Oatman, An Unbelievable Place

Tuesday, Nov. 29 and Wednesday, Nov. 30, the days continue to be a treat here in the southwest. Every day is different and yet nothing changes, try and figure that one out!! We must be retired!

The weather is pretty good here at Bullhead City, not hot but not cold either. The overnight temperatures pretty much range around 45 – 50 F (8 – 10C) and daytime rises to around 60 – 63 F (15 – 17C). We do get windy days, sometimes as windy as 35 – 40 mph but usually around 12 mph is the norm. Other days, there is no wind at all and those are my favourite. When the desert sun is prominent in the blue sky I can take my book and my chair and nestle in behind the Suite whether it is windy or not.

Tuesday, we decided, upon many recommendations, to take the drive to Oatman,

25 miles southeast. Bill's post details the history of the town quite nicely so I won’t go into it but did want to mention that Olive Oatman, who the town was named after, not only was taken by Apaches and traded to the Mohave but she was famous because she was graced with a tattoo on her chin.

Olive Oatman at 14

Olive in later years

This was, according to legend, not a punishment but instead a symbol recognizing her to be of the Mohave tribe. There have been a couple of books written about Olive, some details vary but I’m sure an interesting read. I will definitely try and get my hands on her biography at least, The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman.

Not only was the town interesting but the drive to it made me smile. Along the highway there were many little bushes decorated for Christmas, some even with wrapped gifts underneath! A great way to advertise and just unbelievable that this could even be done.

Feliz Navidad

The first thing you notice when arriving in Oatman, aside from the authentic pioneer town, are the wild burros that roam the streets at their leisure. We have been looking for burros as we’ve travelled this way and no matter the signs all over that read “Watch for burros” and the claims of “400 burros live in this park”, we’ve yet to see any number. Well, our wish to see them was certainly satisfied here.

These younger burros are so soft

It was a cool day in Oatman, 55F with a wind and obviously, I wasn’t dressed for it. I should know better by now because we were climbing in elevation from 552’ to 3000 in the mountains. 

Luckily there were other restrooms, this fella never left his spot

Derrick, this one is for you!

We perused the shops, petted the burros, chit chatted with some of the vendors and I found a straw western hat and jacket to my liking. We couldn’t get over the low price of their clothing so found a couple of t-shirts as well to update Bill’s wardrobe. It was a terrific day!

Bill also recounts the drive between Oatman and Cool Springs where we turned around to head back the way we’d come. With such a large truck and so many switchback and hairpin curves around the steep inclines, I found my heart in my throat a few times. I said to Bill “we don’t have to come back this way, do we?” as I knew that our return trip would put me on the outside edge of the narrow highway. He was quite enjoying this drive and of course we would return the same way.

One of the many sharp curves with no railing in sight

I surprised myself, when on the return trip I rolled my window down and often had my head out taking pictures down the slopes. I loved it! A motorcycle would make this an even better ride!

This would be fun!

On the drive back through Bullhead City, we stopped to pick up very few groceries to tide us over until the weekend.  We headed back to our home and our pooch in time to make up a batch of Christmas cookies and to host Happy Hour at 3:30.

Our turn around at Cool Springs

Unfortunately, not all vehicles make it around the curves

Our new friends, Oscar, Judy, Roland and Lori were heading out in the morning, Wednesday, on their way to Holtville, Ca. I was up at 7 and over to the clubhouse for another round of 2- mile walking exercise with the gals making it back just in time to say goodbye. We would miss them but have plans to meet them there in a couple of weeks. Lori rode her Victory between the two fifth wheels and Shatzi rode shotgun with Roland.

Oscar and Judy pull out

Roland and Lori with their Inferno toy hauler and one bike in
the garage

Lori rides while Roland's bike gets a lift

Still sorting out troubles with our satellite changing channels in mid-program, we watched some tv and I was in bed by 9:30. They were another couple of good/great days and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Hoping your day was on the plus side as well, thank you for reading along with me. 

All comments are welcome.