The Wild Burros of Oatman

On our agenda today was to drive about 13 miles southeast of our campground, to the small historic town of Oatman, Arizona. Oatman began in 1906 as a tent camp, then prospered as a gold mining center. It almost totally collapsed in 1942 when Congress declared that gold mining was no longer essential to the war effort.

Films such as "How the West was Won", "Edge of Eternity", "Universal Soldier", and "Foxfire," were all filmed in the area.

Each year over 500,000 people come to this small town, mainly to see the wild burros. Every day the burros come down from the mountains and walk up and down main street. Although they live in the wild, they are actually very tame. Some of the shops sell bags of carrots. I brought my own from home.

A friend of mine who had been here before advised us to arrive early to see the burros since they retreat back into the mountains once it starts to get warm. So right after breakfast Jim and I headed out to the town. It was a beautiful ride through open range country. No cows in sight, though. Just beautiful scenery.





The road into town is actually on Route 66.



I noticed all these small piles of rocks (which could be considered "cairns" I've learned).





So while Jim patiently waited in the truck, and I'm sure let out a few big sighs, I made my own cairn.



We spotted this cute little front yard display before entering the town.



When I say Oatman is small, I mean it's about one block long. Jim parked the truck on the main street. We saw just a handful of tourists walking about. Not all the stores were even open. And not a burro in sight! What was this all about? We began browsing in the shops at the one end of the block. And that is where we met John Wayne.



You were expecting someone else? He's the town cat that everyone has adopted. He wanders from shop to shop and they all feed him. He was in a fight a couple of weeks ago and is healing from that, but otherwise he's no worse for wear.

I wasn't impressed with the shops - the majority of them had the usual touristy stuff. Only one store that I was aware of had things from four local artists. Some of the stores had their wares in front of their place as well as inside. One guy had small gold metal bells stapled to a piece of cardboard paper that was folded in half. The bells were supposed to "ward off gremlins" and were, in fact, called "gremlin bells". I picked one up for closer inspection and was trying to read the story behind the bell. I knew that the paper was stapled together. I was maneuvering the paper back and forth, but NOT BENDING IT. All of a sudden the owner came rushing over to me and began yelling at me!
"Ma'am! Ma'am!No! No! No! Don't open it!" He said real snotty.

"I'm not going to open it," I said, referring to the little card.

"You're going to BEND it!" He said, ripping it out of my hand!

"I'm NOT going to bend it!" I said, this time with force!

He said, "It's all RIGHT HERE!" and pointed to a paper that was taped to the wall. It had the whole story there.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see that!"

"Well, you come along and read this and bend the paper, and then I can't SELL it!"

Sheesh! Talk about winning friends and influencing people! I almost wanted to cry! There was a much better way that he could have handled the situation. He was such a crab ass. And I, being a wuss, just stood there and took it. I finished reading the story. But what I wanted to do was throw the bell in his face and say something like, "Lighten up, a-hole!" But I didn't!

So by now I'm in a foul mood. I got yelled at and then there were no burros. Welcome to Oatman. We continued on down the street. I saw this nice mural.



Then I saw this motorcycle and this brought a grin to my face. Notice the name on it. Instead of "Harley" it says "Hardley".



Oatman is a motorcycle town. Especially during ride week in April. Then about 50,000 bikers come into Laughlin, NV, and almost 20,000 ride in to Oatman. Can you imagine what that must be like? One woman working in a store told us that it gets so crowded that they actually have to close the town until some of the cyclists leave, before letting in more people. Here are some riders from today.



I didn't want to leave the town without seeing the burros. A salesperson told us that the burros were coming into town later and later each day because the mountainside was so green from the rains and they weren't as hungry. Jim and I decided to kill some time by grabbing an early lunch. We decided to eat at the Oatman Hotel.



This is a sign in the lobby of the hotel. Unfortunately, the room that Clark Gable and Carole Lombard slept in was off limits due to remodeling of the upstairs.



This is inside the restaurant. You may notice that the walls are covered with dollar bills. Customers leave dollar bills that they have written on for their server to tack up on the wall.





As soon as we left the building after lunch, I was happy to see burros! Right there! Yippee! I whipped out my bag of carrots and started feeding one.





I took a gazillion pictures of the burros, but I'll only share a few of them.















Signs were posted throughout the area saying that if a baby burro had a sticker on their forehead, we weren't to feed them carrots because they could choke. Here are two babies; the white one has the sticker, the brown one must have lost its sticker.



Here are some of the shops:





Here are a couple of signs that were posted on the bulletin board in town.





Several times during the day there is a "gunfight" right in front of the hotel. It's a little bit hokey, but funny.






What's even funnier is this burro watching the show.



Oatman boasts some funny annual special events like Bed Races in January.



or the Sidewalk Egg Fry at High Noon on the 4th of July. I wonder if you could get a side order of hash browns?

Laughlin here we come!

Jim and I tested our memories this morning and packed up the trailer. It has been five months since we had to do this. I usually talk to myself while I go through each room saying things like - TV locked in place? Check. Shower door locked? Check. I know it would be easier to have a checklist and maybe I'll get around to doing it sometime.

After all the packing was done, last goodbyes were said, and hugs given, we pulled out of Mesa at 9:10 am. On the road to the highway, we passed a large orange grove. All the trees were in bloom. Our windows were rolled down all the way, and the heavy perfume filled our truck. I took several deep breaths of that sweet, sweet, smell and thought it was a wonderful goodbye as we got onto the highway. Our destination? Laughlin, Nevada, a mere 250 miles away.

I always travel with my camera on my lap or nearby on the floor. I took a couple of shots and noticed that my battery was real low. I could have kicked myself! I forgot to recharge the battery last night. This is an absolute no-no! I took what pictures I could and then had to resort to my cell phone. Not the best of conditions.

The first interesting thing I saw was a chain gang. They were picking oranges off the trees. The guards were nearby, and yes, they were wearing guns.



Once we got out of the city's limits, we drove on a highway across long stretches of land dotted with cactus and sage. I was surprised at how many wildflowers there were, lining both sides of the road or just growing along one side.





It was very windy today, and at one point a huge tumbleweed came blowing across the road. Jim said, "Whoa! Tumbleweed!" as it headed straight for us. There was nothing we could do but hit it straight on. Luckily the truck just demolished it.

The scenery was beautiful. Here's the long road ahead of us.



One of the many rock formations along the way.



Sometimes the road went uphill and we had to go so slow to reach the top; then going downhill at a 6% grade was thrilling! Jim had to put the truck in lower gear to slow us down a bit.

We drove on Highway 93, which is also known as Joshua Forest Parkway, because it has so many Joshua trees in the area.







The Joshua Tree, which grows no where else but the Mohave Desert, is part of the yucca family. It relies on the female Pronuba Moth for pollination. According to DesertUsa,

No other animal visiting the blooms transfers the pollen from one flower to another. In fact, the female Yucca Moth has evolved special organs to collect and distribute the pollen onto the surface of the flower. She lays her eggs in the flowers' ovaries, and when the larvae hatch, they feed on the yucca seeds.

The Joshua tree was named by Mormon pioneers who said it reminded them of the Old Testament prophet Joshua waving at them, with upraised arms, on toward the promised land.


above image courtesy of taoandren.wordpress.com/

We arrived at our campground and were totally set up by 4:30. Connected to the RV park is a huge casino. I thought it only fair that I donate some of my money, so Jim and I went over there tonight and played the penny slots for a little bit. It's fun, but I can't take the smoke and all the lights, bells, and noise it's an awful lot of stimulus for my poor little brain. I can only take about an hour or so of that atmosphere. Besides, usually my money runs out before that!

Happy Easter!

Thank you to all my followers and readers! I appreciate you all! Have a wonderful Easter!

Waldo's Barbecue

One of our favorite restaurants in Mesa is a little joint called Waldo's Barbecue. It's tucked away next to the "Holly Jolly Gift Shop", but you can't miss it if you drive by 'cause there's a huge pink pig that's wheeled out to the curb to catch your attention.

Before even walking in to Waldo's you can see that it's an eclectic place. Look at this old pig ride. Looks like it's left over from the 1950's. But it must still work if it's plugged in, right?



There is a wooden overhang covering the front of the restaurant. There are several wooden posts painted a bright green that hold up the overhang. They are covered with beer caps.



At first I thought, "Wow, how cool is that? Customers stick their used caps on the post?" But then looking closer I realized they are too evenly spaced to be placed there by beer swigging customers. So they must have been placed there purposely by some designer. But I liked the thought.



This is the entrance and front door to Waldo's. Not a great angle, granted. I don't know why I just didn't stand IN FRONT of the restaurant. What can I say. I was hungry and not thinking straight. Notice the "Sorry we're open" sign on the front door.



There are wood shavings on the floor and the whole place is filled with funny signs and eclectic things hanging from the ceilings and walls.



You are led to either a booth or a table, and if you're lucky, you won't get this table!



We were lucky (or unlucky depends on your point of view) to sit under the "Head Dude".




This is a close up of the sign under the "Head Dude".



All the servers wear black t-shirts that say "Waldo's" over the left breast pocket. But across the back of the shirt, in BIG white letters are funny sayings like, "I'm new here", or "We're out of that", or "The cook just quit".

This is a javelina (pronounced hav-a-leen-a), a wild pig, hanging upside down from the ceiling. Ugly? Absolutely! Funny? Absolutely!




Here's an ace pilot flying across the ceiling, and the propeller for the plane is the ceiling fan. Notice the clouds in the sky painted ceiling.



Waldo's sells several different t-shirts, all pertaining to pigs in some way. This is just a sample of one.



One of the hundreds of signs posted all over the restaurant:



You notice I don't have any pictures of my food. Well, yeah, sorry about that. I gobbled it up so fast before I realized I didn't take any pictures. Jim and I both had pulled pork sandwiches to die for. They have plenty of side dishes to chose from like spicy fries to regular fries, beans, slaw, or one of their specialties - fried corn on the cob. Also to die for? Their ribs. I'm salivating right now just talking about it. Will we ever stop eating at Waldo's? Well, when pigs fly.

Hats off to the Mesa Police

Look carefully at the following pictures:

This is Jim feeding our granddaughter Lily, when she was about 6 months old.



This is Jim and our friend Larry at our Luau party.



This is Jim standing next to the God Bless America sculpture in downtown Mesa.



All of these pictures have one thing in common. Can you see what it is? Look again.

That's right! Jim is wearing a hat! He has two favorite hats. One looks like this:



And the other looks like this:



Jim wears one ALL THE TIME. He usually only takes it off to go to bed. (How did I get the above shots of the hats? He was in the shower! Snort!)This means, when we go to the dances here in the park, Jim shows up wearing his hat. Doesn't matter that he's the ONLY one wearing a ball cap. (One or two may wear a cowboy hat.) Doesn't matter that other people are dressed up. Jim wears his shorts, shirt, suspenders, and hat. What you see is what you get.

Does it bother me? You betcha. Don't get me wrong. I don't mind when he wears a hat around the trailer and when we are running around, but going to the dances? Not so much.

Surprisingly many people have come up to Jim and shaken his hand, thanking him for his service. Strangers. Calling him sir. Patting him on the back. It's amazing. Jim has even gotten discounts at Home Depot and Auto Zone just for wearing the veteran hat!

Yesterday we were running around doing errands. Jim turned down a street that we normally don't drive on to get to the highway. We got to the stoplight, Jim stopped, then proceeded to turn right. A few seconds later Jim started to slow down.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"A police car," he said.

I looked up in the mirror attached to my visor and saw that Jim was right. Jim quickly moved over to the right lane and slowed down even more. Surprisingly, the police car followed suit!

"Uh-oh! What did you do wrong?"

"I don't know," Jim said, fumbling for his driver's license, while keeping his eyes on the road.

I quickly started looking for our insurance information. By this time we were completely stopped. The cop approached the car and Jim rolled down the window.

"Hello," Jim said.

"Good afternoon. I see you are a veteran?" The cop asked looking at Jim's hat.

"Yes sir."

"Do you know why I pulled you over today?"

"No sir."

"Back there where you turned right on Broadway at the red light, there was no turn on red," the cop said.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir! I didn't even see the sign!" (This is true; neither of us saw it!)

"Well," the cop continued, "These things happen. And since you are a veteran, I don't want to bring any more stress into your life! Have a good day!"

"Oh thank you!" Jim said.

The policeman smiled, turned and walked away.

I yelled out, "Thank you!"

And I am telling you all out there in Bloggerland that I will NEVER, EVER complain again that Jim is wearing his hat! (And yes, I told Jim, too!)

Time to say goodbye....

I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.
Robert Louis Stevenson

The time is drawing to a close here in Mesa. Some of our friends have already headed home. It's hard to believe that we have been settled here for five months. We only have a few days left to cram in the things we haven't done yet.

Jim does his usual "blue" jobs before we hit the road - washes and waxes the trailer, checks and/or fills all tires with air, and makes sure the truck is up-to-date on the oil change and any other repairs.

I've been busy polishing the woodwork, washing floors, cleaning the shower stall, and just sorting through things. Staying in one spot for so long tends to make one get a little lazy, I'm afraid. And accumulate junk.

The sad part of leaving, of course, is saying goodbye to everyone and hoping to see them back in the late fall. God willing and the creek don't rise, of course. I also will miss the beautiful scenery here - the mountains every where I look, the cactus, the birds, the smell of the fruit trees in bloom.

The fun part is planning our route. Every other year when we leave Arizona, we head up the West coast to Washington State to visit Jim's son and our grandchildren. So that is the plan. We try to vary our route so that we can see different things. Two years ago we rode up the Pacific Coast Highway, which was beautiful. This time we are staying more in the interior of the states. We don't travel very far - maybe 250-300 miles a day. That might not sound like much - but in the truck going 55 mph - that's enough! We haven't worked out too many details but the rough plan is - AZ to Washington State (near Seattle), with stops along the way, then on to SD to renew our driver's licenses (with more stops along the way), then to MN to visit Jim's Dad (who is 99!), then settle in north central IL near my daughter. Whew!

So are you ready for an adventure? Stay tuned for sights on the road.......

I'm hoping to post more before we leave here, but I had nothing else to write about so I thought I'd let you in on our plans.

Did you ever see the movie, "The Long, Long, Trailer"? It's pretty funny, and there are some parts that really hit home. Here's a small clip of it.

Window Views...and doors too!

This is a new meme I'm contributing to today. It's called Window Views and Doors, Too and it's sponsored by Mary the Teach. Click her link to see more windows and doors!


These photos were all taken at St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery in Florence, AZ. If you want to see more pictures of the monastery, and read about my visit, click here.

This is a looking out a window inside of St. Nicholas Chapel.


This is an archway/doorway leading to St. Nicholas Chapel.


This is part of the roof of St. Nicholas Chapel.



These are some of the windows of St. Anthony's Chapel.


This is a doorway leading to one of the entrances to St. Anthony's Chapel.


I love the colorful buildings and that all the windows and doorways had the same curved theme going on.