Big Red is out…..and a ride to Kingman via Oatman

 

Last night when the wind died down Eric decided to unload Big Red.  A fellow passing by stopped to look and he said he was admiring our clothes rack.  I said it was and Eric made add on.  You always need more room for clothes if you travel from cold to warm and back. 

Ready to back her out.

Tada!

So off to Kingman via Oatman.  Over the Colorado river to the Bullhead, Az side.

43 miles to Kingman.

Boundry Cone.

Coming into Oatman and this doesn’t look like any gallery I’ve ever seen.

I was surprised to see so many people here at such a quiet time.  Actually I’m surprised to see people here at any time.  Not sure what the big attraction is. 

Lots and lots of bikes.

We had to wiggle our way through the burros and the people all over the road.  The burros won’t move. 

Leaving town and more old stuff. 

You climb up to the pass and it’s a fair way up. Sitgreaves pass is 3586ft in elevation so that’s about 3000 feet higher than Laughlin. 

Twisty and turny.

Again that beautiful geology.

And down we go to Cool Springs and Golden Valley.

There are even some ocotillo here and some are blooming.

Parked in the shade in Kingman.  It was hugely windy from Laughlin to Oatman but then it died down.  It can be cool in Kingman but…not today.  We’ll have lunch just up the street at El Palacio the Mexican restaurant that we always enjoy.

We were both hungry when we got there and they deliver hot chips, two kinds of salsa and beans……gratis.

Eric had the carnita wrap , I had a chimichanga with rice and beans and I couldn’t finish my rice.  One Pacifico each and it’s all super value as most lunch entrees are under 8$.   My guess is we’ll be having soup for supper tonight!  Always good service and good food here.

They continue to fix up old buildings along this stretch of Route 66 or Andy Devine drive as it’s called here.

The Santa Fe.

So….a good day and it’s hot now.  We have finally had to resort to using the A/C.

A pretty evening and a good day.

Not too much happening.

Sunday we made a run to WalMart and washed our dirty truck on the way.  We take our own brush to scrub because the ones at the carwashes are always full of grit which scratches the paint.  The old girl is 12 years old now but she still looks good when she’s scrubbed up!  We also needed some more of the umbrella type chairs as we have somehow lost two of our good ones.  It is not like us to lose anything but….they are gone.  We also threw out our old ratty beach chairs so we are now down to two good chairs.  The cheap ones are too uncomfortable to sit in so we had to buck up for a couple more good ones.  $35 American.  Now we need two beach chairs so we’ll look in Yuma and if push comes to shove we’ll buy two more good ones and sacrifice them to the beach!  They get rusty fast if you sit on the beach every afternoon like we do.

                

This is Eric’s going to WalMart look.  Now he’s wearing my visor to keep the hair out of his eyes.  It’s a good thing it’s impossible to look odd around here. 

In the afternoon Eric started washing the east side of the rig when the sun moved around to the west.  We got covered in road grime when we moved from Catfish Junction to Jackpot in the rain. 

Monday morning Eric was outside early to get the west side of the rig done before the sun got there.  My job was a little squeegying and the windows.  The water here is not horrible but it leaves marks if you don’t squeegy and dry the windows.  Now we’re pretty clean. 

Me off to the mall in the afternoon and Eric doing…..?  

Big Red has not come out of the rig because it is just too windy.  It has been howling and Monday had another wind warning.  No fun on a motorcyle.  We had a lousy ride in the wind to Seligman last spring and we aren’t anxious to repeat it.   Laughlin and Yuma are both really windy places so riding the bike here is always a bit of a crap shoot.  To be honest we haven’t really had much fun on the trip south.  Smoke, wind and a blown tire haven’t made us very happy.   

Oh well at least it’s sunny. 

“Roddin on the River”….Car Show in Laughlin

We had no idea there was a car show this weekend but it turns out the River Cruizer’s Car Club was having their annual event.  It is a charity event and admission is $2.  Hundreds of cars….old ones, just like us!

Eric went outside this morning to check the inline fuse on the front jacks and it’s really windy and as his hair keeps getting longer he created this look.  Turns out it was a blown fuse which is a good thing.  Not the switch or the motor so it’s an easy fix.  

I walked down to the street to watch the car parade but it really wasn’t a parade.  Nobody on the street and nothing blocked off so the cars just travelled down one lane.

I managed to get a few pictures.

After lunch Eric and I walked across the street to have a look.

There really were 100’s of cars and even though Eric and I aren’t car buffs we really enjoyed the event.

Not sure what this was but it was tiny.

                     

This 1968 Dodge was original except for a new paint job and upholstery.  Bought in 1968 and used by the family as a farm truck and only has about 60,000 miles on it.

Lots of color on these old cars.

Wouldn’t that be fun to race around in!

Some cars like the one below are really rare.

Eric knows a fair bit about the old cars that were around when he was young.  I on the other hand know very little.

A Willys car.  They used to make dragsters out these and race them at Mission B.C. in the old days.

Fins….hmmm….didn’t like them then and….don’t like them now.  Nice car though.

Look at that Woody…really well done.

I don’t know what this car is but….it’s my favorite.  I’d have no problem running around in this.  Well..if I lived somewhere that it didn’t rain all the time!  Definitely a dry climate car.

This one looks like it was out of “Roger Rabbit” or something.

Lots of neat old trucks.

This is a Jeepster and they didn’t make it very long.  Eric says it’s because it’s so ugly. 

Look at the little trailer behind this one.

I think my Dad had a station wagon just like the one on the left.

A real beauty.

These could be in a gangster movie!

Corvette anyone?

The engines were so clean you could eat off them.

In this climate nothing rusts.  At home where it rains all the time and there’s so much salt on the road in the winter everything gets destroyed.

Lots and lots of 55 and 56 Chevys.

Couldn’t you see Eric driving around in this! He really liked it because it hadn’t been chopped. 

Lots of information on the cars and way too much to take in.  You’d need a couple of days to really enjoy them all.

Did I mention that the engines were really clean?

This very loud monstrosity came rumbling in….it looked like it had rocket fuel on the back!  Apparently a Rat Rod with a blower on it.

I think the flames make it go faster.  That’s pretty much the same yellow as our new little Jeep.

Not sure why it has a Coca Cola trailer.

I mucked up on this picture because I could only get it shooting into the sun and I couldn’t see but it’s so cool I put it on the blog anyway. 

The Riverside Casino had cleared one huge parking lot for the car show which really isn’t a big deal at this time of the year.  Not a lot of people around.

We’ve been up to Seligman a few times and hope to go this time if the wind ever dies down. 

It doesn’t look like this one even has a top. 

A very pleasant afternoon enjoying a walk down memory lane.  I bet you can guess the age of most of the people there!