10-5-17 (Day 66 - Route 66)

We were supposed to get up early and ride Amber today.  It didn't happen.  We woke up at 8 am.  Very unusual for us.

                                   On the road, downhill out of this multi-level campground

We took a ride through Bullhead City, Arizona then to Oatman, Arizona on Route 66.  Oatman is another Old West town.  We were greeted by the Donkeys, AKA burros.  It was a very quaint town with some good tasting beef jerky.  We purchased a 3 pack.

                                                                   Oatman

We decided to take a ride up the hill to Sitgreaves Pass. It was a very curvy, steep, drop off, road, with a fantastic view of Bullhead City and Laughlin.  Definitely worth the curvy, switchback road for the view.

Again we continued on Route 66 to Lake Havasu City.  It was more touristy than we wanted, but a nice place.  After circling like a buzzard to find the Visitor's Center, we finally asked where it was.  Shortly after, we were at London Bridge.

I was amazed to learn that this bridge is constructed from the actual London Bridge over the Thames River.  It brings true meaning of the nursery-rhyme song, London Bridge Is Falling Down.

The bridge in London was sinking and blocking river traffic, and in 1968, the founder of Lake Havasu won the bid to buy the bridge blocks and then shipped them to Lake Havasu to reconstruct the London Bridge in Arizona.  The lady at the visitor center told me that the bridge was built first, then the land was dredged to allow the water to flow under it. It is a gorgeous river, under a gorgeous bridge.

We stopped at the Rotary Park and had a nice picnic lunch on the bank of Lake Havasu.  We watched a lot of boats puttering around.  People were enjoying the water today.

                                                                       Lunch view

We had been in Nevada and Arizona today.  We decided to hit California on the way back by Needles Highway.

Within the first mile of California, on I 40, in the late afternoon, 98 degree, hot desert, we were at a standstill for road construction.  About 40 minutes later, and HOT, we finally were moving.

We moved just a few miles past road construction and went through the, every vehicle has to stop for search checkpoint, on the interstate.  We were motioned through.  We have never seen anything like this that was not a border control, and definitely not on an interstate.

Needles Highway was a nice ride, but not like Needles Highway in South Dakota.

We made it back to camp and waited, and waited, and finally the Harvest Moon appeared over the mountain.  It was well worth the wait!

More pictures right here: