From the beach to the river

Wednesday of our mini-vacation we decided to forgo a return trip to the beach and head home. We took the kids to John's Incredible Pizza for lunch and to play some games (it's like a Chuck E. Cheese but bigger and nicer).

Thursday morning we woke up bright and early to pick Kuma up from the petsitter and then headed out to the river. But wait. Before you think, oh no. Not other post about another river trip. This one was different. Instead of heading to Big River south of Parker where we usually launch, we went toward Needles south of Laughlin where Joe's parents and his dad's cousin, wife and friends had been all week and met up with them. We drove the boat down into Topock Gorge to a place called Devil's Elbow at the north end of Havasu.

The rock formations and cliffs that form this stretch of the river make for gorgeous scenery and bring back fond memories of my first river trips with my best friend Lisa growing up. We found a lovely stretch of beach to day camp that provided the open water on one side and a sort of pond on the other side. The kids had a blast as the water off from the main strip was warmer and they spend a good deal of time trying to catch little fish with nothing but a sand sifter and a bucket. Kuma kept busy running up and down the beach trying to catch birds. Neither the kids nor the puppy were successful but it didn't take away from the fun of the day.

It was nice to have a chance to go to this part of the river. However, we were reminded of why we usually stay away from busier and bigger parts of the river like this - because the bigger boats create some pretty big waves that our little boat then has to get over. Jake particularly didn't seem to care for this aspect and I have to say it is not my favorite either. Luckily, with it being a random Thursday it only occurred a handful of times and it was worth getting to spend the time with family at such a beautiful strip of the river.