My first full day back in Lake Havasu

Click the pics and expand your view.

My sunset last night. As luck would have it those are the only clouds I saw in the sky for the entire day. So it was at least worth taking a picture of.

My first night here went okay, so I unhitched the Arctic Fox and settled in for an indeterminate amount of time. There was one annoying generator running last night, but it wasn't too bad, and when I closed up the Arctic Fox for the night, I couldn't even hear it. There's a lot of people here, in a relatively small area, and I'm not used to that, but it's all right.... I'm very adaptable.

Lake Havasu is one of the premier wintering spots for RVers, so it's almost always what I would call crowded. And the reason it's so popular is it's got virtually everything RVers want. It has everything from the very expensive waterfront, RV resorts to free boondocking on BLM land, located all around town somewhat similar to Quartzsite. But instead of a small town with very few amenities like Quartzsite, Lake Havasu is a decent size town with access to almost everything, including a 1/2 hour drive to Las Vegas-style casinos across the river in Laughlin, Nevada.

Lake Havasu is also blessed with mild winter weather, and even in the summer, when it's not just hot but desert hot, you still have the chilly waters of the Colorado River to cool off in. And it's the river that makes this town what it is. Even though the town is right in the middle of the most godforsaken desert you'll ever see, everything in town has a river theme, and just driving around town, you would think you're on the Florida Gulf Coast. There are boat dealers, bathing suit boutiques named "River Rags," bars with nautical themes, pirate flags, dive shops selling scuba tanks, T-shirts with "River Rat" logos, everything that has no business existing in the desert.

One of the reasons for that is, unlike Quartzsite, Lake Havasu has a large, reasonably well-off population that lives here year-round or has winter homes here, so it's not just an RV town like Quartzsite. Unfortunately, that popularity extends to college students, so Lake Havasu is a well-known Spring Break town that gets overrun with kids every year acting like fools and doing things we old geezers wish we could still do and would if we could, but we can't.

Jeeez!!! I just looked on the Internet and found out that Spring Break starts here March 1 and goes for 45 days! What to do, what to do? Do I get out of Dodge before the grits hit the fan? Or do I hang around for a few days and try to get a few Spring Break pictures? The common sense part of my brain is saying get out while the gittens good, and my camera is saying... Think of the pictures!

                                             theboondork

This is my boondocking neighborhood at Lake Havasu. That's the back of the Arctic Fox right in the middle of the picture, I'm still hooked up so the truck is in the front. This isn't BLM land I'm on at the moment, it's another kind of public land called Arizona School Lands, and there's a whole lot of these School Lands in the Lake  Havasu area. To legally use these public lands you have to buy a $15 a year permit on the Internet, which entitles you to two weeks of camping per year. But those two weeks are on the honor system, since no one checks you in or out, or keeps up with where you stayed, and these school lands are all over Arizona. I've never talked to anyone that's ever been checked by the school land police.

The best seat in the house. Yeah these boondocker's have it all, no neighbors, peace and quiet, and a great view.... Boondocking at its best.

This is a common sight around here. A pickup truck hauling an all-terrain vehicle around, but most people do it on a trailer. But I do see some folks doing this and my first thought is always.... An 800 pound load sitting up higher than the cab... What could possibly go wrong?