Chased Out of CA By the Wind

Rather than return via I-10 which was 5-7 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic from Palm Springs onward during our arrival, we choose a route that roughly paralleled the 10.  It would take an extra 2 hours but it was worth it to see a part of CA we had not previously visited.

The eastern side of the coastal mountains has few trees but many miles of industrial scale farm operations, including....

...."Cuties" brand fruit.

We went through Barstow and Needles, CA, two rather uninviting areas.

Crossing into AZ, we head south to Lake Havasu where we will spend the night and check out....

....London Bridge.  Built in the 1830's, it spanned the River Thames until it was to be replaced so in 1967, London put it for sale.  Chainsaw magnate Robert McCulloch acquired the 10,300 granite pieces for $2.4 million, shipping all to AZ.  A steel structure was built then clad with the granite. Included in the purchase were all the lampposts that had been made from melted cannons captured from Napoleon's army after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

The bridge is quite a sight and the 2nd most popular attraction in the state, behind only the Grand Canyon.

There is also a beach and around the bridge a.....

....thriving retail/restaurant environment.  

The area is very beautiful and worth a visit.  We exit the area and continue our drive through a variety of small and midsize towns that included a stop for gas at a station that had....

....quite a collection of dinosaurs.  It was good to be back in warmer temps although the strong winds we experienced in CA seem to have followed us for a couple of days.  I signed up for the Saguaro Century which is in a couple of weeks.  It's not the distance (100 miles) nor the climbing (8000') that concerns me it's going around the same 8 mile loop at Saguaro East NP, 13 times.  That seems really boring after a couple of trips.