Lake Havasu

After two lovely days spent in the town of Alpine, AZ (pop 272) with our friend Brian Shear, we rolled into Lake Havasu City last night and set up camp at the state park.  By the time that we got here, it was dark and fairly pleasant out.  We slept quite well in this small, deserty campground in our backpacking tent and sleeping bag.  It cooled down enough to get through until about 6:00 am: from there, things started to heat up. 
We rented a two-person sit-inside kayak for the day to explore the 15 mile X 2 mile lake's coves and sandy spots between the scrubby bushes and outcrops of rocks. The vistas were fabulous, looking up at mountains from the rocky shoreline.  There is something about the mountains that captivate and intrigue both of us.  We relaxed and stared with awe as the southwest sun tried to scorch our pasty Michigan skin.  We prevailed with spf 70 and shirts specifically made to block the sun, to kayak a few miles. 
Around 3:00, we realized that we needed shade to survive this day and go canoeing through a nearby canyon tomorrow without severe burns.  We paddled back to our car and proceeded to the nearest Safeway to get supplies for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. We loved the blasting air in the grocery store.  When we got back to our site, however, it was absolutely blazing. The high today was (according to locals in town) a nice 95.  Well, with zero trees, sand and a blowdryer-like wind, we were miserable: our little site was a swelter station. All we could do was go for a nice swim to cool down and then get into our tiny tent and pass out from heat and lack of anything better to do to wait out our dual with the sun.  We were a sweaty, stinky mess, to say the least; and the 'sleeping' was not good.
But sure as the tide on Lake Michigan, the sun went down and we were able to emerge from our den to take a walk through an extraordinary cactus garden inside the state park.
Another notable point from today is that we avoided a dastardly run-in with the Walmart monster and got our new cooler at a Kmart (a Michigan company).
On another note, the smart phone is truly revolutionizing our road trip: an experience that we are both new to. We are able to research and locate and call and snap pics, and of course the gps. The smart phone makes YOU smart. Our other favorite app is the BioBuddy (finds biodiesel to run our VW on - cleaner).
Tomorrow, we will do the canyon canoe (14 miles) and then on Friday, we are on to San Bernadino county to James and Amanda's (our final destination before the trail).