The weather in California was warm in the daytime but very cold at night. We wanted some heat! We left Pismo and headed to Arizona. Most of our days when we would move from one place to the other, we would drive up to a maximum of 4 hours. Those of you who know Ray Riggins, know that he usually likes to drive for 8 to 10 hours on these long trips. But not this trip! Staying that,,,leaving Pismo we had a very long day, driving for 7 hours and arrived in Bullhead City Arizona. It was dark when we pulled in and the air was hot and dry. We were thrilled to be in the heat and sat outside for a couple of hours. There were a lot of other campers but none were outside. We later found out that the retirement community wake up early, eat dinner early and go to bed earlier then we expect to at home. Because we had arrived after the regular office hours, the instructions were to pick an empty spot for the night and come to the office in the morning to pay. By the time the office opened in the morning, the guys had selected a better camp site that would sit us on the edge of the bank overlooking the town of Bullhead and over to Laughlin Nevada (which was beautiful at night with the lights of the casinos). In early October we had gone to the Snowbird RV show in Abbotsford and met with the owner of this particular campground. He gave us a coupon to spend up to two weeks for $98 a week,,,,,which was a great deal. We booked in for one week.
 |
| Laughlin in the background |
On our 2nd night we had a huge wind storm with lots of lightening. It was quite pretty to watch, but the wind really got very tiring. We only had the one night of stormy weather and the following week was great.
The young lady in the office had suggested that we visit the small town of Oatman. She directed us to take the back route in, which took us right off the highway and into the Mohave desert. She also told us to take a bag of carrots for the "wild" donkeys roaming the main street of Oatman.
Oatman is a small town in the Black Mountains of the Mohave desert. After the opening of the Tom Reed gold mine and another rich ore mine found in one of the United Eastern Mining Company's mines in 1915, the population grew to 3800 within one year. Today it has a population of approximately 130 people. The small town boomed from 1915-1917 and for about 10 years the mines were among the largest gold producers in the American West. In 1921 a fire burned down most of Oatman sparing the Oatman Hotel which is still standing today and remains the oldest two story adobe structure in the Mohave County. Apparently Clark Gable and Carole Lombard stayed in the Oatman Hotel on their honeymoon in 1939. Their suite is one of the major attractions for the Hotel.
 |
| I am really not sure what kind of animal this had been |
 |
| One of the locals |
Today there are daily gunfights on the main street (almost the only street!) between a bank robber and a sheriff to entertain you. But for us, the most entertaining really are the donkeys roaming the main street. They love to be fed carrots, but you have to be careful that the donkeys don't fight in front of you as they try to take ownership of a big orange carrot! You also must take care not to fee the baby donkeys, who have little stickers on their foreheads that say "Do not feed me"
 |
| Ray feeding the donkeys |
 |
| You all come back now!! Hee Hawww |
Another day we took a river cruise down the Columbia River from Laughlin to Lake Havasu on October 26th. The ride was about an hour and a half down and back. We spent two hours in Havasu wandering around and having lunch. Saw the London Bridge too, which is the main attraction.
The London Bridge was built by John Rennie in the 1830’s and originally spanned the River Thames in London England. It was deemed unsafe to support the increased load of traffic and in 1962 it was subsequently sold by the City of London to Robert P McCulloch who had it dismantled and shipped to the Lake Havasu City. The reconstruction of the bridge was completed in 1971 and has been a tourist attraction since.
 |
| London Bridge |
 |
| Vonz on the Boat tour to London Bridge |
On October 27th, we drove over to Las Vegas. We had booked a helicopter ride with Maverick Helicopters, to take a flight over the Grand Canyon. The ride was absolutely amazing. The pilot took us over Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, where the new bridge can be seen high above the dam. My favourite part of the flight was when we came over the crest of the Grand Canyon. In 2004 we had been at the Grand Canyon and I was overwhelmed when we walked up to the edge. I felt insignificant.... A “speck” in the sceme of things. As far as you could see, there was that red canyon. And this time as we flew over the canyon, just below the surface of the canyon walls that same feeling briefly came over me. We flew past the “sky walk”, but not close enough to see any of the people on it. The flight was excellent, but I still think that to get the real feeling of the canyon, you really need to stand on the edge of it.
 |
| Waiting patiently |
We had wanted heat and that is what we got. It was hot and very dry. It was almost unbearable for me. I just do not do well in the heat. Thank goodness there was a pool!!! Vonnie was thankful for that and so was I once I went and bought a bathing suit. Russ was in his glory with the heat. He kept trying to convince Vonz that they should stay there for 4 months or so. He did say she could fly home and then fly back whenever she wanted to. Vonnie and I shopped a bit at the little outlet mall in Laughlin. We even went to a casino one night, where Ray and I promptly “donated” our money to the cause!!
At then end of our week, Russ said that they had decided to spend another week. Ray and I had had our fill and were heading to Palm Desert. We left them behind with the plan to hook up again in Malibu in a weeks time.
Ray and I went off to Palm Desert for two nights. We stayed at Emerald Desert RV Park which after the brown dry desert in Bullhead, was amazingly green and fresh! The sites were large and clean. There were two pools and lots of shopping close by. Our first night there, we went and met up with a former high school friend of mine, Jill Weiss (Brand). We had appies and drinks at their beautiful home, and then it was back to the campground. The next day we shopped at Palm Desert’s version of Rodeo Drive and had a glass of wine at the local Starbucks! I would go back to this campground in a heartbeat. It was time to move on to Malibu!!
Sunset on one of our final nights in Oatman.
No comments:
Post a Comment