Had a great trip yesterday down from Laughlin to Glendale (just outside of Phoenix). Day started out nice and sunny (55 degrees) and the wind didn't bother us much inside the car. You can tell when you leave Nevada heading south on the Needles Highway; it changes from a four-lane, well-paved road to two-lane, pot-holed road in California. Again, I think I detect Harry Reid's influence there. Parts of where we traveled were the old Route 66 and all the tourist advertisements are geared toward the Great Road. Good thing we gassed up at the Indian Reservation at Avi in Nevada, the gas was only $1.99. When we hit Needles in California, gas off I-40 was $3.79!
As we continued down AZ 95 (US 95 goes down the California side), we passed a lot of RV's parked out in the desert dry-camping. It's open land and a lot of snowbirds take advantage of the free parking - there are some elaborate campsites and others just sitting out by themselves in the sagebrush. Lake Havasu is on that route and is a real mecca for people wanting to spend time in the sun and on the lake during the winter. It's also the site of the London Bridge which was taken apart brick-by-brick, transported across the Atlantic, and reconstructed in Lake Havasu. Amazing!
We passed through Parker, AZ and got detoured around the Main Street. Seems we had arrived right in the middle of the Best in the Desert event there. It's a huge event for off-road racing. If you're interested, check out www.bitd.com. We kind of took some back roads going down towards Phoenix and didn't have much traffic (and that's the understatement of the year). I saw some great roads which I thought the Jeep would enjoy, but someone who was driving vetoed those thoughts. Got a kick out of one town which we passed through which was named Hope. As you left the town, there was a sign by the side of the road which read "Your Now Beyond Hope". Cute, huh! Maybe they should take some English lessons and correct the sign from "Your" to "You're".
As we took US 60 into Glendale, we stopped at the Hasayampa Wildlife Refuge and Rest Area. The Hasayampa River is dry, but they say it flows underground most of the year - couldn't prove it by us; however, further down the road, we did see a little bit of a trickle. There are a lot of dry washes and bridges over wide expanses which must be put to good use when the rainy season comes. Would be interesting to see them at full flow, but then again, maybe not.
We were going to go to dinner at the Westgate Entertainment District, a huge complex of restaurants, shops, sports arenas, etc. It's the home of the Arizona Coyotes (hockey) and the University of Phoenix Stadium which is where the Arizona Cardinals play. You may remember that from last year when some little football game was played there between the Patriots and the Seahawks. However, there was some special event going on and there were lines waiting to get in for parking, so we opted for going somewhere else. After driving around, we found a quaint, local establishment called Applebee's.
Today we're heading down to Tucson. Originally, I had planned on us stopping at the Kitt Peak Observatory, but think we may save that for later in the week. That way, we can watch the Super Bowl when we get to Tucson (and maybe the tail end of the Waste Management Open which is being played here in Phoenix this week).
Weather here is gorgeous. Finally turned warm and it was 73 at the peak yesterday. Turned cool as soon as the sun went down, but still better than snow and ice. Looking forward to some golf this week in Tucson.
Take care and enjoy life.
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