Lake Havasu

The Journey There

The drive to Havasu was long. We were excited though as we commenced our journey out to Arizona. It was just Cristina and I listening to country music and chatting about life with no worries weighing us down. I never realized how barren the route would be on the way out Highway 95. It is a two-lane highway right through the middle of the desert, one of those roads that leave you surprised every time you actually see another vehicle. After a while our talking slowly drifted off and the only sounds you could hear was the hum of the car radio and the dull roar of the engine as I accelerated. I knew that we were both getting lost in our own thoughts. It was easy to do staring out at nothing but miles of hot asphalt and cactus-cluttered sand. Only when I happened to see a speed marker did I realize I’d been going fifteen miles over the speed limit.

When we were finally 30 miles away from Lake Havasu, the rock faces became larger and more brilliant like reddish brown sentinels of the water source below. As the highway wound its way through the rock, we’d catch glimpses of sparkling water. Before long that same water was stretched out before us. The Colorado River was speckled with boats and jet skis and lined with hotels and other business establishments. We’d finally reached it.

The first step outside of my car was shocking. It was like taking a nonstop flight from Greenland and stepping off the plane in the middle of the Sahara. Well, that might be an exaggeration, but it was a drastic change in temperature nonetheless.  We left our house at 7:30 AM, where it was 48 degrees, and arrived in Havasu around noon, where it was a “balmy” 110 degrees—do the math. It was so hot that all we could do was laugh and then hurry into the air-conditioned lobby. First thing after checking in to our room? Change out of those jeans!

 

 

The Boat

There’s nothing quite like a day spent on a boat. There are miles of water stretched out before you just waiting for you to choose that direction. No lanes, just the ability to drive free. It took us a little bit to warm up to this particular method of transportation. For some reason going 30 miles per hour seems a lot faster on a boat than it does in a car (go figure!). I think that as soon as we sat back and appreciated the speed, the sun on our shoulders, and the awe-striking surroundings, we felt right at home with our little boat.

You might think that being on the water might be cooler than on land, but this wasn’t the case. It was exactly the same 100-teen-something in the parking lot at the hotel as it was it was on the lake. As the boat would speed up, you’d feel that same hotness in a flush of air, streaming past your eyes and through your hair—a massive blow drier that removed all traces of cool within minutes of being in motion. But for some reason, I loved this heat. It was almost like my pores craved it, even if it was pretty intense. I found myself absorbed in the heat gushing around me and lolled against the bench seat in the bow of the boat with my head leaned back. I watched the billowy clouds above in their incessant morphing, and couldn’t help but wonder whether these brilliant masses of water particles shift shape in order so that everyone can find something meaningful in the cloudscape.

Although the roars of myriad boats and jet skis are prominent on the lake, I still felt a much-desired attachment to the nature around me. The water was revitalizing, the perfect refreshment during a period of extreme heat. The rock faces that carved out the brilliant Colorado River looked ever so like fortresses standing high above the water. Their turrets were projected so high into the sky that they seemed like fingers reaching, stretching towards the heavens. They were regal and yet retained a sort of Spartan rusticity—the Castle in the Rock. From time to time small, rocky islands seemed to float right alongside of us with mesquite trees rustling in our speed. It’s amazing to me that life could squeeze itself through solid rock. What tenacious roots they must have to slowly chisel their way through the quartzite. And its efforts had clearly paid off with its ample water supply and fresh, soft green.  It makes you consider the lengths that life will go to in order to achieve the best life possible.

And, of course, the day on the boat was not only good for viewing nature at its finest. It was one of the best days I’ve spent with my family in a long time. Just open water to cleanse us of all worries and concerns. I don’t think I could have spent a better eight hours than that. We laughed and rested beneath the blaze of the Arizona sunshine, cooled off in the friendly blue water, and then laughed some more when the heat made us loopy. At the end of the day, my cheeks were sore from a transfixed smile… I knew it’d been a blessed day.

(To be continued...)