February 23, 2023 Kingman, Mohave Museum, Chloride, All American Pizza

On Thursday February 23rd, our destination was the Mohave Museum of History and Arts. This museum contained displays and artifacts covering the history of Kingman and the area.

We started out in the hall of presidents that contained portraits of all the presidents and most of their wives – very interesting!  From there we walked thru the Route 66 Exhibit, Doll House Exhibit, and Native American Rooms.

Love the radio and juke box player:

The Doll House Exhibit – the detail was just amazing!

Check out the gumball machine:

And the cat food:

The toilet paper:

Ice cream sundaes and the little dog:

Even a jar of pickles:

What detail!

The Native American exhibit contained a history and diorama of the tribes of the area and how the tribes came to be based on their beliefs.  Interesting! 

Tribes in the area and their distinct weaving styles:

Some examples:

From there we moved to the Ranching Exhibit – Check out how to read the different brands:

Typical tack shop:

The mining and ghost town exhibit:

Miner’s Cabin:

One of the wildlife displays:

The museum was interesting.  Unfortunately, the theater, some exhibits and all of the outside exhibits were closed.  The outside ones were because of the weather (cold and windy – Brrr).  We will be back when it is warmer – LOL!

More information can be found here: https://www.mohavemuseum.org/home.html

Speaking of the weather: The day after we arrived, it turned cold, windy and snowy.  Our plans were to do a combination of road trips, outdoor sightseeing and museums.  So we changed our plans to do the museums, check out some the area and town and decide what to do when we come back because we will be back.

There are so many mining ghost towns in Nevada and Arizona.  Some have been “sort-of” preserved and some not!  They have always fascinated me.

One of the trips we were going to do this past season was to visit a few in Nevada.  Sadly, I waited too long to get there – winter was upon us.  Hopefully next year.  And I have now added a few to see in Arizona.

Since we had an open afternoon, we decided to do a road trip to Chloride. Chloride has been on my bucket list.  It is the oldest continuously inhabited mining town in Arizona.  Sadly by the time we got there, it was snowy and rainy and many of the places were shut down.  Apparently we are out of season.  LOL!  Good to know since we now know when to come back.  There was a cute general store and we had quite a nice chat with the owners – what fun! 

From there we headed to Golden Valley and found this little family owned restaurant – Great American Pizza and Subs.  The pizza was awesome.  The owners are very patriotic and help out our veterans.  Highly recommended if you are in that area.

Our final stop was the local American Legion for Happy Hour before we headed home.

What a nice day!  Stay tuned for our next adventure and enjoy today!

April 18, 2013 – Beautiful Drive, Ghost Town, and a Low Lake

This morning we woke to calm skies so we took advantage of it by going to the ghost town of Chloride.

Our first stop was at McRae Canyon:

 

 

Then we took NM 52 towards Winston and Chloride.  This road is a journey in itself.  We started out on the plateau and then up and down through the mountains – WOW!:

 

We arrived at the town of Chloride were there are 11 residents – 7 of them live here year round.  Here is a  little info on the town:

Here is the best information that I found out about the town:

http://www.pioneerstoremuseum.com/General_Information.html#history

In 1977, Donald and Dona Edmunds began buying the buildings and properties and started restoring them.

We started our tour here at the Gallery.

Our tour guide, Linda, then took us to the Pioneer Store.

 

 

The most fascinating thing for me was this.  In 1923 the store was closed and sealed with lumber and tin over the doors and windows.  All of the original furnishings for the store and the Post Office, along with all of the items of merchandise, including food, were left in the building.  When the Edmonds bought this building in 1989, all those items were still there.

Our tour guide, Linda, who is the daughter of Dona and Donald:

The other building that was open was the Grafton Cabin:

  

Other buildings in the town:

 

“Initially, Chloride also did not have a jail. The live oak tree that still stands in the middle of Wall Street, known as the Hangin' Tree, served the purpose to some extent. We were told that if the cowboys or miners got too rowdy from too much booze, they would be dunked in the stock tank, then chained to the tree until they saw the error of their ways. The village of Fairview (now Winston) was started a few years after Chloride by the gentle folk who could not abide the rowdy element in Chloride. “

And the two best pictures of the day:

TV in the Bathroom???

The gate is the only part of the fence left – LOL:

Nearby is the St. Cloud Mine that started as a silver mine – many of the people who lived in Chloride worked that mine.  Many years later, zeolite was discovered and now this is the largest producer of zeolite in the world.  No public access – :-((

What a wonderful little place!  And well worth the visit if you are in this area.

Our return trip to Elephant Butte Lake was just as picturesque:

 

We continued our journey by checking out some of the other areas of Elephant Butte Lake and were shocked by the many areas that are shut down.  Here is one of the boat launches:

Another boat launch that is still ok for now.  The water use to be where those cars are parked:

The white lines on the cliff are where the lake should be:

According to what I could find, the lake is only filled to the 5 % level – now that is scary.  It is due to the lack of snow melt and severe drought in the area for the past few years.  Released water from this lake is used for irrigation and drinking water for towns downstream.  Really Scary if there is no water!

It was another great road trip day.  Stay tuned for tomorrow and enjoy today!