Saturday, March 17, 2018 (Big Bend of the Colorado State Recreation Area, Laughlin, NV)

Saturday morning Steve and Debbie picked us up shortly after 10:30...and we were on our way to Oatman! Craig and Jo followed in their truck. Oatman is a small historic town that we have heard so much about over the years that we were looking forward to finally getting a chance to see it.

Beautiful mountain views as we head east (and a little south)....

There were a number of these cool motorcycles parked in the lot we pulled into...

A huge A-Frame home perched on top of the hill...

Oatman has undergone a tourism renaissance of sorts in recent years, thanks to burgeoning worldwide interest in Route 66 and the explosive growth of the nearby gaming town of Laughlin, Nevada, which promotes visits to the town.

Oatman's most famous attractions are its wild burros, which freely roam the town streets and can be hand-fed hay cubes otherwise known as "burro chow," readily available in practically every store in town. Though normally gentle, the burros are in fact wild and signs posted throughout Oatman advise visitors to exercise caution. The burros are descended from pack animals turned loose by early prospectors, and are protected by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

This fellow was just sunning himself when Deb decided to pet him...

He liked it so much he just flopped right down...ahhhh....

Weekends in Oatman can see anything from classic car rallies to mock "Wild West" shootouts right down the middle of old Route 66. We were lucky to be there in time for 12:00 show...

Above, the bandit robbed the bank, actually the ATM machine...

Wanting to keep the loot for himself they get into a gun fight...

Surprisingly the Burros don't even flinch from the loud gun fire...

This Burro had to be pushed aside so the bandits could continue with their bantering back and forth and shootout...

It looks like I have "really big hair" in this photo...it's actually because the woman behind me has a white coat on...

It's unfortunate they allow vehicle parking as it really takes away from the experience...

Who would try that!

This pose was for you Greg!

We went into the Oatman Hotel for lunch...

Route 66 souvenirs abound and many tourists have pasted autographed one-dollar bills on the walls and ceiling of the Oatman Hotel's bar and restaurant. Estimates of the number of bills runs over a $100,000! We've been to many bars over the years that had money stapled everywhere but nothing comes close to this place! We found one of the last available tables...

Live music...

Green Beer to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

The mountain scenery is spectacular...

Rock crusher...

Time to check out the mine...

That dark spot is a hole into the mine. Note the legs and boots, in a cave in I suppose...

Looking out from that hole...

Not sure if this was an actual mine or just a re-creation...

This little wagon was playing some good tunes...

Wow!

This used to be a car...

About two and a half hours later, we had pretty well had our fill of Oatman. A very cool little place and well worth seeing. We said goodbye to Craig and Jo...see you back at the campground!

Instead of going back the way we came, we continued south on hwy 10 going down through Golden Shores and then taking hwy 1 north and west to Arizona Hwy 95. Beautiful views...

It was a much longer route but we did a little geocaching along the way...there's one down there by that cabin...

There's a second but larger cabin...

Debbie and I only went part way down...

And another one further down the road...

And a very tricky micro one hidden here on that cannon. Just a little breezy here too.

Steve managed to quickly get a shot through the windshield of these guys driving by...

This geocache was particularly challenging...Steve (C) spotted it, but it was very difficult to get to with all the broken branches. Leave it up to Steve (M) to not give up!

Look what he had to walk through!

But it wasn't without some blood being drawn!

Almost home now...just crossing the Colorado River back into Nevada near the AVI Casino...

The Avi Casino has a nice beach on the river...

We were dropped off just after 4:00...and then picked up again about 40 minutes later! Time to go into Laughlin and take in some of the St. Patrick's Day celebrations. We parked at the Colorado Belle Casino. Outside on the plaza along the Riverwalk was a buzz of activity with a band playing...

Lots of green on St. Patrick's Day

We stopped for a drink (or 2) inside at the Loading Dock Bar and Grille...I took a selfie! Me, Steve Debbie, Steve, Jo and Craig...Don't know why this photo came out reversed?

Steve (M) was bound and determine to find someplace serving Corned Beef and Cabbage for St. Patrick's Day, and after some research found it was on the menu across the street at a restaurant in the Tropicana...so off we went! We sat in the "caboose" of the train-themed section of the restaurant...

After dinner, we watched Jo having a winning streak at one of the slot machines in the Tropicana...very exciting! I think Craig had to pry her away...LOL!
Then we walked back to the trucks...time to call it a night! The end to another fabulous day enjoying the area with great friends!