We had been looking forward to Oatman since we arrived in Arizona. Jay remind me several times as we travelled through the state that we would have to stop and buy some carrots to feed the donkeys. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but I knew that feeding the wild burros would be fun.
We have been using an excellent book to help us along on 66 called “Route 66 Adventure Book, 4th Edition by Drew Knowles. In a small paragraph after Kingman, Mr. Knowles warns that the “scenery & terrain begin changing” and that there are “lots of dusty, gravelly switchbacks” to be mindful of. Until yesterday afternoon, I had no idea what a switchback was. Well, I certainly do now! Neither of us has ever experienced anything like traversing that terrain. We ascended & descended what some would consider treacherous roads, especially in a 28-foot motorhome! Narrow, 90-degree turns and elevation changes of 1000 feet or more in a matter of minutes made for an interesting afternoon drive. Jay will be posting some video from my dash cam for your enjoyment but first, we have to edit the cuss words 😉
After what seemed like an eternity, we finally reached Oatman. In only a few seconds, we realized that the journey was worth it. Picture an authentic old west mining town, with small country stores along both sides of just one dirt road: Old Route 66. Several burros casually strolled around the place in search of the tourists holding brown paper bags which contain alfalfa treats. After all the reminding, we never stopped to get carrots but we did purchase a couple bags of the aforementioned treats to entice the animals. Oatman also puts on daily gunfights at Noon with completely authentic outfits.
We took several pictures and then perused some of the most interesting shops we have seen thus far. I purchased a handmade agate donkey trinket from “Outlaw Willie” (www.outlawwillie.com) & Jay & I picked up a couple of cool knives for our collections at Jackass Ron’s. We also stopped at a place called Fast Fanny’s to get our passport stamped. We were greeted by Rich, who is originally from Ware, MA. We chatted with him for a spell about our hometown, Lowell MA and he gave us a brochure for the Topock Resort & Marina.
After leaving Fanny’s, we took several more pictures, some of them silly, and then made our way back to the rig. Oatman is my favorite single place we have visited so far and I would recommend visiting there to anyone who has the guts…well, do ya punk?
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