Jo and Calum - France 2015: Now we're getting some Kicks on Route 66

After a good nights rest in Kingman we set off to explore a bit more of Route 66. We were heading to Oatman which is another old mining town. Although it was not on the way to Vegas (it was a 90 mile round trip in the wrong direction) we decided it was worth a look.

The road was probably the worst we've driven on in the USA. It would not be out of place in Nowra. On the upside it was very quiet..and as usual the scenery was great, more real cowboy country.

First stop was Cool Springs. A shop on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, with a huge signed Rolling Stones record collection. Now you might find this hard to believe but Jo didn't take any photos of them.....

After a short stop for the mandatory photo op, fridge magnet, T shirt and bottle of Route 66 Soda we were back on the road. More cowboy country rolled past the windows.

Then we came upon Ed's Camp. "Ed's Camp is another roadside attraction that harkens back to the early days of Route 66. Ed originally came to the area as a miner in 1917 and it didn't take him long to realise that the real gold could be found servicing the Route 66 traveller. He established his camp around 1919 and business was so good he never got around to building a proper building, he just threw up a roof to provide some measure of protection from the hot desert sun and Ed's Camp was born. Today the camp is deserted".

Unfortunately it was private property so we couldn't poke around. Next stop was up on the peak of a hill with what looked like a great view. Apparently you can see four states - California, Nevada, Utah and of course Arizona, but we really had no idea where they were. We did find a cemetery on the side of the hill though, and one that is still used judging by the graves. I guess the locals figure it's a good place to spend eternity.

After this it was a short 10 min drive past the working gold mine and some ruins of the old gold town to Oatman.

Fortunately Oatman hasn't gone the way of many of the other towns on the road. It has reinvented itself as a tourist attraction with gunfights in the main street and "wild" Burros walking the street. And, as we were to find out, it is very popluar with ATV drivers and even more so with motorcyclists, particularly Harley Davidson riders... no rice burners here Tunny and Stu.

We also got an old time family photo done, unfortunately we didn't take a copy of it to post here.

After an entertaining few hours here it was back in the car and on the way to Las Vegas, via the Hoover Dam. We decided to do the Powerplant Tour which takes you down to view one of the Turbine rooms, wit a stop at one of the original tunnels used to divert the Colorado River when they building the dam. Two of the four tunnels now are used to feed the water from the reservoir into the turbines