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Sorry for the delay - conversation and bourbon conspired for a missed blog post last night.
Today was great for two reasons. Reason #1 was the sites we got to see, which were amazing. Reason #2 was I didn't have to drive - a first since Illinois. With the side trip down to Abilene, we've done 2,700 miles already on this trip and I've driven every one of them, so the opportunity to just sit back and look at the sites was definitely appreciated.
We piled into Ron's car around 9am and headed out into the desert, driving the Oatman Highway - an incredible, twisting/turning road through the mountains and over the Sitgreaves Pass. A few miles on you pull into the town of Oatman, one of the strangest places I've ever seen. The town itself - the buildings - looks much like it must have over a hundred years ago. Raised wooden sidewalks where you could easily imagine cowboys and ladies in bonnets strolling connect aged wooden buildings. That is, you could imagine it if every square inch of the storefronts hadn't been turned into a tourist trap to rival Duval Street in Key West. There was one
restaurant, one hotel and the rest were t-shirt shops, knife shops, leather shops and general kitsch. It was a very strange experience.
Heading out of town, we were treated to wild burros on the side of the road. It's kind of mind-boggling in a way to see these things just kind of hanging out. Typically, they roam freely through the town, often-times wandering in and out of the stores in search of food. The locals all sell burro-food, but ask that you feed them in the street rather than on the sidewalk. Seems like a sensible precaution with a wild animal that just may kick if properly motivated. I got out of the car to take their picture and they sort of looked at me like I was intruding. Weird the way that same animal behind a fence on a farm would seem tame.
Leaving Oatman, we headed down to Lake Havasu. For those who don't know, this town's claim to fame is that it is the home of the famous London Bridge. From the 1830's to the 1960's, this bridge designed by John Rennie spanned the Thames from the City of London to Southwark. It was decommissioned
in 1967 and sold to an american oil man named Robert McCulloch, who had it broken down stone by stone and shipped to Arizona. There it was reconstructed to span Lake Havasu from the mainland to the man-made island in it's center. It's a little weird to see this 19th century behemoth in the middle of a modern resort city, but strangely it works. It's also wonderful to see this gorgeous bridge still in use instead of demolished.
Today is a mystery. Not sure what we're doing, which is also very much appreciated. Three more sleeps 'til I see my girl.
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