Another Route 66 Adventure–Oatman, Arizona

The “EZ66 Guide” describes the drive from Kingman to the ghost town of Oatman on Historic Route 66 (Oatman Highway) as “HIGHLY recommended, but VERY steep/crooked (and a bit rough in patches), with scary drops!”

I had made the drive to Oatman 23 years ago with my friend from work, while we were in Arizona on a test trip, and I remembered it as being an adventure.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you remember that trip, Marybeth?!

I knew the boys would enjoy it, so after work & school were done and we had some lunch, we headed out on Oatman highway.

The road starts out straight and flat as you drive towards the Black Mountains . . . this part of the drive could actually be called a little boring, but the mountains are beautiful.

We had just started the climb when we reached Cool Springs.

The original store dated back to 1926, then was used (and apparently destroyed) as part of a movie set, and has recently been rebuilt.

The vintage gas pumps are pretty cool, but I’m not too sure I’d want to use the rest room!

The gift shop had lots of Route 66 stuff – one of the biggest selections I’ve seen.  We stopped for a few minutes and talked to a couple who were heading the opposite way.  They told us about a herd of bighorn sheep about 5 miles up on the mountain, so we made sure to stop and look for them.

We started up the narrow road, around the numerous switchbacks,

and passed by “Ed’s Camp”.  Now, this is something I remembered from my previous drive to Oatman . . . it’s a lot more desolate-looking now, though!

Ed’s Camp in 1991

Ed’s Camp in 2014

There were 3 or 4 motorhomes around the back, though, so I guess somebody is living out there!

We reached the top of Sitgreaves Pass,

where we got out to enjoy the view and find the herd of bighorn sheep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the pull-off parking area, we walked down the trail until we caught a glimpse of the herd of bighorn sheep.

We quickly spotted them, and they spotted us, too!

 

On the other side of the pass, we stopped again to check out the road that we would be taking DOWN into Oatman . . .

 

there were several old cars on the mountainside under the road . . . and a small cemetery at the top of the hill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This parcel of land could be yours if you are interested!

The view is beautiful,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but the commute is a little treacherous!

We made our way through the hairpin turns and steep descent into the little ghost town of Oatman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oatman is an old gold-mining town (that isn’t really a town – it’s never been incorporated)

which has become a tourist destination largely due to the wild burros that wander the streets and shops.

We found this guy standing guard outside the door of one shop . . . he  (or she) was not interested in moving out of the doorway!

We walked through several shops . . . mostly T-shirts and jewelry,

checked out the old gold mine,         

 

 

and watched people feed the wild burros.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This poor little guy was walking around with a sticker on his forehead asking people not to feed him.

The town is bigger than I remember, with more little shops, but there are still several original shops and the historic Oatman Hotel.

By the time we walked through the shops on both sides of the street,

 

 

it was almost time for the gunfight, so we got ice cream cones and stayed to watch the show. 

 

There were several burros wandering through the crowd, begging for food or trying to get into people’s bags.

 

 

The show ended with a “bang”, and we made our way back to our car.

 

Driving down the road is almost as difficult as walking down the sidewalks . . . maybe worse, since the burros have the right of way!

 

The drive west out of Oatman is a LOT easier than the drive from Kingman, and seemed to take no time at all! 

We arrived in Bullhead City on the Colorado River, and it looked like an oasis in the desert!

 

 

Across the river is the gambling town of Laughlin, Nevada, and we took a drive along Casino Drive,

and stopped to admire the view of the river.

Bullhead City and Laughlin seem like a world away from the little ghost town of Oatman!!

We didn’t see anywhere we wanted to try for dinner, so we headed east on the Davis Dam Road back to the RV Park.  Nicolas was thrilled to be driving on a stretch of highway that Ford uses to test our vehicles!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was an enjoyable afternoon, and a great day for a drive!

Moving Day to Kingman, Arizona

High winds and possible rain were predicted to move in this afternoon, so we got an early start to beat the weather.  We were on the road by 8:15 am, and had a beautiful drive to Kingman – no wind, no rain, and no traffic! 

I was surprised at how scenic the drive was, and was glad Bryce was driving so I could take pictures along the way!  We even passed through a Joshua Tree Forest,

so Tom didn’t have to feel bad about missing Joshua Tree National Park this time around.  There was a 30-mile section of Highway 93 that the mountain book described as a “roller coaster ride”, but it wasn’t bad at all.  There were a few steep areas (6%), but the upgrades were balanced by downgrades, and the overall effect was easy and enjoyable.

 

After a quick pit-stop in Wikieup, we passed through “the middle of nowhere” and continued on to Kingman.

We were out of the mountains then, and starting to see low, dark clouds up ahead.

We breezed through Kingman, and made our way west a few more miles to Golden Valley.

Bryce informed me that there is a “Bryce Road” in Golden Valley, and we saw it!         

There were several RV Parks to choose from in the Kingman area, and we went with a Passport America park for our 2-night stay – Tradewinds RV Park.

The folks in the office were really nice, and the park is clean and well-kept.

Our site is a pull-thru right behind the recreation building, and we quickly got set up.

We were all starving, so we made a quick lunch and got busy with work and school.  Later, Tom and I took Casey for a walk to check out the rest of the park.  There are vintage tractors and implements randomly placed between rows of campsites – pretty cool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And even an old bathtub!        

 

 

 

Casey doesn’t mind the old tractors, but she sure doesn’t like the buffalo statue!!

 

We had a few sprinkles in the afternoon, and the low clouds made for a spectacular sunset . . .

Tomorrow we have some work and school to do in the morning, then we have one more Route 66 adventure planned for the afternoon . . . check back to see where we go!

Our last week at Lake Pleasant

 

The temperatures in the valley are continuing to rise, and the hibernating critters are starting to make themselves known (haven’t seen any rattlesnakes yet, but I did see a Gila Monster on the road today!) . . . so it’s time for us to move on!

 

Our hosting commitment ended on March 31st, and although we considered staying a little longer to take care of some business, we ultimately decided to move up to Nevada for a few weeks to take advantage of more economical flights from Las Vegas to Michigan.

Since we’ve been here for the last 4-1/2 months (really – 4 and a half!?!), Nicolas had a whole list of “checks” to complete on the rig before we moved, plus he wanted to wash the car, the truck, and the dog!  He’s been working on his “to do” list for the last couple of weeks, and finished everything up this weekend.  I’m not sure what we’re going to do when he isn’t with us . . .

Yesterday and today we did a bunch of laundry, stocked up on groceries, and packed up the garage.  We have one less thing to pack up, though . . . last week, Tom sold his motorcycle!

He found that he wasn’t riding it as much as he thought he would, so he decided to go ahead and unload it now, rather than waiting until we got back to Michigan in the fall (NOT the ideal time to sell a motorcycle in Michigan!).  So now we have lots of room in the garage, and that will make shorter stops (when we don’t fully unpack the garage) easier for Nicolas to use his room.

But it wasn’t all work and no play this past week . . . a couple of the maintenance guys had some buoys to move around on the lake, so we tagged along with them. 

 

We drove to the north end of the park, where we met them at the boathouse. 

Along the way, we saw this guy on the side of the road.

 

As Kyle and Jeremy moved buoys around to mark low water areas, Kyle also pointed out interesting features around the lake.

He’s been working at the lake for over 10 years, and he’s hiked almost every mile of the shoreline so he’s really familiar with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw several birds around the lake,

including great blue herons on Blue Heron Island.

 

 

The Agua Fria inlet to the lake has been closed all winter for bald eagle nesting, but was getting ready to be opened up again this week.  Since we were on official business, we were allowed to enter the closed area.  We didn’t have enough time to go all the way to the current nest, but Kyle was able to show us the “old” nest.

Kyle wasn’t sure why this one was abandoned, but it hasn’t been used for several years.  There are two pairs of eagles that call Lake Pleasant home, but only one couple is mature enough to have eggs.  Unfortunately, this year’s nesting was unsuccessful and there are no new baby eagles on Lake Pleasant.  Kyle told us that if the eggs had hatched, we would have been able to participate in banding the new eagles, and maybe even hold one of them . . . that would have been really cool!

Besides our boat ride, we also went back to Cave Creek this weekend.  The town was having their Fiesta Days Rodeo, so we went to check it out.  There wasn’t too much going on in town – just a few arts and crafts tents, and a motorcycle rally (Tom was having withdrawals!!).

We did wander through an interesting shop,

and saw some fun stuff.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was some nice patio furniture,

 

and then some that would be more of a conversation piece! 

Then there was Pluto . . .

and some cool metal flowers hanging on the walls.

 

Cave Creek is an interesting, artsy kind of town, with lots of choices for dinner.  We ended up at the original El Encanto Mexican Cantina, since we haven’t had mexican at all since we’ve been here . . . it was very good.  They have several other locations around Phoenix, and we’ve heard that they are all good.

 

 

 

 

 

We took a drive by the rodeo grounds,

but there wasn’t anything going on there in the afternoon.  We decided not to stick around for the rodeo, but instead got shakes at Big Earl’s and went back to the campground for the evening.

Tomorrow we’ll be moving on, as will another host, Peter, who is moving down the road to the shooting range for the summer . . . . so tonight the 2 remaining hosts planned a pizza dinner as a farewell party for all of us.    

 

 

It was a great way to end the season with our new friends, and hopefully we’ll cross paths with them again sometime, somewhere!