London Bridge is falling down, falling down...

On Thursday, we left the Woody Mountain Campground in Flagstaff and headed west. We drove through the Hualapai Mountains in western Arizona and over the beautiful blue Colorado River before arriving in Needles, California, with the hot, dry mid-90s here replacing the cool daytime low 70s and overnight low 30s we had in Flagstaff. Yikes, what a temperature swing we've had in the last couple of weeks. Needles is in the Mojave Desert, an area similar in climate to nearby Death Valley, both known for absurdly high temperatures in the summer months.

London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Needles is right on the Arizona-California border with gas prices in California roughly $1.20 per gallon higher than in Arizona. Wow. And yet it's teeth-jarringly clear by the washboard condition of I-40 in California that the taxpayers' gas money is not currently going towards road improvement. We were also stopped by yet another friendly border patrolman, but instead of looking for drugs or illegal immigrants like in New Mexico and Arizona, California is seemingly interested mostly in any potential fruit smuggling.

View of canal from London Bridge,
Lake Havasu City, AZ

After setting up camp at the Needles KOA, we headed out to visit Lake Havasu City, Arizona, a city developed in the 1960s by Robert McCulloch as a planned community. In order to attract visitors, he bought the London Bridge in 1968 for $2.5 million. The bridge was up for sale because it was sinking into the Thames River and London sought to replace it with a newer bridge. There have been 8 London Bridges so far. In any case, this bridge stood over the Thames River from 1831 until 1971 when it was disassembled, shipped to California, trucked to Arizona and re-assembled in its current location for an additional $4.5 million. We figure it was money well spent since the London Bridge of Lake Havasu City is the second most visited attraction in Arizona, behind only the Grand Canyon.

We crossed the bridge and found the other side of the canal served by the bridge, along with a little beach area where sunbathers and boaters were out and about enjoying the warmth and sunshine. We dipped our toes in the cool water and sat on a bench to watch the boats and very few clouds go by. What a relaxing afternoon.

Barley Brothers Brewery
Happy Hour

Not wanting the relaxing to end, we headed to Barley Brothers Brewery for their Kickstart Oatmeal Stout and some hearty appetizers. We had a great view of the London Bridge from the restaurant while we ate and drank our happy hour specials. So tasty.

After sticking our feet in the campground's nice pool, we headed back to the RV to rest up for our drive into Los Angeles tomorrow. Yikes.