Walt Johnson wanted to build something other than buildings for clients.  My uncle, Ken Glandon lived in El Monte California, and told Dad about a place on Lake Havasu, called Havasu Palms.  One of the owners lived in El Monte, and they were considering selling.
            We made a number of ski trips to Lake Havasu from 1965 to 1967.   Once we stayed across from the Nautical Inn, where the London Bridge Channel now replaces the beach on which we camped.  We stayed at the motels at Black Meadow Landing, and another time at a rented trailer on the peninsula, now the island.
            It was several years after the first trip to Havasu Palms, before we embarked on our new adventure. We moved from Covina to Havasu Palms during Christmas break, bringing in the new year of 1968 in our new home.
            Our new home in Havasu Palms was much different from our large customhouse in Covina.  We were moving into a 10 wide trailer, not a mobile home. It had two bedrooms and one bath. You had to walk through the first bedroom to get to the bathroom and second bedroom.  Eventually my parents put their king-size bed in the only room in the trailer that it fit, the trailer’s living room. It filled the space.
            We would lounge on their bed, and visit with whomever was cooking in the kitchen. Before the first Christmas, Dad added a new living room onto the trailer. By this time, my sister had left Havasu Palms, returning to Covina to attend college. Dad threw the room up, wanting to have it finished before Lynn returned for Christmas break.
            In those days, there were no phone lines, and of course, cell phones were not yet a reality.  My father did get a mobile phone, initially installed in his truck.  It was a party line phone with other mobiles in Parker. 
            We had no TV, but we had air conditioning.  Not like the quiet central air conditioning we have today; they were noisy wall units.  Yet, they kept us cool.
            At that time, there were about 20 trailer sites; some were occupied, not all.  No one lived at Havasu Palms full time. There was also a campground, with public restrooms.  The store built in Bob Orchard’s day still stood, with additions. It was a bit of a patchwork construction, pieced together with recycled material. It had a tin roof, and an uneven red rock porch, surrounded by tamarisk trees.
          The building had three rooms.  First was the icehouse. Second was the bait room, with the water dog and minnow tanks. Third was the store, cooled by an old rusty water cooler.
(next)

Photo: Original Havasu Palms Store, circa 1968