Day 8:  One Week into Our Journey!  

Ava's Take

We have officially been out of Colorado for seven days!

We left Dead Horse and headed to Lake Havasu. Still scarred from our experience in Moab, we reserved our spot for three nights which turned out to be a mistake. As we drove in closer to Lake Havasu City I could feel that it was not somewhere I wanted to stay but I thought being near the water would be different. I had this picture in my head of paddle boarding on beautiful turquoise waters and working on my tan. This was the last stop before heading into California and starting our new lives and I really wanted to take a few days to reflect on the journey out here and think about what I really wanted to create going forward.

We set up our campsite and walked our paddle boards down to the water. It sounded like Bandimere Speedway. Dylan set one of his paddle boards on the ground and you could feel the sound vibrations coming up through the paddle boards. The shoreline was gravelly and hot and the water looked polluted and disturbed. I have never seen so many motorized water crafts on one lake. We paddled out, avoiding the wake zone hoping we would not get run over by a gang of jetskis. I made the most of the time on the water but the noise was really disturbing. I don’t mind the wake(s), that just gives me a chance for a workout but the constant noise of racing jetskiis was giving me a headache.

We decided to go out to eat since it was too hot to cook and frankly I was cranky. I found a Thai restaurant which led us on a scavenger hunt that ended with hunger, irritability and no spring rolls. We decided on Italian and I found a family owned Italian restaurant that had been there for over twenty years that seemed like a good bet. I’m not going to mention the name of it because I would like to think that we caught them on an off night and that normally, they don’t suck so bad. Despite only having three other tables, our waiter forgot about us and never even made it by to take our drink order. The hostess ending up being our server and she was about the only good thing about the whole place. It was as loud as a bar and the food was made by someone who thought Italian meant “cover it in several pounds of low quality mozzarella cheese.” I ordered a Coke and it tasted like (and looked like) it had been sitting out all day and was now half water. I only ate out of necessity and we left as quickly as we could.

After sorting out my thoughts I realized the underlying message in this Lake Havasu mess; the Universe was telling me to get to California now. All the reflecting and adventuring I planned on doing on the trip out was meant to happen when we got to California, not along the way. The reason our trip had been one stumble after another was not because we didn’t have a plan, it was because we were not supposed to keep stopping everywhere. Dylan felt the same way and we decided we’d leave tomorrow morning. It was worth forfitting the $60 for our campsite for the next two nights to not have to be somewhere I was not supposed to be for another minute. I went to bed and couldn’t wait for the morning to arrive so I could leave.

Dylan's Take

Keep moving forward

It has been one week into our journey and it feels pretty great despite yesterday’s frustrations.  I am grateful that I have been able to be on this journey and make this leap into the unknown so to speak.  I am reminded of the Star Trek opening monologue, with Captain Picard’s voice replaying, “To seek out new life and new civilizations and to go where no man has gone before”.  Maybe not to the extent of Star Trek but we are on our own mission. 

We arrived at Lake Havasu after deciding that the quickest route was the best route.  We did not want to delay any longer with our travel to CA.  Our campsite is close to the water and we are here for 3 nights.  Apparently Columbus Day is a big holiday weekend in AZ and the state requires you to reserve 3 nights at minimum on the weekend. 

My immediate reaction to the city was repulsion.  Meaning, my sense or intuition was one of repulsion to the city not the city repulsing me.  We arrived to a 95 degree late afternoon, early evening, to the sounds of jet skis, boats, loud speakers and a variety of other motorized noises.  Ava and I, were very excited about our decision to get to CA, we could literally see CA from our campsite.  After setting up and getting water that tasted horrendous, we decided to go paddle boarding. 

I love paddle boarding because there is something freeing about it.  Its active enough, but relaxing at the same time; you can paddle hard or just mosey along too.  After getting on the water it was a reset button, but there was a feeling inside that was saying to move on and get going.  The feeling of being stuck and not moving on was there and I knew that with two more nights accompanying us that we were not going to enjoy our stay.  After trying to find a Thai place that had moved and then found out was closed, we settled on a very noisy Italian place to eat.  The food was okay but not great and our overall experience was dissatisfying to say the least. 

Being back at the campsite I felt defeated and frustrated that this was not the experience we wanted to have in Lake Havasu and we both agreed that we just needed to keep moving forward.  Ava and I both agreed to pack up tomorrow morning and head to CA and Encinitas.  There was not anything in Lake Havasu for us and we both knew that sacrificing the $60 to stay two more nights was not worth the effort or stress. 

This event showed me that when there are clear and obvious signs of my / our path and we need to listen to and adhere to them.  I am reminded of water at this point.  When water is moving it goes in the path of least resistance and this is what I am feeling I should do, because otherwise it’s just too hard and stressful. 

On to CA and our new lives!