Last Friday, Donna and I rode the Spyder down from our camp site to Williams. Historic Route 66 runs right through town. It’s split into two one-way streets a block apart with most of the businesses on the eastbound street. The old downtown area is a mixture of old west and Route 66 memorabilia tourist traps. We walked the length of the district from 5th Street to Slagel Street – a distance of about six blocks and back before stopping for lunch at El Corral. I should have heeded the sign which proclaimed “Fine Mexican – American Food.” I have a rule to never eat at a restaurant that boasts Chinese – American cuisine – I guess that rule should extend to Mexican – American. My meal was average at best. Donna enjoyed her taco salad though.
The main drag through Williams
We packed up Saturday morning. We loved our boondocking site in the national forest here but we had a couple of reasons for moving on. First of all, we wanted to find full hook-ups so Donna could catch up on laundry. We had been without a sewer hook up since we left Cañon City. We don’t run the Splendide washer/dryer when we aren’t on a sewer hook up because it uses too much water and would fill the gray water tank. We also planned to meet up with friends and family before we hit San Diego, so we needed to allow a few days for that.
Our boondocking site was about 7,000 feet above sea level. This meant we had cool nights with the temperature dropping to about 50 degrees. We like cool nights with a window open and a down comforter on the bed. Our route west on I-40 was mostly a downhill run. When we reached Kingman, 100 miles later, we were at 3,000 feet. We stopped there to get the coach washed at a Blue Beacon truck wash. It turned out to be long wait – they only had one wash bay and we were seventh or eighth in line. It gave Donna a chance to fix a salad for lunch and an hour later we were on our way.
We left I-40 at exit 9 and took AZ95 south to Lake Havasu City. Lake Havasu sits at an elevation of about 500 feet above sea level. We drove to the Elks Lodge east of town which is higher ground – about 1,100 feet above sea level. The Elks Lodge had full hook-ups and plenty of space to accommodate us without dropping the trailer.
The lake below the Elks Lodge – photo from Donna’s early morning run
We traded high elevation for high temperatures. The weather in Lake Havasu was clear, sunny and hot. The daytime highs were about 105 degrees and it only dropped to about 80 degrees at night. We had both roof top air conditioners running full-time.
Donna cooked up a nice meal for dinner. She made chicken thighs sauteed in white wine with onions and herbs and served over roasted cauliflower slices with garlicky spinach on the side. Delicious.
Chicken thigh with onion and herbs over roasted cauliflower
Donna found pickleball in Lake Havasu City, so Monday morning we rode the Spyder to the community center and played several games. It was great – the players were all friendly, the games were competitive and we had a lot of fun. I’m really liking my new Paddletek Paddle.
We left Havasu Tuesday morning around 10 am and headed south to Parker, Arizona where we crossed the Colorado River and hit CA62 west. We took this quiet route through the desert – the road surface dipped and rose like a roller coaster through some areas. We were familiar with this route as Donna and I traveled it many times while touring on our motorcycles. There’s a stretch that runs parallel to a railroad track for miles and people have created graffiti out of light and dark colored stones and wood rail ties along the sides of the rail bed. It’s amazing how many people have taken the time to spell out their names or put up symbols in the middle of an otherwise empty desert.
If we continued west on CA62, we would eventually hit Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree National Park, but we turned off onto CA177 and veered south to Desert Center and I-10. This took us up to the divide at Chiriaco Summit which separates the Chuckawalla Valley from the Salton Sea basin at an elevation of 1,706 feet above sea level. From there it was mostly a downhill grade to Indio.
We stopped at the Indio Elks Lodge and have 30 amp electric service and fresh water. We are the only rig in their RV park. Our purpose for stopping here is to visit friends – Kris and Tom Downey. They spent about three years on the road and now live here. Kris picked us up and we went to see their new house, then went to dinner. It was taco Tuesday night. Kris and Tom picked up the tab – thanks again for the tacos and beer!
It’s a little cooler here at night than Havasu was, but we’re still in the desert. Today Donna is going with Kris up to Idyllwild in the San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Springs. They plan to poke around town and maybe do a little hiking – the elevation there is 5,400 feet above sea level so it should be cooler. I plan to make a Walmart run, then stay indoors and read – the temperature here will be around 100 degrees this afternoon. Tomorrow we’ll move on to Hemet, California.