Oatman, Arizona

Before we left Arizona we visited a little quaint mining town called Oatman. Oatman is on the historic Route 66. Burros roam the streets and actively pursue anyone carrying a bag of carrots or a bag that even resembles carrots. Kaitlyn stated that after she finishes vet school she would like to return to Oatman to be the town veterinarian. Kaitlyn fell in love with the spotted donkeys and the "furry" babies. Besides feeding the donkeys we also visited a goldmine, did some shopping, watched several gunfights as bank robbers tried to steal money, and ate lunch. Steve was the only one brave enough to try a buffalo burger the rest of us just stuck to a plain cheeseburgers. At Kaitlyn's request we all ordered Lay's chips with our meals instead of the fried burro ears! (That wasn't a hard decision for Sarana and I!) The interesting thing about the salon was that the ENTIRE building inside was covered with dollar bills. When we first walked in Steve and I joked about how we needed to get wallpaper like that to impress our friends. However, it wasn't wallpaper but real money. The elderly proprietor explained that the tradition of tacking money to the wall began in the early 1900s when the miners earned a dollar a week. Instead of cashing in the dollar for a 5 cent drink they would attach the dollar bill to the wall above the bar and the bartender would create tally marks on the dollar to signify how many drinks they had purchased. The tradition continued on through the last century and now the place is "wallpapered" in money. The elderly gentleman that we talked to stated that the "wallpaper" was appraised several years ago and it was over $55 thousand. Now, as you can see from the picture, it is impossible to appraise the amount of money on the wall since some dollars are stacked three and four deep and not all of the bills are ones anymore. Well, we couldn't break tradition so we added three new segments to the decorations before we left. Now in Oatman, AZ there is a dollar representing the McDaniel and Tredway families, as well as, proclaiming that Sarana and Sandi are BFF (best friends forever). Oatman was a blast and we will certainly go out of our way to make sure we visit the town again especially since we own a piece of wallpaper at the local salon!