The Road Less Traveled

"London Bridge” is falling down, falling down, falling down." Well, not anymore it isn't. And I was fortunate to spend a few days in this Arizona city. Though getting there or should I say, I was wondering if I would ever get there. There aren't any road markers on I-10, saying this exit to Lake Havasu or least I did not see any. So I just kept driving, but when we crossed into California, I thought we might have just gone to far. At the checkpoint, I asked the produce inspector...which way?  Am I headed in the right direction?  I received a kind of a blank look and was told, go to Blithe and exit at I-95 and head north. 

So head north we did, we are now on the west side of the Colorado River, on a narrow, poorly maintained road.  Not much traffic, barren landscape and signs that kept saying Needles 99 miles or Vidal 30 miles. Now who ever heard of Vidal California?  Not me!  But press forward we did, figuring there

had to be a point to cross over the river.  I do like traveling roads I have never traveled, but to be honest this time I was worried. We had left Chandler at 5:30 am and had anticipated getting to Lake Havasu before 9:30 so we could attend a specific workshop.

Vidal, how can I describe it…a little bitty place that time has forgotten, no gas station, a few homes and nothing else for miles.  It’s one of those place where you have been there, done that and never again.

Long story short after about 30 more miles we did cross the river at Parker Dam.  Interesting architecture…and was built in the late 30’s. 

The Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam that crosses the Colorado River 155 miles downstream of Hoover Dam. It is 320 feet high, 235 feet of which are below the riverbed, making it the deepest dam in the world. The dam's primary functions are to act as a reservoir, and to generate hydroelectric power. The dam straddles the border between California and Arizona. The reservoir behind the dam is called Lake Havasu and can store 647,000 acre·ft or over 210 billion US gallons.  I guess you could call this route, the road less traveled.

Even though we had this little side trip and after seeing some actual road signs we did make it to Havasu, though a little late.  Had a great time, enjoyed some good food, drank some delicious margaritas, toured a bit and met lots of ladies from other Arizona DAR Chapters and a few daughters from other states.

Next time though, I will be ready,  printed directions from Google or at least take a map of the state. You just never know when you need one. Can't rely on markers...though it was strange there wasn't a sign advertising Lake Havasu or at least an exit number. And we did make it home...this time we went to Parker, then headed east towards Wickenburg and then south for 10 miles to the I-10.