Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Kingman to Needles CA





We have completed the journey through Arizona. Our final day traveling in Arizona was nature filled again this time but the beauty of the plants in bloom and the rugged mountain ranges. Oatman is ghost town nestled at the top of the ranges.
It's major claim to fame other than being on Route 66 is the Oatman Hotel built in 1902, it is the oldest two-story adobe structure in Mojave County and has housed many miners, movie stars, politicians and other scoundrels. The town was used as the location for several movies such as How The West Was Won, Foxfire and Edge of Eternity. Clark Gable and Carol Lombard honeymooned at the Oatman Hotel March 18, 1939. Their honeymoon suite is still one of the major attractions at the Oatman Hotel. Gable returned there often to play poker with the local miners and enjoy the solitude of the desert.
The other attraction are the
"Wild" Burro's which are the descendants of burro's brought there by the miners late 1800 hundred – when the miners no longer needed they were turned loose. Each morning they come into town looking for food. They wander the streets and greet the tourists. Burro pellets and carrots are for sale at many of the shops -the burros will eat all day if you feed them.
I was talking to one of the store operators and she was telling me things that people had asked or said to her. The conversation started between us while I was looking at an apron with oven mitts.
She said that a man came in the other day wanting to know how much the slippers, she said we don't have any slippers, he said yes you do they are in the pocket of the apron in the window. I guess he didn't know an over mitt when he saw it. Then she told me of a woman who had asked in the burros would be coming in to town on Easter Sunday! The question asker was probably more puzzled when the store keeper answered by telling her the burros would probably go to church first and then if they made it past the buffet they'd be in town.
My friend the store keeper was quite cross telling me about a women who tried to feed one of the baby burros a candy from her purse when challenged the candy giver replied "It only says not to feed them carrots!" The baby burros have "no carrots" stickers on their foreheads as the carrots will choke them.
We eventually made the last few miles of Arizona in to California where palms trees replaced the cacti it would seem. But the drive in the Mohave desert may change my view!

1 comment:

Tamarra said...

amazing.. thanks for sharing so much of your journey

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