It is always a different feeling our last day camping in one area. I could fall into a daily routine of letting the day go by us, this has been a great place to spend a few days… Respectful couple neighbors up the hill, a few dirt riders on the weekend stirring up some dust not slowing down… you cannot have it all… young and heavy on the throttle… I have been there… done that!

But today being the last day here, I did not want to miss the ride to Oatman through Historic Route 66.

But first I also wanted to ride the southern loop… so we did both! Nothing too exciting for the first southern part along the Colorado River. We did stop at Day Use Park, Turtle Park, I guess that is what they are called. Further away thousands of trailers and RV’s were lining the banks of the river, some even within a few feet… Spur 95 South is nice, just not my kind of road however… stopped at the sand dunes to watch kids outdo themselves… I remember those days… but we turned around pretty quickly…

Passing Lake Havasu City northbound, we had to get on 40 west for a short while to Topock and then north finally through Golden Shores and this part of 66 was a great ride. The scenery changed to massive and younger mountains, many play ORV recreation areas, which I am sure are packed on the weekend.

A thought while I am writing this…the bike is running great I have to say, approaching 170K!… I actually don’t even like to think about it, I feel that bad Karma might descend upon it, has been a great riding soul these past years… and hopefully for the coming years!

I remember locals telling me about this road being a good riding one, and today I understood why! Many curves, banked the proper way, surface fair, a bit rough at time. This section of 66 has been well maintained, compared to the section we rode a while back bordering Mojave Desert.

And this was the town as we arrived in… Deserted roads, empty spaces, and suddenly hundreds of people gathered… for the gun show, the “wild” burros and the past historical buildings harboring many different businesses catering to the tourist. Hate to let you down, but I was late for the gun show, and the next show was two hours away… you have seen Western movies?… right?… same scenario.

The burros where in full force. I was warned not to let Spirit by one as they don’t like dogs. I actually found out that they don’t like the scent of Coyotes, maybe it is similar as they have a habit of kicking them… They actually looked tame to me and the crowd was feeding them carrots, petting them… someone definitely had the smarts a while back to add this attraction to the town… good move!

The usual tourist shops… bead jewelry all over the place, a couple saloon, a bookstore barely standing, and the fingers were pointing at Spirit with the cameras going in his direction…

I always said… if I had a dollar for every picture… today would have been a good day!

Well, that was Oatman, a rescued town from the past, with half million visitors a year.In 1915, a couple miners discovered much gold valued at $10 million dollars, and you guessed it, the population flourished as high as 4000 people. Most mining towns don’t last long, a fire actually almost destroyed the town… a railroad to Needles along the Colorado River had come and gone and the construction of Highway 40 took away the traffic off 66.

We headed back, enjoying the same road going the other way, stopping a couple times to admire the scenery, not knowing the next time we will come back.

We are totally alone now on the hill were we are camping… not a soul is here… and there is always the thought if the next campsite will be as nice… I am sure it will be, it is just a matter of finding it.

On to Kingman for an overnight… and then it will be 93 north toward… Las Vegas!!!

Suddenly I have the urge to see that town… not just the town however, but the many Parks that surround it… Red Canyon, Spring Canyon Ranch to the east, Spring Mountains, Lake Mead, Valley of Fire and eventually… the Grand Canyon. I think we all are in for a treat… might even have to drop south to Sedona!

… and I almost forgot! My Coffee (capital “C” please… ordered from “Sweet Maria’s” just on Friday was already waiting for me on the way back, at the General Delivery Post Office.

A Classic Italian Espresso Blend… a Guatemala Huehuetenango-Finca La Provincia and, this should be a delight… Columbia Cup of Excellence #3 El-Placer, it says “mild raisin, caramel and jasmine aromatics, silky body, balanced”. No… they do not sponsor me!… It is just that they have great coffees and are great people.

You be well… much ahead…

Ara & Spirit

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 20th, 2007 at 9:25 pm and is filed under travel, spirituality, pit bull, sidecar, motorcycle, cooking, photography, riding, homeless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.