Can you believe that over four weeks have gone by on our journey? Since I wait until the following week to make my post, I’m much further into the trip than you my readers are.
This was such a fun day it's getting it's own page vs sharing it with the week.
Leaving Needles CA, we decided to backtrack the 20 miles into Arizona for the less expensive diesel fuel, even though we only were down 1/3 a tank or 20 miles (C replaced the regular sized 32 gallon tank with a mammoth 60 gallon over the winter). Looking through maps, reading others blogs and trying to fit in destinations we wanted to see, I decided that while we were back on the east side of the Colorado River that we’d travel the longest section of Route 66 before crossing back in to California.
What a trip we had. Our destination was the ghost town of Oatman, AZ. The drive was a blast with hills and curves and dips and corners every few feet. And the landscape that went along with it was fun also. Just before we reached Oatman we saw a sign advising of burros in the road.
Around the next corner, there it was. Standing to the side of the road.
Over the next hill there were 2 more.
Up the rise and 6 or 8 standing in the road, not moving an inch. I had to nudge one with the truck to get enough room to pass by. When prospectors first came to the area, they used burros but modernized equipment made it's way in and the prospectors didn't need the pack animals, releasing them to the wild.
Up in Oatman was fun, lots of old store fronts, some of which were open. There were even 2 restaurant options and we chose to have lunch in an old hotel. There was an guitarist entertaining the diners with story and song. His singing was so so but the stories of the town were fun.
One tale involved all the money stapled to the walls. In his story, the money on the walls started with miners and their pay. The miners were paid with paper and found that the dampness and soot of the mines did not ply well with their money. So on pay day, they’d leave money on the wall to cover their bar tab. When the bartended felt they had used up their allowance, he’d take the money down and the miner would put up some more funds. Over the years, as tourists started to come through town (this is the hotel Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their wedding nght), they saw the money on the walls and added their own bills, including their name and date of visit. It’s unknown how much money is on the wall and what will be done with it, but for now it’s an interesting sight and tale.
After our visit to Oatman we headed back towards CA so we could see the Mojave Desert the next day. I kept searching the internet for a campground closer to the Mojave than 25 miles away and stumbled across some information about a Whistlestop Town of Nipton CA which had a hotel, eco cabins and campground. Phoning ahead they said they had space and we headed over. In it’s heyday, Nipton was a nice oasis town. Today the only trains that pass through are freight trains and they don’t stop. Nipton has converted to solar power and they produce 80% of their own electricity with a solar farm. When you arrive in “town” you stop at the Trading Post to check in. Next door is a restaurant that’s been closed for several years, then the 5 room hotel/conference center. Behind them are the campground and eco-cabins. The cabins are wooden framed buildings with tent canvas upper walls and roofs. They have one or two double beds, a table and chairs and a gas heater. As part of the eco side of the business, the bath house was a Quonset hut with 2 toilets, 2 sinks, 2 showers and a sauna (which didn’t look like it had been used in a long time based on the cobwebs present). This was an all inclusive bathroom - no his and her sides, just individual stalls with doors. The floor of the bath house was dirt with a few raised walkways throughout, but none close enough to allow you to walk above the dirt from the shower to the exit door. Our RV site was adequate, a full hookup (w/s/e) in the shade of trees. The only downside to the place was the proximity of the train tracks, no more than 200 yards away. When the trains passed by, the ground shook. There was 1 train in the afternoon while we were setting up, and 2 during the middle of the night that woke me (C slept through the first). The people in the Trading Post / office were great and shared with us many details about their town including the solar panel, that they use to be the #1 lottery ticket outlet in the state (were closest to Las Vegas back in 1990) and the population of 8 year round. Except for the train during the night, this was a great bare knuckles place and we’d consider staying here again. Hotel Nipton, Nippeon Camp and Conference Center
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