Biking and Kayaking in Havasu (Tuesday, September 15th, 2015)

We’re back down in Lake Havasu City, and so far everything has been perfect. We have been taking it really easy, enjoying our coffee in the morning and the sunsets at night, and we have been concentrating on healthy food, and trying to think a little bit about fitness. We’ve enjoyed watching the quail play in the field in the morning, and the hummingbirds are here right now as they migrate south to Mexico for the winter. We’ve really enjoyed just living in the moment and finding pleasure in the small stuff.

We have been eating at the house every night since we got here, grilling different kinds of fish, and turning our grocery shopping and food prep into an adventure. It’s been too hot to get out and do anything during the day, so that has been our grocery shopping time each day. So far we’ve had a Greek inspired grilled halibut with baby greens salad, Cajun fish taco’s made with cod and a side of black beans, and teriyaki salmon with salad and bread. I’ve been making fresh avocado lime vinaigrette for the salad each night, which has been a nice healthy dressing. We’ve also been making red wine and cranberry juice sangria to go with our dinners.

September is our favorite month in Havasu. The temperatures are starting to cool down (The highs have been in the high nineties or low hundreds) and the lake water is still really warm. The past few days have been pretty hot, up around 110 or so and fairly high hummidity, and we have been kind of hiding out during the heat of the day. But today was cloud covered, breezy and quite a bit cooler, so we had a chance to get out and have some fun.

We loaded up the bikes this morning, and headed onto the island where it is nice and flat, to go on a bike ride. Lake Havasu City is built on the side of a hill, so unless you are an avid biker with good gears, it is not a very good place to begin. Anyone that knows us, knows that Steve is a great biker, and I am a terrible biker. If there is an obstacle in sight, I can hit it without trying, so an easy start was a must! 

There is a great walking/biking trail that goes around the north side of the island. Walkers go one direction on the trail and bikes go the other direction, so you can always see people coming at you. The trail is about 3.5 miles if you do a single loop, so quite easy with some nice views of the lake. 

Nice flat trail on the island, with nice views on part of it

We did just one loop on the trail this morning, and then threw the bikes back into the truck. Steve dropped me off by the London Bridge, and I took a quick jog through the channel and met him on the other end. There is a road and parking lot so he could pull the truck all the way down to where he was meeting me. We sat on a bench for a few minutes and watched the boats and swimmers. It was a really beautiful morning. 

We came back to the house so that I could get some work done, and eventually had some lunch, then we decided to go kayaking. It has been breezy all day, and the wind is coming from the south, so it travels directly up the lake. The water was kind of rough, and the wind was pretty strong, so we loaded the kayak at a little beach just south of the channel and paddled directly into the channel where the wind would be blocked a little bit. This was the first time we have ever kayaked, so it took a little getting used to. Thanks to Steve's brother for loaning them to us. We paddled about half way up the channel and then turned around and headed back into the wind. 

We're in the middle of the channel trying to get turned around

By the time we got back to Thompson Bay, near the beach where we loaded, the wind had picked up and the waves were coming over the front of the kayak. We paddled quite a ways past our beach, and then turned and let the waves carry us in.  The Kayaking was fun, but maybe a little slow for us.

We had dinner at the only Thai restaurant in Havasu, which we really enjoy. The place is really big inside, and never very crowded, but the food is good as is the service. We split a bowl of Tom-Ka-Gai, which is lemongrass and coconut milk soup with chicken, and a Paneng Curry, which is a tasty curry stew served over rice. Both were excellent!