Change of Plans

We gave up on the weather and packed up a day early for California. After driving through snow, sleet and another rainstorm, we didn't quite make it. Instead we found ourselves crossing the real London Bridge into Lake Havasu! Who knew?

This place is a mecca for Suburbanites -- I've never seen such enormous chain stores before or so many identical houses crammed together. It's incredible. Everything surrounds the beaches at Lake Havasu and that's just where we are: The Nautical Inn. You could easily call this a splurge, but considering every place is jammed with sand-seeking Memorial Day vacationers, we consider ourselves very lucky (again) to have any room at all.

It's been awhile since I was in the middle of a spring break scene -- drunk, bikini- clad horny girls surrounded by drunk, macho irresponsible boys with boats. It's hilarious to watch and the Security is busy doing just that. The kids haven't even noticed them, but there's still no way we'd let them anywhere near the lake (hundreds of party boats and their exhaust) so we found the pool. Surprisingly, it was completely empty! A dream come true for all of us. No stormy weather, a nice pool to ourselves, music from afar and a nice view of the beach.

Grocery stores and restaurants have been our main source of fuel, but we have indulged in some fast food along the way. Anyone traveling these desert highways can attest to the nasty tasting water (iced-tea when bottled water isn't available), the shear lack of food options (no grocery store for hundreds of miles) as well as the salt cravings (Grandma says it's the desert's way of making one drink more water). Usually, I search for a Subway. Next choice is a Taco Bell or a Wendy's. Today our only choice was Burger King and I'll never go back. Disturbing as hell, I noticed that the menu has added super-sized options for kids: double cheeseburgers, large fries, large sodas. I was shocked and disappointed although I guess I shouldn't be. Marketing to kids...CurlyTop could go into a rage everyone, but I'll get off my hind legs for now because we're having a really sunny afternoon.