Williams and Oatman, Arizona

We left the Grand Canyon and still had 4 days until we were to be in Las Vegas so we went down to Williams and stayed at the Grand Canyon Railway RV Park.  It was a nice park but we were awakened in the middle of the night by train whistles a couple times, and across the street there was a steakhouse that had 2 longhorn bulls in a ring in the parking lot that made noise early in the morning. 

 

Route 66 in Williams, AZ

 

Grand Canyon Railway Engine

Saturday we ventured into the main part of town, a Route 66 loop runs through the main drag.  We did the usual store hopping, checking out all the shops, I didn't find anything I couldn't live without.  We had lunch at Cruisers Route 66 Cafe.  They had live entertainment on the patio outside.  WE enjoyed that, the food was good and the entertainment was even better.  I don't remember the guys name but he did a lot of James Taylor type music. 

The entertainment at Cruisers Rt.66 Cafe

We didn't hang around town as long as I would have liked because I had an earache.  Until then I've only had one earache in my life, don't know what triggered it, but it was shooting pains in and around my ear that at times would stop me in my tracks.

On Sunday morning we rolled out of Williams and landed in Golden Valley, AZ.  It was close to Kingman where we needed to get on 93 to go into Vegas and it was close to Oatman, an old mining town on Route 66 we wanted to visit.

When we got to the campground there wasn't enough time to go to Oatman so we went to Bullhead City to visit the Walmart and across the Colorado River to Laughlin, NV to drop a few dollars in the casinos.

On Monday we headed out to Oatman.  It's a mining town like Jerome, but we liked it a lot better.  There are burros that hang around town that are descendants of the burros that were left behind by the miners in the early 1900's.  The merchants sell burro food for $1, and they will eat out of your hand.  They are much like the burros that are in Custer State Park in South Dakota.

We wondered around town to the shops and this time I found a pocket book in a leather shop that I couldn't live without.  The lady running the store was really nice, she noticed our "accent" and asked where we were from, turns out she has a family member living in NC and called him on the phone to find out exactly where.

Twice a day there is a gunfight on the street in Oatman.  When I looked it up online it said only on weekends, so we didn't think there was going to be one, but at High Noon they had the gunfight.  It was a pretty cool surprise. 

Oatman, AZ is a pretty cool little town to check out if you're ever in the area.  We really enjoyed it and Route 66 runs through town if you are into Route 66.
 

Saloon Girl Tammy & Cowboy Randy