"What a Terrible Way…."

We've had an awful busy week in Quartzsite, AZ. Last Monday we drove into Blythe, CA, to check out the town. That took about 15 minutes, so we drove out to the Cali side of the Colorado River to see a couple of RV parks that we had heard about. The drive to the parks took longer than the drive through them! Both the county park, the Mayflower, and the private park that we visited were just a bit too rustic for us. They are both set up for water sports on the river, but with gravel pads and close quarters, coupled with medium to high fees, we probably won't be staying there.
We did have a great lunch in Blythe at the local "Steaks and Cakes" restaurant. A local place that serves breakfast and dinner all day, the service was good and the food was filling. A stop at Starbucks for fuel for the ride home and we were on our way back to Q for an early evening.

Tuesday we were notified that one of the parts that we were waiting for had arrived, but had been returned by the post office due to "insufficient address". A trip into the PO told us that we had provided a physical address for delivery, not the PO Box normally used for this business. The business is a private mail drop, with rental PO Boxes, UPS and FedEx services, taxes and notary. The normal office stuff. Seems like the post office would be able to figure it all out, but no……So we made arrangements for reshipment (at additional expense, of course). We'll see what happens this time.

Wednesday was a complete stay-at-home day. A few walks and a couple of "honey-do's" took up our time, but today, Thursday, we made an excursion to Parker, AZ, to see Parker Dam, which holds Colorado River water in Lake Havasu. The dam is of an unusual design, and is quite striking.

Generating millions of kilowatts of electricity, the dam provides power as well as drinking water to the southwest (read Los Angeles).

A view of the lake from one of the boat launch areas provides just a hint of the huge size of the lake.

We were able to take Sasha on a long walk around a section of the lake, and ventured out onto a concrete fishing dock to get a close look at the water, where we chatted with a fisherman. He wasn't having much luck, but was enjoying a beautiful day. We learned that he and his wife spend winter in Arizona, and summer in Oregon. His comment was "What a terrible way to spend our lives!' I couldn't agree more.

This photo doesn't do justice to the brilliant emerald green colors near the shore.

Our goal for lunch today was to be the Big Belly Deli in Parker. We've eaten there in the past and found it to be one of our favorite sandwich shops. To our dismay, the building where is was located is now for lease. We struck about for another restaurant in the downtown metropolitan area of Parker, and settled for Serape, a Mexican food restaurant. With only mediocre reviews, we were a bit skeptical, but the food was outstanding, in fact it was some of the best we've ever had. The service was a bit off, with a nagging feeling that us gringos were invading a private space, but after all, we were there for the food, no?

As we left the restaurant, what should we see just across the street? Of course. The Big Belly Deli in it's new location. Next time, I promise!