KIT™ Day 16

Wow, today was only a 63 mile day, but it was one of the best and most unique days of our trip.

 On our way out of Kingman today, we made sure we took the time to snap a shot of this Historical Monument (established 1957), which as special meaning for Cousin Shane.  Love you buddy!  Originaly a coal burner put in service in 1927, was converted to oil in 1941, and served the Kansas City to Los Angeles corridor for may years.


Second picture is me doing a lame imitation of pulling the steam whistle.

 As we headed out of Kingman, we had a hint of what the day would have in store for us.  Cacti, Buttes, Mesas, Mountains, and of course I could not resist another Windmill shot.

 After we left Kingman, we entered a stretch of flatness, but we knew we were headed for the road to Oatman, so the anticipation was fun.  Here is a picture of about 15 miles, and then a picture of what was ahead.

 Here is where we were heading up the Black Mountains, which were bypassed in 1953 and lucky for us, they have they re-established this as a viable route.

Early on into the climb to the summit, we came upon Cool Springs, they have done a great job on renovation, and this was where Jean Claude Van Damme filmed Universal Soldier.  


 As we made our ascent, we spied some stairs carved into the mountainside, and we could not resist stopping to investigate.  We climbed the stairs, and there was evidence of water seeping out of the rocks.  Here are pictures of both of us in "Shaffer's Fish Bowl Springs", a man-made basin that collects water from a seep.  And also a picture looking over our ascent and also one showing us up above the pull-out with our car.

 Then was Oatman, a vibrant spot on this old west section of the Mother Road.

 Not sure what happened with this picture, but it turned out pretty cool.

 Could not resist this picture, I know some people that this applies to, how about you?

 Burros are protected, and in this town, pregnant and well fed as well.  Here was our first couple of sightings, and also some pictures of us feeding them some alfalfa (carrots are not good for them even though many people feed them that...).  I love the picture of the mother and three week old baby (tag is for people to not FEED da Beh-Beh!

Next up was lunch at the Oatman Hotel.

 After we left Oatman, we headed down into the Mojave.  We kept the windows open and enjoyed the drive until the outside temperature hit 100 degrees, then it was time for some air conditioning.  In the second picture, you can see a strip of green where the Colorado river runs through, it was very blue and had speedboats on it, but we could not find a decent turnout to get a picture.


We checked in early to our Best Western, did a load of laundry, and are watching the Heat vs. Celtics.  We even had time for a quick dip into the pool.  




Question, how do you know that you are geeks, just look at our little table in our room...