Off to Oatman …

Today, we planned a visit up to the wild west Town of Oatman.  This used to be a mining Town, (gold) and is kind of a neat place to visit.

We stopped on the drive up and checked out these mountains… that is David standing ahead of me with his camera…

It is a real nice place…

I guess this bucket below was loaded up with gold and wheeled out of the mine…

This is one of the many shops in Oatman, but if you look up on the roof on the left side, does that not look like a Joshua Tree???

Here is the inside view, of the Joshua Tree on the right, and a saguaro cactus on the left… they are growing right through the roof of this shop!

Here is the outside of the shop, with the trees coming through…

Oatman is also know for it’s donkeys… there are a bunch of them that roam the Town’s main street… looking for anyone willing to give them a carrot like Angela is doing here…

 

This little guy was just a big fur ball…

It is a kind of a wild Town and anything goes on the main street, including the odd shoot out!

This is the famous Oatman Hotel… it has been around since 1902… guess what famous couple spent their honeymoon here…

That famous couple would be “Clark Gable and Carole Lombard”.

There is a bar and restaurant attached to the Hotel, and it is another bar that is lined with money on the walls… and just about everywhere.

This is an old picture of Oatman in the wild west days, that I found in the Hotel.

I told you there were lots of Donkey’s…

David got himself a nifty cowboy hat…

Judy was checking out her Saloon…

Ann and Nelson got into a bunch of trouble with the Arizona Rangers… behind them is the hanging tree for the real bad ones…

This Hombre wanted to pick a fight with me, but it was no fair – he had a gun and I had a camera!

These three actors did a good skit based on what else… a bank robbery, and the gal ended up shooting the two dudes!  They get the tourist to simply block the cars going up and down the main street so they can do the skit… gotta love it!

After a real good lunch at the Oatman Hotel, we went to a little theatre for another gun fight… the Sherriff is getting warmed up here with his six shooter…

This is the bad guy, and bad cowgirl… they are actually married in real life and put on a good show… another bank robbery… I always have cringed about people portraying bank robberies, as I lived through one in my working days at the bank, and it was not really a lot of fun…

The hand guns are real 22 Cal. guns, with just a black powder charge and no bullets…

Can you tell this guy had a hard day in Oatman?   We all felt a little like this at the end of the day.

Another great day in Az.    We had a blast and a great buffet dinner tonight… tomorrow is  Jeep Tour day!

Till tomorrow…