I was headed toward Lake Havasu, Arizona with Bobby and Jorrie, who were part of the group I was previously traveling with. We were going to stay on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land outside the city, which are national conservation areas and public lands set aside for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. We arrived just as the sun was setting, and parked Bobbie’s ambulance, my bus, and Jorrie’s bus in a circle to create our own little hidden camp amongst all the other RVs nearby.
Each year Lake Havasu has a huge fireworks display put on by firework professionals who show off their latest advances. People come from all over the country to watch, and pick which fireworks they want for their city displays throughout the year. We had come here specifically for this event and had arrived at the perfect time. We climbed the nearby hill and found a pile of rocks to sit on. Nobody else was around us; it was just the three of us in the desert watching the display in the distance. I’ve been to many firework displays but this one was spectacular and felt special.
The next day the three of us hung out and drank coffee together before Bobby headed off on his separate way. Jorrie and I took time to explore the desert around us. It seemed hilly and never ending, which the dogs loved as they bounded freely about.
When we arrived back at our camp, we were invited by neighbors to a nomad potluck, which I was thrilled about. We made rice and soup and went over. It was great meeting a set of friendly neighbors and talking and eating with them.
After a bit I went back to my bus to check on the animals because the dogs were barking a lot due to people shooting off guns nearby. I went over to another neighbor to apologize for the noise, and they were gracious and understanding. I met the woman, Rose, who invited me into her RV for some moonshine. I ended up staying and we talked for hours, even though I had originally planned to go back to the potluck. I also met her husband Gary. Eventually Jorrie came back to our camp, bringing both of our chairs and food. I called him from Rose’s RV and he came over too. The four of us spent the evening in great conversation.
We had planned to leave the next day, but when we got invited to another potluck, we didn’t want to leave. It just seemed too fun to miss, and we were glad we joined in.
That night we joined Rose and Gary again for a little fire. The more we got to know them, the more I noticed little similarities between Rose and I. Not only did she live in a vehicle and travel, but she also used to have a little blind, deaf dog named Maggie, and she used to sell her art on the road. Jorrie and I joked around that she and Gary were older versions of ourselves.
The next day, after coffee with the neighbors, Jorrie and I went to a new spot on the other side of Lake Havasu, called Craggy Wash, which was more secluded BLM camping. We drove down a bumpy dirt road which seemed to go on forever until we came to a nice area.
We were enjoying our little spot until one day Maggie wandered off, which she had never done in the eight years I’ve had her. I was in a panic because we were surrounded by desert that stretched for miles. Jorrie and I both went in separate directions to search for about an hour, with no luck. Then we walked together throughout the camp asking if anyone had seen her.
After we had walked the entire camp, we went back to check the buses we had left open in hopes she had returned. She had not, so we wandered back into the desert, climbing to the top of every cliff, trying to get a better view of the surrounding area. My other dog Sophie and Jorrie’s dog Kyoshi were both with us on this search. I was really impressed with Sophie’s climbing skills, especially when we had come to a rocky part that went almost straight down. As I was telling Jorrie that I didn’t think the dogs could make it, Sophie lowered her body to the ground and somehow climbed down the rocks.
As the sun started to set, we checked the buses again, hoping Maggie would be there. She wasn’t, but to my relief there were notes that someone had spotted her. As we read them, the camp host, an employee who keeps an eye on the land and people, pulled up in a truck to take us to her. I was certain that if someone had seen her they would call, since my number is on her collar, and she normally loves people. But apparently no one was able to get close enough to read the tag because she would growl and act vicious. We arrived at the spot just as the sky turned dark, and my little pup was still there, unharmed but very frightened. I scooped her up and brought her home. She was hungry, thirsty and sunburned, and was so happy to snuggle in with me.
We spent the next few days just hanging out in the desert, enjoying the solitude and each other's company. It rained more often than I would have imagined. My experience with the desert so far was that it rained often, which seemed contradictory to what I had thought.
We set out early one morning to explore Lake Havasu. I wanted to see the city, but mainly I wanted to visit the historic London Bridge. I had heard that the new bridge in London built to replace the old one has “love locks,” which are padlocks that couples take and attach to the bridge as a symbol of their love, and then they throw the key over the edge so it can never be unlocked. I had heard that the London Bridge here had the same thing, and casually had mentioned it to Jorrie a few days prior. As we were about to leave, he surprised me with a lock he had so that we could join in the tradition. I was thrilled. He even took the time to carve our names and astrology signs into it with a router. It had three keys, one for each of us to wear, and a third to throw off the edge per tradition.
We explored the touristy area underneath the bridge, and came across a large, beautiful fountain with four lion statues spraying water out of their mouths. We looked in the shops and went to a cute little restaurant where we ate our food on an outdoor patio and got one drink to split. It came in a cute, plastic souvenir cup that we got to keep. Afterwards we went to an ice cream shop where we got a fudge Sundae, which they put right in our cup for us.
Then there was the main attraction, the bridge itself. The brickwork was beautiful. I was hoping there would be a plaque somewhere to read about the history, and maybe there was one, but we didn’t find it. I knew, though, that it was originally built in London starting in 1825. Eventually the bridge started to collapse due to heavy traffic, so it was put up for auction. Someone bought it and brought it over to Arizona, piece by piece. Each brick was numbered and then reassembled in the exact order it had been before.
We decided to walk across the bridge because I wanted to see it from all angles, and we still had not found where to put the love lock. The view from the top was amazing. Looking over the river we were able to see the mountains off in the distance.
We walked to the other side where we found a small sandy beach. Jorrie got down and started using our souvenir cup to build a little sand castle. I joined in and it wasn’t long before we had a thing of beauty. It sported a moat all the way around and a little bridge with a rock wall also going around it.
We continued looking for the love locks, but weren’t having any luck. I ended up googling it, and apparently the city had cut all of them off because there were so-o-o many they had become too heavy and were causing part of the bridge to begin to collapse. Any new ones placed would be promptly cut off. I was disappointed, hated that symbols of others' love had been cut away, and not wanting the same fate, we decided to keep our lock and find a better location some other place and time.
Jorrie and I spent another day together out in the desert with the dogs running free before we went our separate ways for a little while; we both had things to get done.
I parked my bus on BLM land outside of Salome, Arizona for a few nights, recharging myself in solitude and cleaning my bus before I drove the rest of the way to Phoenix, Arizona, where I was parking at my friend Nicole and her partner Sean's house. I had new batteries coming for my solar panels that Sean and his son Avery were going to help me install. We spent a few days together relaxing and hanging out, having little fire pit fires at night.
While I was in Phoenix, I got a call from my nomad friend Nelson saying that he, Crystal and Cole were all out in the Gold Canyon desert outside of Phoenix. Tamara was coming out too, they were having tacos for dinner, and they had a nice secluded spot. I decided to make the drive out there to see them for a few days since my batteries were taking longer than expected to arrive. It hadn’t been that long since we all last saw each other, but I was grateful and happy to be around them all again.
The spot was absolutely beautiful as well, and everything was green; I had no clue the desert could be so green! There were little bushes and flowers everywhere, with saguaro cactuses popping up all over. Tamara and I took a hike early one morning so we could take in all the beauty from the top of a high hill, and the view was breathtaking. Her little cat, Monster, accompanied us on our adventure, and we ate little edible flowers that we found along the hillside.
The next day I joined Crystal in morning stretching, which is something I desperately need to do, but don’t normally make time for. We played rummy, went on little hikes, ate dinners together that Nelson and Crystal prepared, and had deep conversations by the fire. I really needed all of that.
One night the moon was full. Tamra has a tradition where she tries to dance under every one. I wasn’t feeling it at first, but she offered to let me join in, and I decided I might as well. Dancing under that bright moon was freeing, and made me feel so alive.
I wanted to spend more time with this little group, but I needed to head back to Phoenix. I never like driving my bus in cities, and most of my experience with driving through Phoenix was missing my exit, then taking the wrong one and going in a lot of circles. It always takes me longer than it should to get anywhere.
Unfortunately my batteries still hadn’t arrived, so I spent time painting and hanging out. Nicole invited me to come visit her restaurant one of the days I was there; it was a little vegan, gluten free bakery called The Giving Tree. She made me a giant burrito with a salad, potatoes and banana bread for dessert. The whole thing was delicious and left me stuffed.
My new batteries finally came. My old ones had not worked well since I got the bus, and were slowly getting worse. It had gotten to the point where I wasn’t able to use the inside lights. I was thrilled to be getting new ones, and grateful to have help installing them. It was so nice to have power in my bus again, and to be able to run a small space heater and an air conditioner off the solar power if I needed to.
I spent another night hanging out with Nicole, having a little wine and talking. Our mutual friend Zack, who I had met at Skooliepalzoa, came and joined us one night. Then I was off on my way again.
Thanks for reading!
If you would like you help me along on my travels,
my PayPal is:
my cash app is:
$TeaganDavis47
My Vemo is:
@TeaganDavis47
If you would like to subscribe to my blog there is a section where you can on my homepage. You can unsubscribe anytime and will only get emails when I post a new blog.
Komentarze