Yes, we are parked in the middle of an orange grove.
Picked a bunch of oranges – so juicy & sweet. Joyce mixed a screwdriver with fresh-squeezed OJ. Wow!!
Very yummy. Played our last game of Pegs & Jokers with Diane & Tim. Didn’t even stay up for the New Year because we both want to leave early tomorrow. Tim wants to be in Hemet for the Rose Bowl Game.
Jan 1, 2010 Happy New Year! We said goodbye to Diane & Tim this morning. We have a pretty long drive (for us, anyway) to Needles so we got going shortly after 9 am. Jim took us over Tehachapi pass (4,069’). No snow, no head winds, blue skies and sunshine – perfect weather. I-40 runs through the Mojave Desert for about 235 miles at an elevation around 2000’. The famous Route 66 runs parallel to I-40 and we contemplated cutting over to it for a short bit just to say we did but it was pretty in pretty bad shape – old and worn out (just like us).
We saw lots of Joshua trees, driving through the desert. They remind us of the trees in a Dr Seuss book. (Look it up on the internet)
Arrived at the Needles Marina & RV Park about 3 p.m. Too late to catch the Rose Bowl. Can’t believe the Oregon ducks lost. Wish we had a dollar for every vehicle we saw on the road flying ‘O’ flags and yellow pompoms. You’d think with all that support they would have won.
Jan 2 – Our site overlooks the Colorado River. The sun is shining with temps headed for the low 60’s.
Saw our first flock of bluebirds just behind our rig. They were bright blue with a little orange and white on their breast.
We took a short drive (about 50 miles) to Lake Havasu City to see the London Bridge. In 1968 the bridge was literally falling down and needed to be replaced so the city of London auctioned it off.
A rich American bought it for $2.5 million, had it disassembled, shipped to Arizona and reassembled for another $7 million. It sure looks like they got all the pieces back in the right order.
We were a little disappointed that many of the quaint little shops and restaurants at the end of the bridge were closed. We were all set for some fish and chips and a pint. Don't know if this is because of the economy or off season? This bridge is not to be confused with the famous Tower Bridge that people actually lived on. That one is still in London.
Sunday, Jan 3 – Drove up to Oatman, a gold mining ghost town nearby. Wild burros roam the streets of Oatman, descendants of the pack animals used by the gold miners.
Local shops sell carrots that you can feed the animals and the animals know it. Any person walking around with a plastic bag of any kind (or even a purse) is fair game for them. We actually saw a lady play tug of war with a burro that really liked her purse. That’ll teach her to carry carrots in her purse. The baby burros have stickers on their heads saying not to feed them carrots because they are still nursing and might choke. You might be able to see the sticker in the last picture.
Finally drove on the historic route 66 to Kingman through some pretty rugged country. The kind of scenery from those old Western movies - narrow road, hairpin turns, 20 mph most of the way. Passed many gold mines.
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