Vintage Vacations...Oatman, AZ on Route 66!

Vintage Vacation...Oatman, Arizona!

Arizona's desert landscape...

My dad and his wife Geri love to spend the winters in Bullhead Arizona...along with everyone from "Beautiful British Columbia" and other cold states and provinces.  He knows of my love of mining towns and told me about Oatman, located in the hills outside Bullhead.  He never mentioned that it was at the end of a 14 mile dirt road...but that's another story.  He also never mentioned that we could also access this town on Route 66 out of Kingman...so we drove from Vegas to Laughlin and across the river to Bullhead.  Actually, it was more fun to take the scenic route...bumping along through the desert.

Roadside Memorial..."Thumper!"

Arizona seems to have more of these than any other state I've visited.

Shopping for Souvenirs...lol!

On our drives, George likes to collect large rocks for his flower beds.  He also purchased a large rusty water pump...from the "Mantiques" department of a local Oatman shop.

The first sign of "Danger!"

Rush Hour...

When we finally reached the junction with Route 66...mercifully paved...we got caught in noon rush hour traffic.  The town is full of burros...descendants of the miners' animals.  When the mines closed the animals were left to their own devices. The local burros are "wild"...but you wouldn't know it.  They all have names and are petted and fed by locals and tourists.  The town wouldn't exist without them.  Every store sells Burro Chow...some kind of hay cookies.  Several smaller burros had stickers on their foreheads...saying something like "I am a baby...do not feed me."

Welcoming Committee!

What happens if you open your window to take a picture...lol!



Oatman is proud of its connection to the "Mother Road."

Sign at the entrance to town tells of its mining history and the burros' place in that history.

They are protected by Federal law as "Living Symbols of the Old West."

My new friend took a bite out of my little brown bag containing vintage cookie cutters.

I didn't know that Burro Chow was sold in identical little brown bags

Random Oatman Architecture...

Inside the Oatman Hotel

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard slept here on their honeymoon.

They were married in Kingman.

The Oatman Hotel Restaurant...

The walls  and ceilings are completely covered with thousands of signed $1 bills!

Lunch! 

Yummiest patty melt and their special "Burros Ears" giant potato chips.

Seriously...some were about a foot long!

A little after-lunch exploration.

The sign says it all...he's mine!

George is losing a lot of weight...but still wears his "fat pants"...lol!

Random rusty artifacts.

On our way back to Vegas via 66 to Kingman.

One more cool sighting on the Mother Road.

In some ways, Oatman reminded me of Radiator Springs in the movie "Cars"...before the characters took renewed pride in their little town. 

Thank you for joining me

on this Vintage Vacation

PS...here are some vintage Route 66 graphics...enjoy!