Mining Town of Oatman

We took a short trip to Oatman, an old mining town along Route 66 in Arizona. It is up in the mountains east of Bullhead City and Laughlin. It was a gold mining town and now is just a tourist attraction. There are lots of wide open spaces getting there.

One of the main attractions in Oatman are the burros. Many of them, purportedly wild ones, come into town to get fed by the tourists. You can buy burro food just about anywhere in town. They can be a little pushy as they know someone is going to feed them.

Here are a bunch of burros being fed by the tourists. The road we are all standing on is the main road, Route66 through town. There is not a lot of traffic but some that is really slowed by the burros.

The little town is really a tourist draw and the businesses reflect that. Lots of T-Shirts and various Oatman paraphernalia can be found everywhere. This was the sign leading to one of the many establishments. When we were first told of the town I thought of Tombstone but Tombstone is really spruced up compared to Oatman which looks to be much more run down and true to period.

When you feed the burros you get output production. This fellow has an endless job, lifetime job security. He sweeps up after the burros. It was not clear if he got paid by the yellow scoop full so we asked one of the waitresses and she said all the businesses along the street kick in and pay him. Not sure what the street would be like if he were not doing his job and I really don’ want to find out.

We had a great lunch at the Oatman hotel. Attached to the walls and parts of the ceilings in the restaurant were dollar bills. A fellow told the story that in the old days miners would get a dollar bill, take it into the bar, write their name on it, nail it to the wall and use that to buy drinks. That way they didn’t have to always have money with them. A beer, back then was only a nickel or less and whiskey was 5-10 cents.

This was the wonderful lunch we had. Deanna’s sandwich was a bison burger and mine on the left was a pulled pork sandwich with Burro Ears which are the long cut homemade potato chips on the very left that they claim resemble Burro Ears. We really wish our good friend Rodger and Ginger could have had lunch with us here but they are in Walla Walla.

The tradition of pinning dollar bills to the walls continued long after the miners left. This is a small part of the wall right behind where we sat. The waitress claimed that a conservative estimate was done of the dollars and they believe there is somewhere near 150,000 of them. People still pin dollar bills up to this day, we did not.

Since you are a tourist town, you must attract tourists. So, each July fourth they have a sidewalk egg fry in Oatman, It sounded interesting but it may be a little warm. Denver Omelet anyone.

This is just another example of the signs on the store. Everything was themed after the burros or the mining. Lots of artifacts were lying around in various states of disrepair.

It seemed odd to have little stickum labels on some of the Burros. We inquired and found that the younger ones, and there were lots of smaller ones, have not developed teeth and hence cannot chew carrots. They will take the carrot and then choke on it causing lots of problems for both tourist and Burro. The little sticker says “Do not feed me carrots”. The local burro food was perfectly acceptable however and the larger burros loved the carrots.

This is a look up main street. As you can see there is burro stuff everywhere. Either the fellow hasn’t gotten here yet or the vendors in this section choose to leave the droppings alone. There was quite a bit of them. Unfortunately the local power company was doing some work in town and historical perspective of old Oatman got a little lost.

We had seen where the Burros could get a little pushy. Here , one of them, the larger on the left, was trying to get in the back seat. The lady was trying to shoo it away to little avail. The town folk all chip in and take care of the Burros. The local vet looks after their medical needs. They are a big draw for the town.

On the road into town there were many bushes decorated with Christmas ornaments. This appears to be a Creosote bush and not a mighty Blue Spruce. When you don’t got the tree to decorte, use what you got, it is the spirit that counts.

This was the highway sign marking route66 on the way in and out of town. It is one of America’s Byways. Neat place. You can also search the internet for Oatman and for Olive Oatman the lady for whom the town was named. There is quite a bit of information available for those interested.

Finally as we headed back to our trailer in the RV Park.Deanna took this image out the window as we were getting on the interstate for short run east before turning south. Arizona does have some beautiful country.

The Desert Bar

This is one view of the Desert Bar which is about 10 miles from Parker, AZ and 5 miles of that is down a dirt, rocky road. There are several roads and trails into the bar and many people arrive in their ATVs of all shapes and sizes having come in across the rocky desert. The location was originally an old mine but now is a thriving bar/eatery only open 9 months of the year and only on Saturday and Sunday. We were there on New Years eve and got there early. They stay open late that day and the large crowd, and growing larger as we left, reflected that fact. You enter the bar, it is really large and consists of two main areas and upstairs and downstairs. in this image you see the down stairs area. You park up behind the church and walk across the bridge to the upper area then down the stairs to this lower eating area.

The church is in front of the parking lot and really is just a facade, a shell front and back. They do hold weddings here for those who want a fun setting out in the desert but there are no regular services. It seems to be a nicely done structure.

In the parking lot and at various locations you see this sign. They really emphasize not drinking and driving though with the wine and whiskey we saw flowing early in the day the least of the problems seemed drinking in the parking lot.

You can actually walk into the bar area from various dirt trails, it seemed pretty open. Most all the folks that parked up behind the church entered though this covered walkway. It was really well done. There was a young lady positioned along the walkway informing people to keep their dogs on a leash and i am sure looking for beverages entering or leaving.

After you cross the bridge you enter this eating area. There is a bar on the left of this picture and the counter you see here where you order your food. We got here about 11:35 and it was relatively uncrowded, that was soon to change.

This is a view of the same area just looking at the seating area. Many more people had arrived and you can see the growing crowd. Everyone seems to be having a great time.

When you come down the stairs to the lower area you see this order counter. There are several places to get something to eat and drink. They have a wide variety of food. The upstairs has different menu options than the downstairs. It looked to us that all the food was great. There are some signs for Niki's which is an eatery north in Lake Havasu. It seems they do the food catering here at the desert bar.

Here are a couple of menu boards that are downstairs. you order at the counter and then they call your name when you food is ready. The prices seem a little high but considering where you are and, as we will see the quantity of food you get it is worth the cost. I placed out order and the lady asked for a name and I said George so she looked and said George of the jungle and she chuckled.

I had ordered the smoked trip tip from the menu with Mango Habanerno sauce and Deanna got the pulled pork with the sweet hot chili sauce. When our order was ready at the pickup counter the lady stuck her head out the window, with several people waiting and shouted "George of the Jungle". I looked at her and she said "I only read what they write".

Here we have an order of Nachos. This is the family pack and only my good friend Rodger would have ordered these, all for himself. That man can eat some nachos!! They had a wide variety of fries and other sides but the quantity they served made us stay away. They only take cash, no checks, no plastic. The bar is solar powered and cell phones don't work here.

Scattered around the grounds is an assortment of old pieces of mining machinery and vehicles in various states of disrepair. This appears to be an old fire engine, it was perched on the hill just above the down stairs eating area. Also much of the area appears to still be a wok in progress. I doubt much of it will ever get finished, it just adds to the character of the place.

The dwelling you see with the low roof line is the owners house. It is separated from the bar, across the road. It is situated in a low spot and seems as if it would be a fascinating home to see. One old story says that the owner in the late seventies used to sit out here with a cooler or two of beer and sell it to the ATV riders that would come by hence the bar got a start, much different now.

This is a view of the road going into the bar. It got really busy and we left early. We chatted with some ATV riders here in the park and they said they got there at 3:00 PM and it was really packed. The Desert Bar seems to be a really popular spot. It was scheduled to stay open unto 10:00 PM on New Years Eve and we are glad we didn't stay that late and come out on that road with all that traffic.

This is another view of the terrain. The bar is really a ways out in the desert. It is certainly understandable why it is closed during the summer months, way too hot here for man nor beast. Here is a link to the Desert Bar Website where you can get some historical perspective. Be sure and stop by if you are in the area. It is really fun. http://www.thedesertbar.com/

Shoshone - On the Way South

On the way down south we stopped in a small palce called Shoshone, CA. We were running ahead of the snow, had put in a couple of hard driving days for us, and wanted to stop for a night or two. The town, it is not much, is on highway 127 in California north of Baker. We came south out of Beatty. The highway is one of the main access roads to Death Valley. Pick the time of year you visit here very carefully, the campground host said it was 129 degrees in the summer of 2013. That's hot.

Here we are parked in the RV site. You can see the puddles in the picture. The first night we were there it poured rain almost the entire night. The park manager the next day said they had never seen it rain that much, we are in a desert you know.

In the south west one of the common but undesirable trees is the salt cedar. They drink up huge amounts on water and are an introduced species originally intended to help with soil erosion. the pruning that was done on this tree will only slow the growth. It will grown out full, soon.

Just behind the RV Park is this swimming pool. It is fed from a warm water spring in the rock mountain behind the park. It is a constant 89 degrees. It is a great respite from the cold, rainy weather.

One of the famous landmarks in the area is the Crowbar. It is a bar cafe. We had lunch there one day and for being the only option in town the food was great. Well prepared and huge quantity. The name comes from the Crows in the area so a more descriptive moniker might be "Crows Bar". Great place and excellent service.

There are not a lot of businesses visible in Shoshone. Here is the market, not related to the cartoon character but an old time immigrant in the area. Be sure and fill up with gasoline before you get to this area, it was $3.959 a gallon when we passed through. The store had some real basic food stuff, don't look for organic or healthy options, just stuff to survive on. It is only about 35 miles to the larger town of Parhump, NV from here.

There is a neatly done small park in town. The rock benches and tables appear to be almost new. Some one put in a lot of effort in the design and construction of this small respite from the surrounding desert.

Here in the park is this sign with colored arrows pointing in various directions. Nicely done

Also located in the park are various old relics from the earlier mining days. Not exactly sure what this was used for but it could have been part of a still what the guages and all. Those miners did like to drink a bit.

Here we have a collection of some of the original recreational vehicle tires. They got good mileage off these but did not go very fast.

Bill Williams NWR

Hello All

Here is where the Bill Williams River comes into Lake Havasu. It is a beautiful wetland area. The sky was crystal blue and the winds were calm. It is a really good lake for striped bass in certain months.

This section of land is on the very south end of the Lake Havasu along the California/Arizona Border. The spit goes out into the lake and has a walking trail along it. The first part of the trail is concrete in excellent condition and the last part is cinder. It is really well done with lots of plants identified and informative signs. Neat place.

Along the trail we found this Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. There were several of them in with a mixed flock of Ruby Crowned Kinglets. They were difficult to photograph as they want to flit about constantly. Out in the lake you can see a wide variety of water fowl. There are lots of Western and Clark's grebes, Common Goldeneye, and of course coots.

As you walk out along the trail you will see several fishing access points. They have done a great job providing public access along the rock arm that protrudes out into the lake. They all seem to have handicap access off the paved trail.

Fairly close into the spit of land and the walking trail you will see the Common Goldeneye mentioned above. In the past we had seen Barrow's Goldeneye here as well as Surf Scoter and Black Scoter. Some unusual birds so far inland. Of all the Wester/Clark's grebes, of which there are many, the majority are Clark's. We chatted with some folks in the past and they claimed that over 80 percent of them are Clark's.

The Blue Bird Trail - Anatone

On Saturday May 14th Tom Scribner and myself took a day run over to Anatone, WA which is south of Clarkston on a high plateau above the Snake River Canyon.This is a view across the plains of Anatone. There was a lot of agricultural areas with wheat and other crops. Lots of beautiful open fields and territory for the birds.

We put up 24 Blue Bird boxes at various locations, repaired a few others and cleaned out some. At every stop, and there were many, we saw and heard Western Meadowlarks. They were very common and it was wonderful to hear their singing.

This was not one of Tom's boxes. There were many other Blue Bird Boxes in the area of various designs. You can see the damage to the front of the box. There was a female Western Bluebird sitting on eggs in this nest. We will probably go back to the area in the late fall and clean and or repair and or replace various Blue Bird boxes. We chose not to disturb the occupants at this time.

We did see a variety of sparrows and other birds as we traveled about. This is a most striking Lark Sparrow. Beautifully marked bird.

You can see grasses and pine needles sticking out from the opening of this supposed Blue Bird box. It had been taken over and stuffed full by a house wren. This box was affixed to a large Ponderosa Pine tree and the House Wrens seem to like that habitat. They don't seem to bother the nest boxes that are out in the open grasslands.

As mentioned earlier there were many other boxes in the area. This design, and there were many boxes just like this one, did not have any way to clean the box other than taking the box down and emptying the contents. Additionally the box was very narrow in construction and seemed to be really cramped for Blue Birds. They were however very well made and had metal hinges and a metal clasp to keep the top closed. Most boxes have either the front or the side that opens allowing access for cleaning.

This is a striking example as to why the boxes should be cleaned either at the end of the season or early in the spring before the Blue Birds arrive. This is probably 5 or 6 years of nesting material that has been built up. You can also see some old eggs, most likely from last season, that are buried in the nesting material. There was a female Western Blue Bird sitting on top of this pile. We left her alone.

Yes we did see lots of Blue Birds. This is a female Western Blue Bird. We saw both Western and Mountain Blue Birds though the Western was the most common. There were at least 4 occasions where Tom opened the box to check the contents only to find a female sitting on eggs. They did not fly off but chose to sit there and keep the eggs warm. Interesting flight or fight phenomena.

This was just an interesting perspective of the Blue Bird Eggs. Tom has the side of the nest box open and the light is coming in. There were 6 eggs in this nest box. A typical clutch is 5-6 eggs. They are, as can be seen, a light blue in color.

This is an image of a cooperative Male American Kestrel. He allowed us to get some decent pictures of him. He is in bright breeding plumage and most colorful. He sat on the post just across from our vehicle and posed in various positions. He even flew up the road a few posts, we followed, and he posed some more. Beautiful bird.

Several of the boxes had been taken over by Tree Swallows. They eat lots of bugs also. Neat bluish colored birds.

Swallow eggs are totally white in color as compared to the bluish tinged Blue Bird Eggs.

This is a Grasshopper Sparrow. It has a really flat head and proportionately large bill or beak. They are somewhat secretive sparrows of the Grasslands. They not only eat grasshoppers in their diet but their song is unusual in that it is similar to grasshopper's buzzing.

Along one road over near the canyon of the Snake River we found this wild Turkey. We did not expect to see this species. It was close to a wooded canyon that led down into the Snake River.

Many of the fields were blanketed with wildflowers. Yellow and blues and various other colors. Quite striking to see.

Overall a very enjoyable and productive day. Thanks Tom