London Bridge Is Not Falling Down

 I was feeling the need to see some me some water after spending a week in Quartzsite so it was onward to Lake Havasu City nestled fortunately on the shore of Lake Havasu. In the olden days, this was nothing but solid desert and then in 1958, Robert McCulloch came along and bought 3,353 acres transforming it into a mecca for off-roaders and boaters. Lake Havasu City did not even become a town until 1963.

McCulloch had big dreams for Lake Havasu City and decided that he should bring the London Bridge to Havasu. I mean it is the actual London Bridge, built in 1831. By 1968, the bridge was badly in need of repair and London decided to remove the bridge and build a new bridge. Along comes McCulloch who buys the bridge from the City of London for US$2.5 millon.

“The bridge was disassembled …. and the marked stones were shipped to Lake Havasu City and reassembled ...for another US$7 million. The construction took three years to complete.” Wikipedia

As you enter, you are greeted by a fountain guarded by lions dressed appropriately for the season

Here she is - THE LONDON BRIDGE

Love Locks on the bridge.
Couples represent their love by putting a lock on a bridge and it will stay there for all eternity. 
They then dramatically hurl the keys to the lock into the body of water under the bridge. 

Here is a poor soul who is making snow by the bridge.  Sort of a Sisyphus task, me thinks

I did not realize how much I was missing green until I saw this gorgeous plant

Supposedly this light poles on top of the bridge were made from Napoleon's cannons

Fun Fact: Lake Havasu City is home to more working lighthouses than any other city in the entire country. They were originally started for safety purposes. The Lake Havasu Lighthouse Club wanted to make the lake a safe place for night boating. They decided to pay homage to the famous lighthouses in the U.S. by making smaller replica lighthouses. All of the lighthouses on the west side of Lake Havasu are replicas of famous lighthouses on the west Coast, while the east side consists of East Coast replicas. On the island are the replicas of lighthouses from the Great Lakes. We visited several of the lighthouses but a definite stop had to be the Split Rock Lighthouse, the lighthouse near and dear to any Minnesotan's heart. The real Split Rock Lighthouse is located north of Duluth on Lake Superior.

A fellow Minnesotan enjoying a moment of solidarity with Split Rock

A must see while in the Parker, AZ area is the Nellie E Saloon aka The Desert Bar. You have to travel five miles down one of the worst roads I've ever been on, thru a winding narrow desert road, best suited actually for 4X4s, although I did see a few regular cars braving the journey. The place is only open Saturday and Sundays from high noon until 6:00 pm, October thru April. Part of the reason for the limited hours is that the whole establishment is powered solely by solar power. The roofs are massive solar panels. There was a band playing when I was there which I found rather amazing considering all the power a rock band must consume. I had my first Tri-Tip steak sandwich here, I think it might be one of the best sandwiches ever.

Nellie's started doing business in that little shack on the right hand side of the photo

The entrance

Everybody socially distancing

Tables were also behind the band.  Check out the solar panels

The women's bathroom was lovely.  Open air sinks, stalls carved into the rock. 
The stall doors were rusted out heavy steel.  Maybe I should say unique instead of lovely.

I camped at Lone Tree Dispersed Campground on BLM land. It was on top of a mesa, north of the city with million dollar views and zero cash outlay.

My view out my front door