January 1-7, 2023
We had been loosely following the Colorado River for a while. When we were in Monument Valley, Utah in October and November of 2022, we drove our rented Jeep many miles for an overlook of Lake Powell near Hite Crossing. Then we spent a wonderful couple of hours on Lake Powell near the Glen Canyon Dam -- Lake Powell is a wide spot on the Colorado River. Then the river cut through the Grand Canyon while we skirted around it, just to pick it up again and camp next to it at Lake Mead in November and December.
We stayed on it at Lake Havasu, another wide spot of the Colorado River, at the end of 2022. Heading just a short distance south, we were on a narrower section of the river called Lake Moovalaya -- more popularly known as the Parker Strip. There are 20 miles between the Parker Dam and the Headgate Rock Dam near Parker, Arizona. California was practically a rock's throw away from our side in Arizona. We were staying at Buckskin Mountain State Park, which was really nice.
We drove around one of the days and even saw wild burros on the California side. Cool!
We got the boat out as soon as we could. It was a bit of a pain because there was no dock or pier, but it was worth the struggle. You could zip down the water that was almost like a long channel, and it was a blast! We saw both dams and thought we'd go to one of the riverside bars at some point (we never did). We did get to go through the Parker Keys, an area of canals and homes that border the water. It looked like it would get a little crazy in the summer, but in January the place was practically empty.
We also did a boating day north of the dam, which is the southern end of Lake Havasu. The Bill Williams River comes in at that end, and we took the shallow river under the Memorial Bridge and for a distance. It was relaxing and lovely.
We only had a week on the Strip, and it was definitely a place we'd visit again. Next, we'd head farther south along the Colorado River to Yuma. It was looking like 2023 was going to be a great year!
