Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Jet-Boating on the Parker Strip

Parker AZ and Earp, CA

Coming into Parker AZ on sunday morning around 7am,  we refilled water and had snacks at a gas station,  and were told we'd have a nicer ride north on the california side of the river - smaller  single lane road, no trucks, 25mph speed limit (hardly observed, however) - so back to california we went, and had a fun halfhour of jockeying for the lead, on winding rolling hills alongside the Colorado river. I spotted something I wanted to inspect on the road, so I told lydia I'd catch up. She stopped at a small gas station and variety store right there, while I collected treasure. There, at "Lizard's on the River", we had the good fortune to meet the proprietor, Ed.  Ed is a multitalented ex-coast-guard man, and quite a gracious host- while we browsed his store, or stood under the 2' diameter air-conditioner vent (which blows cold air so forcefully that my hair was laid flat against my head and vortexes showed in my beard) he called ahead to the campgrounds within 10 miles on the road, to inquire if they had tent sites available. He also pulled out a great map and we discussed the pros and cons of various routes (he approves of our plan to take route 66 from Kingman east towards the grand canyon). Eventually we settled on a campsite in the BLM park adjacent to his store, since it was now over 110 degrees.

This campsite was awesome!   Though the majority of the site was vacant RV parking spaces (ugh)  there was a grove of giant salt-cedar trees next to the water.  The trees leaned in various directions and had huge canopies like willow trees,  hanging down to just above head level.   The sand under them was covered by a thick bed of shed pine needles, and we set up our tent in the shade there. We were the only people there for most of the day.     There was a sand/gravel beach on the Colorado,  and so we lounged in the 80 degree water for a while,  which wasshockingly cold, after 115 degrees in the shade.   I then made a rope swing from one of the trees with the climbing rope I brought,  and rigged a three-point harness (two loops under waist and one loop under shoulders) so one could lean back and be well supported.   It wasn't quite the Hammock Chair from Laura's Uncle's place,  but for a first handmade swing it was pretty awesome.

We floated down the river and played in the water for a while,  and I especially enjoyed the visual richness of closely inspecting the rainbow-colored rocks in the bright sun.  These  have eroded from along the river's course and separated based on size at varying depths.     I wore my white longsleeve dress shirt and wide brimmed hat  in the water to avoid sunburn on my upper body,  and can only imagine how silly I must have looked,  floating in the shallows on my belly,  wearing shirt, hat, and sunglasses,   sifting and fractionating handfuls of colorful gravel close to my face.  At this point,  Ed stopped by,  and invited us to have dinner with him and his wife:  "you had us at food!".       We had a great korean dish,  Bebimbop(?),  with rice and veggies and seasoned beef and eggs,  then joined them for a trip to the nearby resort to hang out in the hot tub and pool for a while.   They put us up in their airconditioned guest room and for the first in two nights, we enjoyed sleeping in less than 100 degree heat.   We were pursuaded to stay an additional day because monday was Ed's day off,  and he offered to take us jet-boating up the river to the dam to preview the next 10 miles of our course.  

Ed's is an interesting story-  he is one of eight children put up for adoption when young,  and they recently were all reunited.   It made the front page of newspapers in california and was on inside edition.    I'm looking forward to learning more of this interesting story.   

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