Bullhead City

March 1 - 8
We headed north to the Bullhead City and Laughlin area. It's a fun place with lots to do if you want to, or just hang out and enjoy the weather. So we did a bit of both.

Lots of bushes in full bloom along the highway.

Along California Highway 95. A roller coaster in places. Very scenic.

Entrance to Ridgeview RV Park in Bullhead City, AZ.

Our site.

Across the river toward Laughlin, Nevada

The pool and clubhouse.

The attractive grounds. Lots of metal sculptures.

Pool and clubhouse to the right.

I can't imagine what this sculpture is worth. All metal. Roughly 3/4 size.

Lots of Gambel's Quail in the Park. Such a pretty bird. There were about a dozen in our area.

Monday we headed across the Colorado River to Laughlin. Several casinos here to help you spend your money. All the casinos are pretty much the same. They all allow smoking, they all stink, they're all noisy and we never seem to get out of them with the same amount of money we walk into them with.

We like going to the Pioneer Casino. It is the smallest and oldest casino in town.

We headed over to the small tourist town of Oatman. It is an old gold mining town and they still find lots in the hills around the town. Today though most of the shop keepers get their gold out of the tourist's pockets.

We took the long way into Oatman by first heading over the hills toward Kingman then up old Route 66 into Oatman. A very pretty drive.

This rock seems to give us a very impolite gesture as we pass by.

Very colorful Union Pass.

Cool Springs Station along Route 66

The road gets quite twisty from Cools Springs to Oatman.

Have you ever noticed you rarely see wildlife where the signs are?

The crest of Sitgreaves Pass

Fabulous views from the Pass. Laughlin and Bullhead City are in the bottom of the Valley.

We're nearly there.

Lots of wildflowers in full bloom.

Lupines, I believe.

This is Walter. A very cute baby burrow.

One of the wild burrows that wander the streets of Oatman. They can get a bit aggressive at times, so don't tease them. Burror food is available for purchase if you must feed them.

A large crowd in the street must mean only one thing......a gunfight!

Colorful shops with cute names all along the main street.

The burrows were everywhere the day we were here.

Above one shop was a small museum of bicycles and motorcycles. This early bicycle would only go straight. No steering.

Some older motorcycles. Mostly Harley's.

Nice collection.

We stopped for lunch at the Oatman Hotel. The place is famous for all the dollar bills fastened to every inch of the place.

A popular spot. The food was ok too.

Burrow traffic jam.

This guy took a liking to this Harley. I'm sure the owner didn't appreciate burrow slobber all over his seat!

Time for a gunfight!

The winner......

.....until this guy came along and shot him!

The road out of Oatman.

More wildflowers.

Nice views of Laughlin after sunset.

Another plane load of gamblers heading into town.

Saturday was market day. We headed over to the River park to see what was new. Same stuff as two years ago so we didn't buy, just snooped.

Market day.

Metal sculptures made from junk pieces.

Made from gourds. Nice stuff.

Colorado River.

Our next stop on Saturday was across the river to a barbecue competition. Lots of teams showed up to impress the judges with their ribs, brisket and pulled pork. Many also offered their food to the public. You bought tickets for samples and also got a token to give to your 'fan choice'. We tried a few samples but honestly......I've had better in my own back yard.

Smoking teams hard at work. Some have been here since midnight tending their smokers.

These guys had custom made smokers from drums.

Some were not serious competitors but wanted to sell their food.

Carefully monitored

Competitor hard at work getting his offering just right before turning it into the judges.

Basted in sauce and then wrapped to make them juicy.

Live band. Noisy, but they sounded good.

A couple of our samples. Beef brisket in the back. It was very tender. My rib in front was also tasty.

So we had a good time in Bullhead City this week. We didn't go far some days and that was nice. I put on quite a few laps around the RV Park, we read some, watched the clouds roll by, and Saturday afternoon we had one last happy hour with our Ontario pals.

From left: Cheryl, Kim, Keith, Bill, Pat, Ken. We shared some great times with these folks this winter. We bid them safe travels and sure hope we cross paths next year.

A couple of nice sunsets this week.

The final Arizona sunset for this year.

Sunday we headed up the road to Pahrump, Nevada.

.....and that was Our View From Here!