April 20, 2013

Riverside Resort RV Park, Laughlin, NV

I continued researching possible places for us to move to on Wednesday.  We would have liked to stay right where we are now.  I was under the impression that all the sites were reserved for the big motorcycle rally coming into town next week.  But when Monte inquired in the office about availability he was told we could stay in our site at the rate of $75/day.  Our current rate is $15/day so we won’t be staying.

We packed a lunch and set off for the Lake Meade Recreational Area located less than 5 miles from our current location. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The road down to the camping area at Katherine Landing is paved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After locating the camp host and finding out which sites would accommodate our size rig, we went to check them out. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were informed that they are expecting over 200 bikes for the rally but most of them aren't arriving until Wednesday.  The sites cannot be reserved so our best chance of getting one would be to come on Tuesday, pay for the amount of days we want to stay and leave my car at the site.  This would mean Monte would have to follow me in his truck.  We haven’t decided at this point if that is what we will do.  With Monte’s America the Beautiful Pass it would only cost $5/day.  The catch is that the camp is closing at the end of the month so we would only be able to stay one week.

Continuing on in the recreational area, we took a paved road with no name for 5 miles where it dead-ended at a picnic area near the river. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was quite windy and a little chilly but a very nice place to have lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we headed back through Bullhead City and then turned on a long paved road until we reached the town of Oatman, a former mining town in the Black Mountains of Mohave County, Arizona. 

 

 

 

 

 

The town began as tent camp after two prospectors struck a 10 million dollar gold find in 1915. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The town was named in honor of Olive Oatman, a young girl who was kidnapped by Indians and forced to work as a slave. 

Eventually she was released near the current site of the town. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wild burros roam free in the town and can be hand fed “burro chow” sold by almost all the merchants in town.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to Wikipedia, "In 1921, a fire burned down many of Oatman's smaller buildings, but spared the Oatman Hotel. Built in 1902, the now-Oatman Hotel is the oldest two-story adobe structure in Mohave County, a Mohave County historical landmark and is especially famous as the honeymoon stop of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard^[4] after their wedding in Kingman on March 18, 1939."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been to other old west towns like Tombstone and Goldfield and in comparison, I’m not sure the experience (it took us less than an hour to walk up one side of the street and town the other side) was worth an hour’s drive. 

I had planned on us taking advantage of the hot tub at the casino and had a tote packed with our bathing suits.  The parking lot was very full but we lucked out and found a spot near the entrance to the casino.  We only soaked for 15 minutes partly because the water was extremely hot and partly because there was a family already in the hot tub when we arrived with 5 little kids who kept splashing us.   Before leaving the casino I cashed in my $70 voucher from my winnings the prior night at the slots. 

Back home, we relaxed and then just had a salad for dinner.   We walked down the hill to the casino.  I had taken only $25 with me and left the rest at home.  It took three hours of losing, gaining, losing, gaining before finally losing it all.

 

We decided to walk all the way back up the hill instead of calling for a shuttle because it was a beautiful night and after all the food we have been eating I needed the exercise. 

I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring—maybe just a veg day!