Day 4 - Lake Havasu City and a Little North

Today we were in the Lake Havasu area so thankfully there was very little driving. And since we didn't have to cover a certain distance we could take our time getting started. We slept in and eventually got out of bed around 7:45am. Then after dressing and getting some breakfast we got some things and left the hotel to do a little letterboxing and maybe some sightseeing. I only needed one more county to complete Azroadie's Arizona 15 Award so that was my first priority. The box I needed was for Mohave County and was located in Topock - about a 40 minute drive north. So we headed there. We drove AZ95 to I40 and then I40 west to exit 1. This is the Topock-Oatman Highway (aka Historic Route 66) and part of historic Route 66. We drove along this road for about 2 miles and then parked in a pull out on the right side of the road. After following a couple of compass directions we found Azroadie's Topock 66 box. I stamped in and then stamped the image again but this time onto the form for the Award. WooHoo!!! - I finally had completed the challenge - I now had found one of Azroadie's letterboxes in each of Arizona's 15 counties.
So once the box was back in place we returned to I40 and headed back east. We passed the exit for Lake Havasu and went a couple of miles further where we took the Franconia Road exit.

"X" Marks the Spot on Franconia Road

From the exit we turned north and drove a little more than a half mile and parked near a railroad underpass. From here we walked about another half mile to find Tepee-AZ's Franconia Road Gravesite box. This box is planted in the area of a train collision near Franconia. We followed the clues looking for the box where "X" marked the spot. We located landmarks and took a compass reading and started walking in that direction and immediately found the spot - there is an actual "X" made out of wood that is stuck in the ground and the box is hidden under rocks at its base. Of course I had to take a few pictures and then I stamped in, replaced the box and then we made our way back to the car. We left that area of Franconia Road and we continued on this same road going south. The drive was slow as we were on a dirt road with lots of ruts and bumps. Then there were the clues we were following looking for landmarks as we moved along. Seven miles later we arrived at a water tank and a falling down windmill. I quickly found Tepee-AZ's Franconia Windmill hidden at the base of the real windmill. It was peaceful out there as I sat and stamped in. When the box was back in place we drove the seven miles back to I40.

Yesterday I noticed a new box planted at a rest stop in Yucca - which wasn't all that far from where we were. So made the short drive to the Yucca exit and then turned around and headed to the Haviland Rest Area. Here I found Jaybirders' Magical Vacation. I was the first finder on this box - and I expected to be the first since the box hadn't even been listed for 24 hours yet. The box is hidden in the back of the rest area near the fence line so I was pretty much hidden from sight. There was also a electrical box that was on a cement base. There was ample space around the edge for me to sit and stamp in. After stamping in and getting the box back in place I made my way back to the car and then Thomas and I made the short drive back to Lake Havasu.

We arrived in Lake Havasu 1:15pm and realized we hadn't had lunch yet. So we made a quick stop for some food to take care of the hunger and then decided to go to S.A.R.A Park to look for some boxes. We arrived at the trail head parking and started following the clues for SnakeDoctor's 9th Annual Plant a Letterbox Day Series. This is a series of nine boxes. We spent about two hours on the trail looking for the boxes. There were a few places where we had a little trouble with the landmarks and it took us a while to find the boxes. We only got to six of the nine boxes because we were running out of time. So we called it quits after I stamped into the sixth box and replaced it. From there we just made the walk back to the car. It was now about 4:15pm and we wanted to go back to the hotel and clean up before dinner.

Once at the hotel we got washed up and ready for dinner and we still had some time to spare so I ended up logging the finds for the day.

Our First View of the London Bridge

At 5:15pm we headed out to the place for dinner. The restaurant is situated at the east end of the London Bridge at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the bridge. Since we were early we took a walk over the bridge and enjoyed the views then headed to Burgers by the Bridge to meet everyone for dinner. We had a great time visiting with people and the burgers were great. I even got some exchanges and personal travelers during the tow hours we were there. Finally around 8:00pm Thomas and I said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel. We had a great day letterboxing in the Lake Havasu area and were happy that we didn't have as much driving as we had the last few days. Tomorrow is the event and I am looking forward to it. So now I need to get some rest.

London Bridge Lamp Post at Sunset

Today's Stats . . .
Starting Time: 8:45am; Ending Time: 8:20pm
Total Time for the Day = 11 hours 35 minutes
Miles Driven = 101
Roads Taken: AZ95 ➛ I40 ➛ Topock-Oatman Highway ➛ I40 ➛ Franconia Road ➛ I40 ➛ AZ95
Weather: Sunshine & Cool → Sunshine → Sunshine → Sunshine &  Cool
Temperatures: AM ▸ Lake Havasu = 60°; Noon ▸ Yucca = 74°; PM ▸ Lake Havasu = 54°
Letterboxes Found = 10; Letterboxes Attempted = 10