Thursday, December 27, 2012

It was a dam fine day!

"Twas a week before Christmas ..." when I had my little heart attack. That slowed things down a whole lot. We were supposed to have a sales tour of Emerald Cove Resort the next day, and we were going to say "no" and get a bunch of nice gifts. The resort was great, allowing us to stay at no cost as long as we needed.

Of course, over Christmas, everything was closed, but this morning we called the sales office Wednesday morning to get rescheduled. Turns out, they didn't really want to reschedule us, but would allow us to leave the following morning, and the Marketing Department will send us a new offer some time in the future. Yeah? The age limit is 74, and I'll be 75 in May. I've had a heart attack. How anxious do you suppose they are to have us back?

So, off we went to CVS to see if the big $49.95 nutcracker was still there, but at 50% off. It was, but it was broken, so we decided to leave it behind, and go to breakfast at the Crossroads Cafe. If you are ever in Parker, the Crossroads is THE place to eat, and everybody knows it. The place is packed, the food is good, the service great, and the prices reasonable. Stay out of the restrooms -- they are terrible!

Since we were only a few miles from Parker Dam, we decided to take a look after breakfast.

Parker Dam was built between 1934 and 1938 by the Bureau of Reclamation. (At this point, our daughter Deb takes a bow, as she has recently taken on a management position with the Bureau!) Parker Dam's primary purpose was to provide reservoir storage and power for California, and a little bit for Arizona. But, if you know the area, Parker Dam also created Lake Havasu, the current home of London Bridge, which is not, in fact, falling down.

We drove up the California side of the Colorado River past lots of private RV and mobile home parks, plus quite a few Bureau of Land Management developments. We also found some of the much touted wild burros along the highway!
The dark one was the baby, and was having lunch when we arrived, We waited for a less personal picture!

Mama kept her eye on us the whole time. "Touch my baby, I'll bite your hand!
Then came our first glmpse of the dam.
Not much from a distance, but then we got closer.

Parker Dam is the deepest dam in the world: 73% of its structure height is below the original river bed. Only about 85 feet of the dam are visible -- the dam's superstructure rises another 62 feet above the roadway across the top of the dam. And here's the roadway.

It's kind of like driving along the Colosseum in Rome, I would think!

Looking at the dam from the Arizona side.

Lake Havasu presses against the back side of Parker Dam, and provides boaters, jet-skiers, fisherman and many others excellent recreational opportunities.

While we decry the ugly power lines that traipse across the scenery in many of our pictures, electricity is part of what this dam produces, and it has to get across the state and the mountains some way!


We popped up to Take Off Point, the earliest opportunity for fishermen to get to, into or onto the water to catch those trophy fish.


But I had my trophy wife with me!

And then it was time to hurry back to Earp, CA to get ready to leave in the morning. And so closes another episode, a somewhat strange and unsettling one, in ... Our Life on Wheels.

16 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tour of Parker Dam, it has been a while since we have been there. Safe travels!

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  2. They have an age limit of 74?? Well that sure leaves out a lot of us. Guess they don't like old people's money. I think you should have asked for the prizes anyhow. I'm just glad you felt up to making the trip out to the dam. That baby is sooo cute. And Suzy looks fantastic.

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  3. I am glad that you are still around to be turned away because of age.

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  4. I have never heard of a Sales offer turning down a sales. Very interesting.

    The Parker Dam area is wonderful. We really enjoyed our visit to Lake Havasu. What wonderful photos you two took.

    Please pass on our congratulations to Deb on her new position. What a wonderful way to start out the new year.

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  5. Gee 74????!!!!! don't they realize that is just when people are living it up again!!!! Stupid place, you wouldn't want to be a member there anyhow. Their loss.

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  6. No sales pitch, a good meal and a tour-not a bad day:)

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  7. It is great to see that you are up and about. Take it easy and do what the Dr says.

    We love to camp at Buckskin Mountain SP across the river from CA and downstream from Parker Dam. It is one of our favorite campgrounds in the U.S. Just don't tell anyone about it and we can keep it a secret.

    Gerry and I wish you and Suzy a Healthy, Happy & Prosperous New Year.

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  8. Heart attack!?! what heart attack, so I went back to catch up. We stopped at the same Shell station on Wednesday. Can't believe we were in the same area. Sometime soon....maybe we can meet.

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  9. We like Parker & almost made it to the dam last February. Had to turn around just short of the dam when we realized we could not drive the Motorhome over it. Canadians eh!! Always nice to see new things & travel roads never traveled before. Good thing you hadn't drove over to San Francisco a week before Christmas or Tony Bennett's some might have taken on a rather sober meaning for you...:))

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  10. Thanks for sharing all the great photos, Jerry! That lovely wife of yours is looking absolutely stunning! You take care of yourself, now, hear?

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  11. It's nice to see a picture of you, Dad! Love to both you and Mom.

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  12. Earp, Ca. Interesting how it got its name!
    Lee in Tombstone

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  13. Saw the preview of the album of great pictures, but the blog narration made the experience much better! Interesting facts about the Dam. We'll have to visit it in a week or so. Glad you're feeling better and dodged that serious bullet, Jerry!

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  14. You and Suzy are looking awesome. Just take care of yourselves and enjoy the rest of "Your Life On Wheels". Hugs.....Mike & Pat

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  15. I always think the bathrooms reflect the cleanliness of the kitchen...I learned that from Dennis, being a fireman he was in many a restaurant kitchen for grease fires..some were pretty bad. We stayed North of Parker once at a state park, right on the beautiful Colorado River...great spot...Suzy looks great, by the way!

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  16. Here's hoping 2013 is less eventful for you guys. Just ten years ago I did the whole Cardiac Cath bleed-out in recovery thing. Then the triple bypass thing a week later. I'm real pleased you've been spared that little procedure and recovery. Keep on the straight and narrow in recovery and try not to overdo things. As Red Green is so fond of saying, "We're in this together."

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