Get your kicks with an invisible burro

Kaki had this great idea that we would drive out to Oatman, Arizona today and feed the wild burros that live there. We thought that would be great and bought a couple of pounds of carrots to feed them. Oatman is an old mining town on the old Route 66.

Get your kicks on Route 66

It was a gold town which shut down the mines during WWII when the govt. needed the miners to mine other materials for the war effort. The burros are left over from the old prospectors who turned them loose. They bred in the mountains around town and are known for coming into Oatman to get fed by the tourists.

The peaks around the town are magnificent.

Pink Pinnacle

I loved this one with its pink and creamy shades that made it stand out from the rest of the peaks.

The town is actually pretty neat. Route 66 climbs and curves through the old buildings which mostly house touristy stuff, but which look pretty authentic from the outside. Kaki and Jeff stood in front of Jackass Junction for this - notice Jeff's hand

Who's the Jackass?

We walked up and down the main street, and although we could see plenty of signs that the burros had been in town before and recently - nary a sign of a live burro. The local gunfight troupe put on a show on the main street.

Gunfighters instead of burros

They take up donations for the transportation fund for the Shriner hospitals afterward. It was a cute show full of doublecrosses

Do not doublecross me!

and gunfire

; however, still no burros.

As we left, we saw the opening of an old mine shaft with an ancient safe just sitting out in the open

Safe in the hills

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Oatman, but left with a sadness in our hearts since we did not see any burros.

We drove out of the town and down the road a bit where we could see a traffic jam ahead

Burros finally show up

Obviously burros come whenever they feel like it, and their timetable was not the same as ours. I tried to get a decent shot of the burros as we went by, but this is the best I could get.

Best picture I got

We couldn't stop and feed them the carrots since you're only supposed to feed them in town, so we left Oatman slightly bereft of burro companionship. Carrot soup, anyone?

Feb 11, 2007

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