A side-trip out and back to Oatman, AZ and a stop at the Hoover Dam wrap up the last day on the road. Total driving time was 3.5 hours today which left time to visit the Route 66 museum in Kingman. We ended up stopping there on the way back from Oatman. It was a cute little museum and took us around an hour to walk through.
https://goo.gl/maps/Tjm2iSBi5dj5DEvq5
Oatman, AZ
Kingman to Oatman takes around 45 minutes each way. The last 8 miles of which is narrow and winding. The route along Mojave County Route 10 is part of the original Route 66 before it was rerouted through Yucca in the 1950’s and later replaced with the interstate. Oatman was gold mining town that boomed and busted in the early 20th century. The small downtown looks like it hasn’t changed in a century and appears as if it were straight out of a western movie. One of the highlights for us was the mules. Mules wander freely through town, supposed ancestors of the mules led by early prospectors, and daily gunfights occur (for entertainment only). Check here for the schedule:
Hoover Dam
After heading north back up the old route 66 through the back hills, through the desert and back through Kingman we finally returned to Nevada. One final stop before the end of the trip was Hoover Dam. After driving and stopping at the various viewpoints along the dam we found our favorite view was from the Interstate 11 bridge, which can be crossed on foot from the first parking lot on the right as you pass security.
https://goo.gl/maps/gRxCWFAK5WBep1ro9
Las Vegas
After two weeks on the road, most of which was spent in the deserts of Utah and Arizona, the return to Las Vegas felt odd. The urban sprawl and wide multi-lane crowded highways, which are commonplace to my daily routine, suddenly seemed strange and out of place. The feeling eventually passed when it was replaced by the necessity of focussing on six lanes of interwoven traffic. But it is difficult to forget the combined contradictions of familiarity and estrangement while descending into the Las Vegas Valley.
The trip was amazing, and it was nearly concluded. We spent three more days unwinding in Las Vegas, or perhaps winding, before flying home.
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