Oatman

About 15 miles southeast of Bullhead City is "the ghost town that just won't die"-- Oatman, Arizona.

Of course, it takes way longer to get there than you'd think. There are two options: it's 13 miles down the road from Mike's school (which is about a half hour away) (so 27 miles/45 minutes total), or there's an unpaved county highway directly from Bullhead City that's 10.5 miles shorter but takes almost an hour, according to Google maps. We took the paved route, but it still felt like we were driving to another time and place altogether.

It's a pretty clear view from Mike's school to the mountains to the east, so we were wondering where this little town would pop up. Turns out it was hidden behind a small ridge after the road we were on connected with Old US-66... having driven across it across Illinois and elsewhere around Arizona, I've seen some of the bigger, more developed parts, but man, it is just a windy little road that is barely paved when it goes through Oatman. I imagine driving the whole thing would be really cool and interesting though.

It was a quiet morning out in Oatman. We probably saw 8-10 burros wandering around, apparently descendents of the beasts of burden brought to the area by early settlers. The town was named for one settler in particular, Olive Oatman, whose life was for some reason spared when the rest of her family was killed by one of the local tribes. She was traded to the Mohave people, who tattooed her face and apparently treated her fairly well, and was eventually traded back to a white fort for some blankets and horses.

We had an early "lunch" of fry bread and Sarsaparilla at a little inn in town, and just wandered up and down the main street to see the burros and people watch a little. It's a quiet tourist area. We were also there on the early side. Passed a lot of cars heading in that direction as we went back to Bullhead to do some grocery shopping. It was a nice change of scenery though, and I loved loved loved the little baby burro (burrito?):

 

I know it looks dead, but it was just napping.

I think I might go back via the dirt road next time I have the car...