Ellen and I decided to take a little trip to Laughlin, Nevada. We took the road less travelled and went west on US60 out of Wickenburg. This was almost all desert 2 lane highway, then up AZ72 to Parker, AZ on the Colorado River. Took a little side trip and stopped at the Parker Dam. Then north along the river and stopped at Lake Havasu City for lunch and a walk around the London Bridge. This was a bridge from London, England and then shipped here, brick by brick, and re-assembled in Lake Havasu City, AZ and opened in 1971. The weather was sunny and comfortable, although the wind was starting to pick up.
We reached Laughlin, Nevada and checked in at the Aquarius Casino for 3 nites. The room and the casino were very nice and clean. We spent two days just walking around all the casinos along the river and spreading my money amongst all the various casino slots. The weather was terrific so the walks were very scenic and enjoyable.
Although we've been to Laughlin a number of times over the year, this was the first time I went to the Riverside Casino and explored the Auto Museum. That was a fascinating place. There were numerous restored antique automobiles on display there and the admission was free. I'd definitely go back there again.
Coming back home on Wednesday, we took the side road going to Oatman, AZ. This is an old gold mining town that is famous for the wild burros walking along the town's main road. There were a lot of tourists in town and the burros kept harassing them for handouts. All the stores in town sold carrots and hay biscuits to keep the critters well fed and happy.
The road from Oatman to Kingman is along the old Route 66. It wound through the mountain pass and then down the desert road into Kingman. There was a old historic gas station along the way at a place called Cool Springs. When we arrived in Kingman, we stopped at the Route 66 Museum there and walked around. It was a historical presentation from when the first wagon trains went through the area towards California to when the highway opened up taking the automobiles along the way. Here is an interesting excerpt I found in Wikipedia that described the road in this area: Much of the early highway, like all the other early highways, was gravel or graded dirt. Due to the efforts of the U.S. Highway 66 Association, Route 66 became the first highway to be completely paved in 1938. Several places were dangerous: more than one part of the highway was nicknamed "Bloody 66" and gradually work was done to realign these segments to remove dangerous curves. However, one section just outside Oatman, Arizona (through the Black Mountains) was fraught with hairpin turns and was the steepest along the entire route, so much so that some early travelers, too frightened at the prospect of driving such a potentially dangerous road, hired locals to navigate the winding grade. The section remained as Route 66 until 1953, and is still open to traffic today as the Oatman Highway. (This is the section of highway illustrated on the map shown to Lightning McQueen in the Disney movie Cars, as the road bypassed by new Interstate 40.) Despite such hazards in some areas, Route 66 continued to be a popular route.
After Kingman, it was just the familiar road back home along US95. All in all, a very nice 3 day trip.
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