Sedona to Needles via Oatman (Route 66)

Everyone, at some point in their life, should drive through the town of Oatman, CA. It's not so much that Oatman is spectacular, but the drive between it and Kingman, AZ is one of my favorites. 

Originally, I had planned this:
Nia at Dancessense Studio, which meant today's drive would have been nearly 8 hours on the Int and getting up in the morning to teach class.
But it got cancelled due to lack of registrations, so I was able to cut today's drive into two parts and make the detour using the Oatman Highway.  
First, we stopped in Williams, AZ so I could eat a sandwich and River could pose on a giant rock.

This was the real authentic feeling historic highway. I got on Route 66 in Williams but got off in Seligman because it veered too far from my destination, and it wasn't too interesting out there. But in Kingman, I got back on the Mother Road and took a beautiful ride through the Mohave Desert and over the Sitgreaves Pass. This is some of the most winding and scenic roads I know of. It blows my mind. And it takes two hands to drive so I have no evidence of it. Just trust me, take the ride.


And the town of Oatman is kind of fun. It's "Where the Burros Run the Town". And it's true. The main feature of the town is free-roaming burros everywhere and tourists snapping photos of them. I think you can buy a bag of food to feed them and the roads are covered with poop. It takes about 50 seconds to drive through the town at 20 MPH. I captured only the briefest of videos because it was too risky to hold the camera.



There's a lot of empty road in the desert. But if you look carefully you can be entertained for hours. This is a little taste of what I mean...

This is the stretch of highway where you can find the old Burma-Shave sign ads. I saw several sets of them. Let's see if I can remember any. 

Listen Birds
These Signs cost Money
So Roost a While
But Don't Get Funny
Burma-Shave

He tried to pass
As fast train neared
Death didn't Draft him
He volunteered.
Burma-Shave

If hugging on the highway
Is your Sport
Trade your Car In
For a Davenport
Burma-Shave

'Twould Be more Fun
To Go by Air
If We Could Put 
These Signs Up There
Burma Shave

Cattle Crossing
Means Go Slow
That Old Bull
Is Some Cow's Beau
Burma Shave

If Daisies Are
Your Favorite Flower
Keep Pushing Up
Those Miles Per Hour
Burma-Shave

You Could Drive
A Mile A Minute
But There Is
No Future In It
Burma-Shave



As soon as I crossed over into California, I noticed it was about ten degrees hotter. And today, there was no pleasant cloud cover so I got the full force of it.

Needles is right near the Arizona-California state line and that's where I stopped for the night.

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