shirts and motor boats

Still can't upload pictures, although the internet connection seems to be strong enough and isn't cutting in & out anymore.
We've been in Lake Havasu for 6 days now and tonight is our last night here. Taz is loving the 3 or 4 walks a day and we've enjoyed it too, but the motor boats and noisy ferries are starting to get on our nerves. Yesterday being a holiday it was very busy on the lake. Our official plan is to head for Squaw Lake campground near Yuma tomorrow - any bets on whether or not we actually make it there? It's finally t-shirt weather, but that's supposed to change here tomorrow. It's time to move on.

Photos from Lake Havasu City - finally.

Success! I cleared the cache, emptied the cookie jar, dumped the history files and "smallenized" the pictures. Dunno which one worked, but at least I can add photos again. (Albeit ever so slowly!)

This is why we came south. Sunshine, blue skies and palm trees.

I snapped this just as we were leaving the Shady Acres Retirement Home on Boxing Day. This one wins the prize for the biggest honkin' RV I've ever seen!

This is the first campsite that we stayed one night at just outside of Lake Havasu City. It's a very flattering picture actually. If I'd turned the camera in the other direction you'd see it was just a parking lot.

The only good thing about this place was easy access to the lake. (Sorry, we took the back route to the beach, so we didn't see the signs about no dogs allowed on the beach until we were leaving)
Vincent is much happier in this location: Windsor Beach

There have been some pretty spectacular sunsets.

London Bridge with palm trees. Nice!

The fancy dog park.

A cool tree in the neighborhood. No, that's not frost.

We heard some rattling outside one night and looked out the window to see this family of racoons helping themselves to Taz's kibble. They also absconded with her treat ball, an eighth of a package of the kibble & bits that goes into the treat ball, a package of watermelon scented hand wipes and an orange juice - all of which were in the tent!