Oatman, AZ

A few weeks before I headed to Vegas I told a friend that I was driving from Vegas to Phoenix. He told me to stop in Oatman, AZ. He gave me a brief overview - old gold mining town, wild burros roaming the streets (presumably left behind when the miners left), old hotel where you can eat and where there are thousands of dollar bills taped to every surface, etc.

I looked online and learned a little more about Oatman, including the fact the gold mines had re-opened because of the current high price of gold.  It certainly seemed like a good diversion for a long drive.

Lacking a GPS, I went the old-school route and printed MapQuest directions from Las Vegas to Oatman via Laughlin, NV because I wanted to avoid the Hoover Dam security lines (apparently started after 9/11) and construction.

The directions included:

• Merge onto US-93 S/US-95
• Merge onto US-95 S toward Searchlight/Laughlin/Needles
• Turn left onto NV-163-E (crossing into Arizona)
• NV-163 E becomes Hwy 163
• Hwy 163 becomes Bullhead Pkwy
• Turn left onto Silver Creek Rd/ CR-155 (Portions unpaved)

Notice how the last direction indicates portions unpaved? Portions seemingly indicates "part," right? How about the whole 10.7 miles to Oatman?!?! I guess I should have been suspect when I saw this sign.  Notice it's riddled with buckshot.  Nice.

Or maybe the "Flash Flood" warning signs should have been a clue to stop?  (At that sign, I looked up at the sky and concluded a flash flood was unlikely on a sunny, cloud-free day.) 

I also did some quick mental calculations...

OK, it's only around 70 degrees - not that hot.  And I have water.  Worse case scenario, even if I break down in the middle, I only have to walk out about 5.5 miles, and there's plenty of daylight left.  But what about any crazies I encounter?  I could go missing without a trace. 

Against my better judgement, I drove the whole way to Oatman...at about 20 miles an hour.  This is what the view was like from the wheel when the road was good (i.e. not too sandy).

And then I saw the Thumper Memorial.  The Thumper I know is a rabbit from Disney.  Assuming maybe this Thumper was a horse?

Needless to say, I was more than relieved when I rolled into Oatman just a little dusty but otherwise intact.

It didn't take long to see the burros.

A window seat at the fine Oatman Hotel for a late lunch was the opportunity to either count dollar bills or watch the burros.

Oatman was definitely worth the drive and visit.  But it was around 4pm and still a 3.5 hour drive to Phoenix through the desert so time to head out of Oatman on the historic Rt 66.