We’ll life is very predictable or really not predictable at all, but here in this wonderful bed and breakfast on wheels that I am having the privilege of traveling across this wonderful country in, I sent you a blog saying nothing was going to happen to blog home about on Monday because it was gank and cloudy outside. Surprise surprise…The beautiful sun decided to shine so I would have to gladly retract my words about it being a do nothing day.
While eating lunch I was told to be ready to leave at 2 pm. Trust me I was ready for what I had no idea but ready none the less.
We walked down to the river walkway and the boat was awaiting us ( and about 60 more people ) to take a river ride up river.
We sat in the back of the boat… I know its not called the back.. up on the upper level so we could see the site, feel the breeze and enjoy the sunshine.
We have crossed a few rivers coming to this point in our trip, like the Mississippi and the Missouri and I think at one point the Rio Grande. Those rivers had water in them to comment about and they were muddy rivers. Lots of rivers and streams we crossed over had no water in them at all.
The Colorado is crystal clear, you can virtually count the rocks on the bottom.
We went up river to the David Damn. It is an impressive site from this distance to it. I learned that it releases water by what is called a unit. A unit of water is close to 5000CFS (cubic feet per second). I know about CFS because of the river that makes Hyytinen Hollow a success. When the Deerfield River is released to 5000CFS my campground land will flood. The daily good flow for the
Deerfield River is about 850CFS.
Another shot of the dam.
While the guide was giving us his tourist information he mentioned something else that I want to gloat about. Now people remember when I took the trip to Seligman and sent you the pictures of Tow Mator and of the cop car… well…. I hit that nail on the head…. Seligman was the basis for that movie Cars. I am patting myself on the back here. I wish I had looked around for more of the cars.
The scenery is beautiful as we head away from the dam and back toward Laughlin.
The riverview of the casinos.
We also passed this impressive looking truck in the parking lot patiently awaiting our return.
Not only had the sun shined all day after all we had a wonderful sunset right outside our window.
I’m not sure when I will get this published but I am glad you are all patient while waiting for it.
Yesterday, Sunday was really a do nothing day I sewed on my quilt it is coming along nicely.
This morning we woke up to clouds, I don’t think we have any plans but to relax some. Tomorrow I will have some new pictures to blog for you we are going to do the water front walk. I am looking forward to that.
Wednesday we are heading out to our new destination and new adventures. Catch you all then.
I’m putting two days blogs together here for very good reasons. First we don’t have internet so I have to go to the outlet mall and use a hot spot. And most of you know how much I do not do malls. Outlet or otherwise. So the fewer times I have to go there for me the better.
Second reason is Friday was a rainy laid back day where we didn’t do much of anything. We did a little town touring but not much else. Other than we went to Walmart and I bought a reading light for our trek into Death Valley because we have to be completely self-contained and no generators after 7 pm and I will be dark as dark gets there.
My hosts Ms Shirley and Mikey.
fun playing with my new head light;( back in Charlemont we call them ”Pumpkin stealing lights”) last night. I tried also to play with my camera with no flash. When you see the pictures you may also wonder if maybe the wine started to flow a little earlier than normal.
My blog has been very sterile in reality as to how much fun I am really having in this RV and with these two great people I have the pleasure of traveling with. We laugh a lot. But like in Vegas, this RV is no different, what goes on here stays here. Well at least until I get home.
Day 26: Oatman, Arizona
So after a very slow but fun day yesterday we headed out today to play tourist. We had breakfast over in Bullhead, Arizona which is right across the Colorado River from Laughlin, Nevada,
For a tid bit of knowledge for all you trivia pursuit people, when we do the time change on Nov 7, fall back, there will be one hour difference in time from one side of the river to the other. How many missed dates would that cause … your time or my time….
I am still at awe about the view from everywhere you stand or sit around here mountains just outlining this magnificent river valley. And yes I did enquire like I promised and this mountain range is called the Eldorado Mountains.
This is the view from the restaurant window where we sat.
We headed south after breakfast to a small place called Oatman, I had not a clue what to expect when I got there and the long and windy road was no hint.
Well Oatman was once a prosperous mining town in the 1850’s but
I’m thinking that even prosperous didn’t mean rich. But to the burrows, it was and still is home.
We entered this town of Oatman I my first thought was OMG where are we and why are we here.
Get a gander at the shanties lining the beautiful mountainsides.
Now another tidbit of history and to see if my readers are paying attention. Well remember that Williams, Arizona was the last town to be bypassed by with I-40. Well Oatman was the very first town to be bypassed and with good reason. The trip up here was narrow roads and hills, dips and curves.
When we finally arrived and my thought was, oh no not another Route 66 tourist trap. Can I deal with one more junk store filled with Route 66, in reality, yes I can! I do enjoy the nostalgia of it all and realize that these towns are trying desperately to survive.
To my very pleasant surprise I loved Oatman, It’s an old mining town trying to survive through the generous hearts of tourism, but I has kept itself so original and so unique I loved it.
The Oatman Motel was where Clark Gable and Carol Lombard spent their honey moon. I’m thinking the place hasn’t changed a bit since then.
The stores here were not the usual Route 66 paraphernalia, there were some very beautiful items found here. Amazing stone artwork and jewelry just about something for everyone. I even bought a bracelet that is ‘SO not me” but I love it.
It also had one thing most towns don’t have. Wild Jackasses! They just roam the streets. Of course people feed them so they keep coming back but they have called this area home for hundreds of years and won’t be turned away by tourism.
A lot like Williams there also is a daily gunfight here in Oatman. I can only get a couple good pictures because of the all the tourists…. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. People have no considerations for others trying to play tourist…
I had my picture with this cowboy because his name was Reno, same as my brothers.
Of course those that know my brother Reno, know he smiles a whole lot more then this cowboy.
One last picture of the beautiful scenery in this lost hidden treasure of a ghost of a gold mining town.
I had a glorious day here in Oatman, Arizona and it will be one of my many highlights of this trip. Hope you all enjoyed my trip with me. I’m not sure what is next on my venture westward but whatever it is I promise to share with you.
Thank you all for reading my blog and being patient with the delays in posting it lately. I hope you are still enjoying it. I am still very much enjoying my trip.
Okay this is a new added photo for duel purposes. My brother says it’s what he sees every night here on this trip. What he doesn’t know is I have the power; this is my blog, payback may be tough. And it shows my new headlight and my new bracelet.
So I have decided my new song for good bye will be…
I see the lights, I see the party lights. All red and blue and green…
I’ll sign this now with a new name I have picked up along this venture.
Today we started our day with breakfast at the Riverside Casino Buffet. We are parked in the Riverside RV park with is large enough to accommodate 743 RV’s at one time. Too bad they don’t have internet to accommodate some of us with the internet addiction.
For a little bit of history here the first casino built here in Laughlin was built by a man named Don Laughlin in 1964. He had a vision and his vision has paid off.
We watched the free boat shuttle from across the river in Bullhead City to the Riverside casino for a few minutes as I took pictures of the waterfront across the Colorado River.
I’ll put in a few other casino pictures from the river front to give you an idea of what we are seeing daily here.
I am still in awe over the mountains in the background and the way the clouds seem to just be atop them along the outer edges of this huge blue sky. This makes for a beautiful day all day long, no shade created by clouds.
We did a little touring of the surrounding area to get me a feel of where I am and where we will stay when we come out of Death Valley.
Yes I did go to a Casino and put a few dollars into a slot machine or 5. I’m not bragging here so that’s a good sign that the machines were not paying off for me. But it got the bug to waste my money out of my system at least for a while.
We had a very relaxing afternoon sitting outside enjoying the balmy 79’ weather. I did some sewing on my quilt and just enjoyed the peace and quiet and the very unique scenery.
Once night fell we had a different view out of our windows.
That is my blog for the day, I’m thinking that tomorrow we have an adventure to go on. Weather permitting. I am charging my camera just in case.
Thank you all for reading my blog I hope you are still enjoying it. I am still very much enjoying my trip.
So I have decided my new song for good bye will be…
I see the lights, I see the party lights. All red and blue and green…
Ill sign this now with a new name I have picked up along this venture.
Hoot Toot and Whistle. I’ll let you all try to figure out why I have that new name.
