RV Trip on Route 66--California to Arizona (Day 8)
Williams, Kingman, Oatman, and Laughlin-October 12, 2020
Our trip on Route 66 is coming to an end. Our original plan had more days at the end as we head back home but we decided to cut it short instead. I have read about the crowded situation at Zion National Park and that was the reason we skipped going into Utah. We then planned on going to Lake Mead after stopping at Williams and spend a couple of days there, then head over to Las Vegas for a couple of days. After much thinking, we figured that this is really not a good time to visit Las Vegas. For one, it is difficult to find parking at the regular casinos/hotels in town as we are driving around in the RV. Also, with many places shut down because of COVID, including the buffets we enjoyed, it would not be enjoyable as the normal Vegas that we experienced. Going home was just the right thing to do. We decided to spend another night in Laughlin so we could enjoy another prime rib dinner and also for a more relaxing drive instead of going home straight from Williams.
Now that we have a shorter drive between Williams and Laughlin, we wanted to see if a drive to Oatman would be possible since it is also one of the sights along Route 66. We knew that it's a hilly, winding road between Kingman and Oatman which made us wonder if we should do it in the first place.
MOR said he is willing to try and with him being a careful driver, I trusted his judgement.
Getting ready to leave the beautiful Grand Canyon Railway Hotel & RV Resort in Williams.
A gorgeous day again!
Looking out at the Bill Williams Mountain.
Mr. D'z Diner, Kingman, Arizona
This is a famous diner on Route 66 in Kingman. We passed by it a few days ago when we came through town and we were determined that we will have lunch here today. Instead of finding out if the RV will fit in their parking lot, we just parked at the huge lot across the street at the Powerhouse building where the Visitor Center is. It turned out that Mr. D'z parking lot looked like a sizable one that could fit anyway.
Colorful exterior of Mr. D'z Diner.
Attractive enough to passersby on Route 66.
Entrance to the restaurant. It was quite busy inside at lunch time that day.
There is no escape, we had to go inside to order our lunch and waited in the crowded space.
Cute vehicle outside the diner.
Election year.
I must say that they served some excellent burgers. Just the way I like mine.
For those who have no diet restriction, their root beer floats is something to try.
After our lunch, we made a turn around the corner of the Mojave Museum and continued our drive on Old Route 66. This is a quiet country road with very few traffic and at times quite scenic. It was all fine and dandy until we reached the foot of the mountain where we started the climb up.
Scary ride on Black Mountains
The road started turning narrow and curvy with many hair-pin turns. At times it was quite scary especially when we were met by huge trucks coming on the opposite direction. MOR did a good job slowing down and stopping for opposing traffic but I was so nervous that he may get too close to the edge of the road. Thank God that we came through in one piece!
Nice views of the area.
country road
Starting the climb up.
Wild burros at the side of the road.
\More distraction!
Until we got to the top of the mountain where a huge parking area was found.
That's the downhill road where we would take later on.
And with the views of the basin under our feet.
Oatman, Arizona
The tourist town of Oatman was named after the Oatman family who was massacred by an Indian tribe in the year 1851. They were on their way from Illinois with a group of Mormon moving westward on a wagon trail. Some of the members decided to leave the group and headed towards Arizona. Soon, this group found a place to settle down but the Oatman family wanted to keep going west to California. Unfortunately, they met a group of hostile Native Indians who beat the family to death with clubs. Olive, the 16-year old daughter and her 10-year old sister were the two survivors. (It turned out that their brother, Lorenzo also survived from the severe beating and later trying to look for his sisters.) The two girls were captured and enslaved for a while. After the younger sister died of starvation, Olive was either sold or traded to the Mojave Indians and was adopted by the family of the chief. To signified that she was part of the tribe, they tattooed her chin as a custom of the tribe. Olive was released in 1856. With support from different sources, she completed her college education and later got married. She lived to be 60 some years old and died in the early 1900. Although the Oatman family did not live here in town, it is still an interesting town to visit with its own history.
This ghost town turned tourist attraction was once a gold mining community. Two prospectors found $10 million worth of gold here in 1915, making this a hot spot for gold mining in the western U.S. and became one of the largest gold producers.
At 2, 710 feet on the Black Mountains.
A rare scene in any U.S. towns.
with an old western feel
Wild burros wandering everywhere around town.
The fire in 1921 burned many buildings in the village but left the Oatman Hotel in tact.
I guess any vintage item can make it home here.
This burro was standing in that same spot and position the whole time we were there.
I wonder what he was waiting for?
A little run-down, a little messy but still fun to see.
Still here!
There's a picture of Olive Oatman.
Main Street USA
I am glad that we drove by and it was quite an interesting visit. For those planning on visiting here, I suppose it it OK driving through that mountain road in a regular car but if you are taking an RV, I would suggest to come here from Laughlin/Bullhead City on 153. It's a much easier drive on flat road.
From Oatman, we took the 153 back to Fort Mojave area then head north to Bullhead City back to Laughlin. While we were on 95, we found the Walmart that we saw on the way here a week ago so we took the opportunity to fill up our gas tank for some cheap gas. But, we later found out that the quality of the gas here is not that good comparing to what we had as we climb the mountains the next day.
Gas under $2 is pretty rare nowadays, especially in California.
But, I don't think we will do it again.
Back to Riverside Casino RV Resort for the night. As I had requested, we were back on the top level of the park with a wonderful view of Laughlin right before us.
We just had to have another prime rib dinner at the Prime Rib Room again.
This time we made sure we had reservation. We even had a table with a view of the river.
Safe social distancing with neighboring tables blocked off.
What a wonderful way to end our day!
Video of our trip here. Please "Like", "Subscribe" and "Share". Thank you!
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! " -- Matthew 6: 22~23
