Monday, November 8, 2010

Hi all.....have not been able to blog the last couple of days due to internet connection issues and traveling!

On Saturday we left Glendale, Utah and headed south of Flagstaff to the small town of Cornville, AZ. At the rally in Farmington we  joined a group called Harvest Hosts which is a network of locally owned wineries and small produce farms that will allow  you to stay on their properties overnight (I am sure in the hopes you will purchase some of their local products in the process!). We located one of the wineries in Cornville and thought we would give it a try. As is turned out there were several small vineyards and wineries in this valley south of Flagstaff! We arrived at Javelina Leap Winery right at 5pm which was when their tasting room was closing, but their neighboring winery (easily within walking distance) was open till 6 so we did get to taste some of the wines made from locally grown grapes! The entire valley was beautiful but the 2 lane road back to the place and the rather small place they had for parking the RV were a bit of a challenge!

The next morning we decided we needed to leave before they opened at 11 or else we would be caught in the parking lot by the wine tasting visitors. So we decided to head slightly back north and west to a small town called Lake Havasu City, which is right on the border of Arizona and California. In the late 60's this community bought the London Bridge and had it transported to the US and reconstructed on a road connecting a small island in the lake to the main part of town.....all at a cost of about 7 million dollars!

We traveled here on Interstate 40, which has taken over much of the historic route 66 across the US and at one point got off at a small town to  look up a restaurant that was listed in our 'Road Food" book----however when we got there is was closed. ...disappointing.

I continue to be amazed at the surrounding landscapes......from the beautiful canyons and valleys in Utah to the pine forests around Flagstaff and always a presence of mountains off in the distance. In my mind I had visualized Arizona as dry, flat and desert-----not at all the case. Where we are here we can look across the lake into California and still see mountains everywhere!

Along Route 66

Entering Lake Havasu City

Sunset in Lake Havasu City

London Bridge

Arizona, British, US  over the bridge

Looking across lake to California

Planning on heading north towards Nevada and the Reno area and then west to Napa Valley before heading south to Seal Beach.

Tonight we are resting in Lake Havasu City, AZ.....Debbie and John