Travelling through the "Wueste Laund" (Desert Lands)

Another week has passed and it is time to update our blog readers on our travel adventures. As we left our chilly 4000' elevation campground in Tehachapi CA. we realized the importance of researching the elevation of a place. We were near the snow line in the mountains.

It is Saturday morning as we head eastward we see hundreds of windmills producing power for the area. The land flattened out as we head across the Mojave Desert.

As we approached our days destination of Needles CA we again came to a mountainous area. Got a picturesque shot over the Colorado River.

The next day we drove across the river to the Arizona side and south through Lake Havasu City area and headed to Cattail Cove State Park. Arrived in time for lunch, and with the warmer temps we had our first picnic table lunch :)

Hiking along the shoreline of Lake Havasu at Cattail Cove SP.

These VW vans were driven by some guys who looked like they were trying to relive their hippie years. VW vans were numerous in the Lake Havasu area, some "original" and others nicely redone.

On Monday we headed to Buckskin Mountain State Park which is only about 20 miles further south where we had a two day reservation and by moving to another site we were able to extend our stay at this park.

Since we had not been able to connect to the internet for the last two days and here at Buckskin we found a weak signal it required some extra effort to get results. It was a 1/2 mile hike up Lightening Bolt trail to reach the bench, hundreds of feet above the campground and in range of the cell towers at the town of Parker only a few miles to the South. (Note the person sitting on the bench)

This trail joined up with the 1 mile Buckskin Trail which was a good workout with many rewarding views. Thankfully the snakes are "sleeping" in winter.

Saw this Greater Roadrunner, who was not willing to pose for us.

As we passed through Quartzite we saw many RVer's camped in the desert, and then seeing the long lineups for the water supply and sewage dump locations our thoughts of desert camping vanished. We opted for a traditional campground in Yuma AZ instead.

Yuma's river front walk at sunset showing the historic "Ocean to Ocean Bridge" with the rail bridge beyond it.

We arrived in Yuma Thursday afternoon and found a place near downtown along the bank of the Colorado River. The campgrounds rustic club house - just missing a row of Harley's.