Winter in Lake Havasu City, AZ & COVID-19

Catching Up

Hello friends! It’s been a long time since I last posted (I feel like this should just be the automatic first line of all my posts…LOL!). So much has happened, and once again I’ve missed documenting all the stops along the way. After Sparks, NV, we stayed at The Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas, NV, then motored over to Destiny RV Resort just outside of Phoenix, AZ and then after making a detour to spend Thanksgiving with my brother in Tucson, AZ, we eventually made it to our final winter destination: Havasu Falls RV Resort in Lake Havasu City, AZ. We were only planning on being here from December 1, 2019 till the end of March 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we ended up extending our stay till the end of April. Our next planned stop is Santa Fe, NM, but plans may change depending on how this whole thing blows so I’m trying not to get too hopeful for the change of scenery.

Here are some pictures to catch us up to right before we moved to our current location.

Las Vegas, NV

The Oasis RV Resort was a MASSIVE RV park, and in true Vegas fashion, it actually contained digital billboards that lit up the entire park at all hours of the night. It was nice though and I’d stay there again. My only real complaint is that the dog was not allowed to pee anywhere except inside the gated dog areas, and the park was so large it typically took 20 minutes to walk to those areas. That’s a pain when you just want to take the dog out for his last pee of the night before bed. While in Vegas we took in a Jabbawockeez show which was AMAZING, and got to hang out with one of Scarlett’s childhood friends – and her adorable daughter. Scarlett and I also spent a night just wandering around Vegas and taking in the sights.

Phoenix, AZ

First off, I LOVED Destiny RV park. It was perfectly sized and every site had a tree so you always had some form of shade. They had lots of neat little sculptures and random artwork scattered around the park as well giving it a ton of personality.

We flew my mom out to join us in Phoenix, AZ to join us. I was born in Phoenix and my mom hadn’t been back since we moved to Niagara Falls, NY back when I was 8 years old. Mom and I toured old haunts which was really cool, but the best part was taking her horseback riding on south mountain <3

Before leaving Phoenix Scarlett and I also visited my cousin Nate and his family for a second thanksgiving meal which was delicious!

Tucson, AZ

After the first week in Phoenix, mom and I drove out to Tucson, AZ, where I had rented an AirBnb so we could have thanksgiving with my brother Mike. Mike had moved to Tucson earlier in the year and it had literally been years since I’d had thanksgiving with him. We had a great time and got to meet his girlfriend Esmeralda as well. We walked around downtown Tucson and hung out for the weekend. My mom flew home out of the Tucson airport and I returned to Phoenix and my wife and furbabies just before packing up to move to Lake Havasu City, AZ for the winter.

Laying Low in the Desert

Lake Havasu City was a big surprise for me. We only ended up in this neat little city in the middle of the desert because it was one of the few places that had openings for a winter stay at an RV park. I was surpised to find out that this city is the home of the actual London Bridge!! Lake Havasu City has a great little downtown, beaches, dog parks, and lots of places to four-wheel! Before the pandemic Scarlett and I enjoyed walking around downtown, taking Winston to the dog park, and checking out the Balloon Festival!

Havasu Falls RV Resort is a great little resort as far as it’s proximity to everything. You’re only a 5 – 10 minute drive from everything in that city. The residents were the best part for me though. We met so many lovely people here, and even made some new friends. Our neighbors Paul and Crissy were wonderful – even helping us out when our battery died on our truck. Then there’s Meredeth and Jeff – they brought the party to this resort. As the event planners and youngest visitors other than us, they kept everyone busy before the pandemic with awesome cookouts, game nights, and great conversation. I miss them dearly.

If you have to be stuck in one place for an extended period of time, Lake Havasu City, AZ isn’t a bad place. Plenty of grocery stores and it is way out in the middle of nowhere so the virus has been slow to spread out here. Well, I don’t know if I should say that since we don’t really know – what with the shortage of tests and all, but so far everyone around us has been doing well. I had a bit of a scare where I was really sick a few weeks ago and came down with an upper respiratory infection. I went to Urgent Care and they weren’t messing around. Our president may have still been trying to tell everyone there was nothing to worry about, but this facility wouldn’t let me talk or even sign in until they put a face mask on me, watched me scrub my hands with hand sanitizer and took my temperature. Then they listened to my symptoms before deciding if they were going to see me. I was given a prescription for z-pack and that did the trick so all good 👌

The only real downfall of staying for a long period of time in this area has been access to airports. There are none. You have two choices: Phoenix – which is 5 hours away, or Las Vegas which is 2 1/2 hours away. Normally we don’t travel that much but of course this time turned out to be different. Scarlett flew out to Florida for a couple weeks for her fathers wedding, and then to Kansas to be with her daughter for a bit.

I flew out to NY for some family time early on, and then again to Chicago for a work meetup when the reports of the virus were just starting to come in. That was scary! I never realized how nasty people were until I was hyper aware of everything and everyone around me. On the plane I went into a bathroom right after a gentleman left and he had flushed the toilet with the toilet seat up! Do you have any idea how high the statistics are on antibiotic-resistant bacteria in airplane toilets are? How about how far that bacteria flies when you flush the toilet with the lid up? That’s not just gross…that’s downright criminal negligence! Geez. The only thing that gave me hope was seeing a mother scold her child for licking the table outside a deli. “There is a deadly virus on the loose! Do you want to die? You could DIE!!”. Awww this poor kid, he was so upset, but wow, good job mom. Better than most other moms I saw not even telling their kids to cover their mouths when they cough.

Hanging out with family in NY

Chicago Meetup for work

I got to stay at this beautiful hotel in Chicago – The Palmer House. A historic hotel where greats like Sonny & Cher played at one time <3

By the time we left Lake Havasu City it was 105℉, and it was only the end of April. Note to self: never stay in Arizona during the summer!