1st ATV ride of the year

It's so exciting...Scott and Christy bought a RZR so now we can all go ATVing!  He needs to sell off his Predator now if you know anyone who's interested.  We went to the outskirts of Tecopa. CA for a day of riding and exploring.  Christy's never done this kind of stuff before and she had a great time.  Scott and Chris have never been out there either, so we were excited to take them all somewhere new to ride and explore. There is a whole mining district with a bunch of mines, timbers, tressulls, and more out there.  Even a small cemetary if you know where to look. 

There is so much for Christy to learn...first of all...bring toilet paper and baby wipes.  Both are a girls best friend on the trail. Better shoes is another big one, needs a pair of boots to crawl around and explore. She loved the barrel cactus, wait for it to bloom and she'll be blown away. She's such a good sport...doesn't matter to her if she gets dirty.  Can't wait to take her to Utah and ride the trails there.  Here she is exploring some of the old mining ruins and what's left of a train trussell.  We even went into one of the mines but all we had was one mini-mag flashlight for 4 people so we really didn't get all that far.

Unfortunately, a portion of this trail trussell has come down since we've been there last.  I'd like to think it was time and the weather but more than likely people didn't respect it.  That section was getting loose last time we were there.   Lunch was grilled hotdogs at the trucks, we must have been pretty hungry 'cuz they were almost all gone. Way better than sandwiches. We also went to China Date Ranch for shakes and bread...yummy.  It's a great way to end the day. 

Another first for Christy...she shot her first firearm...at her camera, no less.  She dropped and broke it...bummer.  So...target practice! Chris gave her a gun safety and shooting lesson.  He's really good at it, very patient.

We all had the best day together out exploring the desert.  It's really remarkable how much is out there when you just get out there to see it.  Can't wait to go out again...all together!!!  It was a blast!

December 31...Oatman AZ

We started 2009 camping and ATVing...a great way to start the year.  Although we're not finishing it that way we did decide to get out and enjoy the last day of one of the most difficult years we've endured.  We thought about several different places but highs were pretty chilly so figured we'd end up doing nothing.   Waking up, Timm said let's go to Oatman.  I'm always up for a road trip so we got ready and off we went...Cassy in tow (which isn't hard to do, she loves adventures).

We made a few stops along the way including McDonalds in Searchlight for a quick breakfast.  Normally, it wouldn't really matter but we have a sticker on the back window that reads, "Elect Anyone Butt Harry Ried".  For those who don't know, he's from the tiny town of Searchlight. Even though he's been a senator for Nevada forever, and he's the majority whip...he needs to go.  He does not have Nevada's best interest in mind anymore in our opinion.  Anyway, I'll move on.

We entered Oatman, parked and walked about the various shops, bought carrots for the donkeys, took some photos, hunted for the donkeys, and just all around enjoyed ourselves.  It was a beautiful day.  We just missed the gun fight but Cassy would have gotten really nervous because of the noise anyway.   Along the way Cassy almost went toe-to-toe with a big black cat...everyone's hair was standing up.  She was growling and the cat was making some very unpleasant noises, too.  Not a pretty sight, but both came away unscathed from the incident. 

I was about to give my carrots away thinking we weren't going to see the donkeys, along they came out of the hills...about a dozen of them.  Timm stayed back with Cassy (we were told they don't like dogs, they think they're coyotes and try to kill them).  Before I knew it I had several donkeys nudging me for carrots. 

Oh my gosh, I really am turning into my mother aren't I?  I really did enjoy feeding them, infact I went and purchased two more bags of carrots for them.  Don't feed the baby ones though, they don't have back teeth and will choke on the carrots.  There are notices all over town and they have stickers on their foreheads too. 

We exited town to the northeast with Kingman as our next destination.  When we were in Oatman several years ago we were told not to take the trailer thru town because the road was not built for large vehicles.  We traveled that way this time and for sure it is a narrow road climbing 800 feet with lots of twists and turns in it.  But we've taken our trailer on worse.  I couldn't get a shot of the really curvy stuff (bummer) but it did keep you on your toes while driving.  There are active mines and old mines also along the road.  At the top we found a makeshift graveyard...more of a memorial I think.  Not like any graveyard I've wandered thru before (and I've been through many).  Most of them were from 1998 and more recent.  Someone even had a cross with Jimmy Hoffa's name on it.

  I really don't think he's buried there either...hahahaha.  Maybe it's for people that have lost their lives on that road.

  

We traveled historic route 66 the rest of the way to I-40, hit Kingman, enjoyed lunch at Golden Corral, and headed home.  Seeing that was New Year's Eve, the traffic to get over the dam was backed up for miles....really...miles.  It was over an hour at a crawl, a steady stream of brake lights to make it too the dam.  The new bridge....amazing!  Our last stop was A&W in Boulder for rootbeer freezes and a potty brake before reaching home at 5:30pm.  What a wonderful day we spent together, a great way to finish off 2009.