Ahhhh...Arizona & Nevada :: May 2009

I have always loved the desert. When I was a pre-teen, my step-father owned land outside of Barstow, California and we'd visit it often. Barstow wasn't much of a town at the time. It had a main street and...well, that's about it. Whenever we traveled, my parents would reserve two rooms at the hotel - one for them and one for my sister and me.

We'd drive forever to Barstow, check into the hotel, and my parents would set up their portable bar in their room and turn on the TV. My sister and I happily spent each day in the pool.

Standing in front of the Liquor Barrel, one of our stores in Culver City

Perhaps those early days in Barstow fed my affinity for the desert; on one of our trips I walked alone to the back of the hotel and stood there, listening to the silence of the desert. There's nothing like that desert silence and once you've heard it, you never forget it.

So now was my chance to go back to the desert. I was going to visit a long-lost relative in Bullhead City, Arizona; I hadn't seen her for 30 years, and I was really looking forward to it.

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As I left Bakersfield and drove towards the Nevada desert, I started to remember what I loved about the area. The multi-colored mountains and never-ending roads that you can see forever...the Joshua Trees standing naked against the sky....the brilliant sunsets. I fell in love with it all over again.

Sunset on the river in Laughlin, NV

I was surprised at how quickly I arrived in Arizona - there were a few hours of driving through the Nevada desert, then suddenly I was there!

We did a lot of sightseeing and I had loads of good food - I saw the London Bridge in Lake Havasu, the casinos in Laughlin (just across the river from Bullhead City), we popped into Las Vegas for lunch (only a two-hour drive from BHC) and wandered thru the streets of Oatman to buy ice cream and pet the burros - but more about that later.

Not surprisingly, the casinos are also reflecting the poor state of the economy - we had dinner at the Grand Buffet at the Edgewater Hotel & Casino. The lack of diners was startling. Two years ago there were lines going out the door and down the hall, but when we arrived at the register, we were the only ones in line. Dismal. By the way, the buffet was GINORMOUS, quite tasty, and high-quality. They must be going broke.

The following day was our trip to the London Bridge. I'd seen it before in some old movies (wasn't it in "Waterloo Bridge"?) and I was eager to see how well the old girl survived her journey across the ocean. Lake Havasu was....well, kind of boring. It's a total resort kind of city, lots of shops catering to the filthy rich, fast food joints, coffee houses....the bridge is in the center of town and surprisingly, there aren't any signs directing you to entrance for driving over it. We had lunch in a restaurant right next to it, where I got some fairly good pictures.

Las Vegas was the same ol' Las Vegas, however this time it was spectacular because we had lunch at the Top of the World restaurant, perched like a big cherry on top of the tall spire of the Stratosphere Hotel & Casino. It reminded me of a restaurant - long gone - called the Equinox, at the top of the Hyatt Regency here in San Francisco. It had the same principle - spinning around as you eat....but this was so much better; although the air wasn't as clear as it could have been, we could see California. It takes 1 hour and 15 minutes for it to make a complete turn.

We stopped in the tiny town of Nipton on our way back.

Now for Oatman, which totally deserves a section of its own. Oatman was named after Olive Oatman, a girl from Illinois who at age 14 saw most of her family killed by Apaches and was kidnapped by them. She grew up with the Apaches and then was traded to the Mohave Indians, who tattooed her on her chin and arms, which was their custom - she eventually was returned to "civilization", got married, and adopted a son. Don't miss this fascinating story about her on Wikipedia, which has a picture of her with those tattoos.

Oatman is also the place where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon after getting married in nearby Kingman. You can view the official marital bed for a small fee at the Oatman Hotel, but it was being renovated when we were there so we couldn't get in.

The best thing about Oatman is its wild burros, which come into town every morning and return to the desert at night. They are descended from the old miners' burros and they are absolutely charming and delightful. I was surprised at how pretty they were, with their splotches of white, brown, black and grey. They act very much at home in town and will sometimes walk right into a store to look for food. Just about every store carries bags of carrots which you can purchase for $2.00 to feed to the little critters. Although they act quite tame, there's always the disclaimer that they can come out with some radical behavior (i.e. kick the crap out of you), so you need to be a little careful around them.



It was really difficult to come home this time. I felt at ease in Arizona and my visit went very well. Usually I hate hot weather, but the dry heat of the desert didn't bother me as much as I expected. Missy, who normally takes a while to warm up to people, also was happy there and I hated subjecting her to that long drive again.

Things went well on the drive back and surprisingly, I made it home in 9 hours. This is definitely something I'd like to do again, but perhaps I'll leave Missy home the next time.

RANTS & RAVES:

The Reserve At Fox Creek: The development where my relative lives. Man, I loved it there. I even checked out homes for sale, but realized I'd have to wait till retirement age if I did that. This community consists of modular homes that are lovely and affordable, averaging $95,000. The "space rent" in the park is $375/month. The good: great services for retirees such as a fully-equipped clubhouse, exercise equipment, clubs, two pools, and saunas. The bad: well, the heat, which feels like it's slamming you when you walk outside during the day. Most people hibernate during daylight hours and only come out in the very early morning and late afternoon/evening. Although it's damned hot, those modular homes are easy and cheap to cool. We were in a home that was next to an arroyo, and I'd go outside every morning to watch the little cottontails run around. Sigh...if only I was independently wealthy!

Casa Serrano: If you're ever near Laughlin, check this restaurant out - it's across the river in Fort Mohave, and it's a fairly short drive. Mexican food can be bland at times, but Casa Serrano uses garlic in its dishes - yum! They have a great vegetarian dish, steamed veggies over brown rice smothered with cheese. Highly recommended!

Edgewater Hotel & Casino: The best thing about the Edgewater (and other casinos around it) is the Laughlin Riverwalk outside, which runs the length of the river. You can stand in the warm air and look down at the ducks and gigantic carp swimming in the water. There's a water taxi that goes up and down the river for your convenience, if you don't feel like walking to the other casinos. One of the bigger docks was outside the Edgewater, where people were waiting for the taxi.

I tried to capture the silence of the desert when we were in the middle of Joshua Tree State Park. Unfortunately the wind caused some noise interference on this video, but at the end you can hear the wind rustling in the tree - very cool.