Lake Havasu City, AZ

6.27.2010

Forget Disney, Lake Havasu AZ is the happiest place on earth. The ride getting here was pretty standard. There were hills, there were flats, it was hot, etc. Honestly I don’t remember most of it because the rest of the day was such a blast. When we approached Lake Havasu we met up with members of the local fire department and police force at a gas station 12 miles outside the city. They rode with us on their mountain bikes all the way into the city, where we were met at a local Wal-Mart by a huge reception committee. The only unfortunate part of the ride was when the local fire chief kept clearing his nose while riding in front of me. It was so hot that I was only slightly upset with the resulting shower.

When we arrived at the Wal-Mart, we were greeted with water and Gatorade, and they had set up the inside of the garden section with patio furniture for us to rest on. The entire affair was planned by the town’s, I kid you not, “Journey of Hope Committee”. All the way into the town we were greeted by honks from passing cars and smiling faces. It seemed like everyone knew we were coming, and we even saw a big “Lake Havasu Welcomes the Journey of Hope” sign on the way into the town.

Once everyone had rallied at the Wal-Mart, we were given a police escort through the center of the town to the community center where we would be lodging. This was the longest and most official police escort we’ve had so far. There were two police motorcycles leading the double pace line, and the parade continued for about 10 miles. We were even allowed to run red lights!

We arrived at lodging to a huge lunch prepared by local families. There were sandwiches, assorted fruits, chips, homemade cookies, and all kinds of sodas. We sat down to have a meal with the firefighters and police officers with whom we were riding before we hopped in the vans and headed out to the Lake Havasu Yacht club. A yacht club in the middle of the Mojave desert would sound pretty crazy if the town’s famous lake were not so impressive. They took us out to the middle of the 30 mile long lake on a two story yacht where they let down the anchor and let us jump off the top of the boat into the water. We were out there for 3 hours trying all types of different flips, singing I’m on a boat, and consuming the buffet of fried chicken and potato salad that they provided us. They also taught us how to make a tasty treat before we got on the boat. What you do is take 6 pieces of cookie dough, put them on an aluminum pan, put the pan on the dashboard of your car, and leave your car in the parking lot for 3- 4 hours. When we got back from the boat ride, our cookies were baked to a delicious golden brown by Arizona’s triple digit heat. They even had that delicious gooey center. This is definitely a trick I’m bringing back home.

As we were eating our dashboard cookies on the ride home, our day was far from over. We returned to lodging to discover that tables had been set up all over the gymnasium for a banquet in our honor. There were local townspeople, volunteers from various assisted living centers, and even a live band that was preparing to play. The dinner was an even bigger affair than lunch, with 10 folding tables filled with various meats, salads, and desserts. The people of Lake Havasu really know that the way to a cyclist’s heart is through his stomach. Today is the first day that I haven’t felt hungry while writing my blog. After dinner, the band put on a rock show with Foo Fighters, Beatles, Blink 182, and Black Sabbath covers just to name a few. We rocked out for the whole show with the program’s participants. This is definitely my longest post so far, so thanks for sitting through it if you’re still reading, but there was so much stuff to cover. Today was absolutely awesome.

Also. I was just going to go brush my teeth when one of the other cyclists told me to look in the freezer, where I found a pile of Jju - ju - bars. These are a Korean brand of freeze pops that I was originally introduced to in AP Biology class in high school. Life is so good. I never want to leave this place. Fortunately we have a layover day tomorrow!