Something I did not even think about is that Bakersfield is not only an oil town but also an agriculture area. On our drive today we saw quite a number of those one arm pumpers just a pumping. Wow how I would love to have one of those. Now these rigs were right in the wine vineyards pumping while the grapes were a growin. Another interesting thing I did not know is that Bakersfield is one of the sunniest cities in the U.S. True too.
Grape Oil
Tahachapi is famous for all the windmills in that area. I bet there were at least 700 or more of those windmills and for some reason none of them were turning.
Lots and Lots of Windmills
Hard to believe but I have had a lot of trouble finding old barns in Arizona. This next pic is all that was left of the only one I saw today.
Not much but was a barn
While we were riding on I-40 we saw the strangest cloud formation and for a while we were wondering if it might develop into something we did not want to be around for.
Strange Cloud
It was not a rain cloud as we drove right past it and no rain developed, it just looked weird.
There is a highway that ran from east to west called route 66 and this is part of the route. We came upon it quite by accident.
Route 66 is to the extreme right
Just as we came to I-40 we saw a sign that said Wilmington, SC - 2,552 miles. Can you imagine being on one road for that far. Finally we made it to our turn off to Lake Havasu and in no time at all we were at our motel all settled in. We got out our cooler which we did not put ice in but did have a few things in only to find my chocolate covered peanuts were all melted. I was going to toss them but Jim said to put them in the fridge here so I did and came away with one huge chocolate covered peanut. Tasted great.
The total reason I pushed to come here was to see the London Bridge. In 1968, Robert McCulloch (the chainsaw guy) was searching for a unique attraction for his city, which eventually took him to London. By the early 1960s it was apparent that John Rennie's 1831 London Bridge was gradually sinking into the River Thames and the City of London Corporation decided that a new bridge would need to be built. Rather than demolish the existing bridge, they decided to put the historic landmark on the auction block.
When casting his bid for the bridge, McCulloch doubled the estimated cost of dismantling the structure, which was $1.2 million, bringing the price to $2.4 million. He then added on $60,000, a thousand dollars for each year of his age at the time he estimated the bridge would be raised in Arizona. His gesture earned him the winning bid, although there was very little competition.
It took three years to complete the project. The structure was dismantled block by block, with each section marked and numbered, in much the same way the bridge was originally built. Numbered stones can still be seen at London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The granite pieces were stacked at the Surrey Commercial Docks, and then were shipped through the Panama Canal, to Long Beach, California. From Long Beach, the granite blocks were trucked inland 300 miles. The bridge was reassembled by matching the numbered stones and filling in the area under the bridge with mounds of desert sand to support each arch as it was reconstructed
The following pics are of this amazing rebirth.
We stayed within walking distance of the bridge
Robert P. McCulloch and CV Wood Jr were the founder and master planner in bringing the London Bridge to Lake Havasu. The cost to purchase the bridge from London was $2,460,000.00 which was finalized on April 18, 1968. It took another three years to transport and rebuild the bridge with an additional cost of $4,500,000.00. The bridge was dedicated on Oct. 10, 1971 and has lights on it at night.
There are five arches in the bridge
The waterfront of Lake Havasu
From the other side of the bridge
You can see some of the bomb damage on the bridge.
My pic of the day
Plaque from London
Driving across the bridge
We also walked across this bridge
This sculpture was created by a local artist by the name of Lou Hunt with help of her good friend Reese Mead. The sculpture is of Robert McCulloch and CV Wood.
Pretty sure these are the original steps as you can see where the original hand rails were placed.
We ended our stay here in Lake Havasu by having dinner at a Chinese restaurant, which is something we both love.......bet you're thinkin we should be having fish and chips.
Til tomorrow.
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