Devall Travels

The last day. We had a full day almost to get the 200 miles from the hotel in Lake Havasu to the airport at Phoenix. We set off after breakfast and took the 95 down to the Parker Dam.  We couldn't get to it as it was pretty well fenced off. So we carried on to Parker and onto 72 heading south east towards I10. The first stop was at the Chevron station at New Hope where we topped up the tank before joining I10 for the last leg of the trip to Phoenix. Here we bought a huge drink each. It was still very hot and the drink was necessary.  On the wall of the diner were different cartoons and photos. This one of Ronald Reagan was easiest to photo, From there it was simply a straight line to the airport and drop the car off.   The flight home was okay and Friday morning we landed in London. Another holiday over.

We had two nights in Havasu.  What to do? The plan was to chill after a week of driving across the length and breadth of the state.  And do it was, View from our room We ate locally the first night but not before we had taken a drive across London Bridge and around the island it leads to.   The next morning we found a cafe/diner along the road, Peggy's Sunrise Cafe ( 1584 Countryshire Ave, Lake Havasu City)  was a great find.  Breakfast From there we headed north on London Bridge Road to the State park, and put off by the parking charge we went a bit further to a small parking lot.  We had a walk into the reeds and to a viewpoint  where we met some local people fishing.   They told us to try the beach area on the other side of the bridge.  After lunch, that's where we went. The strangeness of a beach and fresh water is hard to comprehend. Swimming and avoiding ducks? It doesn't tak...

In Oatman we parked up on the right at the top of main street. Walking down the boardwalk we encountered one of the first donkeys.  This one was on the boardwalk itself and eating some flyers from one of the attractions. I guess printed paper tastes good to a donkey? Many of the shops had already closed and in need of a comfort break we headed to the public facilities. Dodging donkey byproducts is a normal occurrence but nothing could prepare anyone for the rest rooms smell. We had a look around the bric-a-brac stall next door and then over to the car park where there were a few donkeys and some foals (?). One with a sticker on its forehead saying "do not feed". It seemed to be doing a good job eating for itself. https://flic.kr/p/HzcvCd Eating an advertising flyer! Cactus Paul From Oatman we headed south towards I40 and at Golden Shores we stopped for a quick pic of another R66 logo on the roa...

Today over a five hour period the emails from Canada came in and everyone that booked has one or two to choose from. In the end we will have Meldrews at all three services. The lucky ones at Thiepval and their 4.30am reveille - Cal,  Neil and Trevor The Ulster Tower group of David, Elaine, both Ken's,  Claire and me. Breakfast and train to Albert. The Newfie group of Ian, Paul and Tom. Report to follow.

Although this was my first time on Historic Route 66 I felt I knew it already, and still it amazed  us both. Arizona has the longest section of the Mother Road of any of the states it passes through.  Towns bypassed and left in desperate times have been rejuvenated by the tourist attraction it has become. Williams the last town to be bypassed by I40 back in 1984 would have been dead had the railway not returned. Okay, for every one of the thriving towns like Williams and Seligman there are places where the shuttered and even burned out like Truxton are evident.  It could be the same here in UK. Many towns and villages that thrived on passing trade reduced to dormitorys for larger towns and cities because they were bypassed by the motorways that started to be built in the 1950's.  Many of these old routes have been there since the Romans built the original road almost two thousand years ago.   We fuelled up in Williams and then s...

In the end we were very lucky to get entries for all three comemorations on the Somme. Although less than two weeks away; by now most of us will be back at home in fact, we are still waiting for one. There has been a hiccup with the Thiepval event with one nameless Meldrew double booking something the same day! Incredible I know! Especially after he checked the dates.... Eight of us have the tickets for the Ulster Tower and two latecomers missed that but once the Canadian Embassy pulls its finger out we should have tickets for their event as well. Wait and see.

We arrived about 1145. Entertainment on the train had included a singer who played the accordion. Being British means being reticent. But we joined in the singing. Our carriage guy Nickolaus was very informative and spoke to everyone at length to help us get the most out of the trip. After all, we were only going to have about three and a half hours there. As the ladies always take longer in the rest rooms, I went to take some pix of the train. Where's my phone? I backtracked to the rail car and searched high and low. Nada. Nickolaus was changed out of his uniform and helped look. A really nice guy with a peach of a job!   More backtracking, into the gloom of the men's room, and there it was under the washbasins. Sadly face down. Scratched but at leas  had it back.  So the tour starts, using the map in the newspaper that was on the train. Nick suggested if we walked from the El Tovar and rail depot to the visitor centre, getting the free shut...