What happens when you use burros in mines, then close the mines and turn the burros loose? Oatman, Arizona knows the answer. You get wild animals that roam the streets and people (tourists) who come and give them carrots. When they don't get enough carrots? The burros run the people down.

In all my travels I have never seen a place like Oatman, AZ. True to Vince and Cheryl's tale, wild burros do indeed freely roam the streets. Though they seem to be tame when they are first approaching people for carrots, after you have fed them they will run your butt down until they are sure they have every last tasty root. They are persistent and strong and seem to have very few social graces.

The town does its best to do the Wild West thing for the tourists with gun fights in the streets and all. There are some interesting places to eat or have a drink. There is a bar that is covered, and I mean covered, in dollars. There are old signs and shops and golden burros to take your picture with.

You can see my photo gallery of Oatman, AZ here.

I've posted lots of pictures of my magic adventure to Oatman, AZ. If you find yourself in Laughlin, NV if might be worth a quick side trip to see the burros. Thanks to Vince, Cheryl and Miranda for taking the time to lead us straight to this amazing place that we never would have found without them.

Put together a short video about going to the dentist in Mexico. Nothing fancy, I was busy getting my head drilled. But there are a few pictures here for anyone interested in seeing what it looks like.

View Larger Map

Taking US 95 North from Yuma, Arizona through Needles, CA, we drive to Laughlin, Nevada and stop at the Avi Casino Resort and RV Park. It's a long drive, sometimes following the Colorado River. We got there in the evening and snuggled our trailer into the park while our friends checked in to the hotel. Then we met for a late-night dinner in the casino.

While in Arizona Vince and Cheryl teased us with stories of an old mining town turned over to wild burros which freely roamed the streets. Seriously? Oh yes, they told us, it was all very real. Wild burros roaming the streets and the people forbidden to harass them. So they extended their trip and took us off the beaten path to see this mystical, perhaps mythical, town.

This is the magic I thought I would find before I began this trip. I thought I would find people who would unlock a hidden world to me and share new discoveries. But I never expected the level of road trip achievement and honest hospitality shown us by the triker crew, et al. I cannot express in words how awesome they were to us and the gratitude I have for the new experiences they shared with us. To let us tag along with them to Mexico after just meeting us at Beatty Days and then extending their trip and adding expense to take us off to show us something we never would have found on our own. What can I say? Awesome people. We need more of them.

Back to the story... In the morning we meet for a quick run through the swap meet, Vince helps me find a replacement fuse in a booth of nothing but boxes of auto fuses. Then we hit the road and head for Oatman.

"It feels so nice, so warm out," I said today as the temperature hit 36. Amazing how perspective changes depending upon where you are standing. Spent a night in the downtown Salt Lake Marriott after a show, and when we came back the ice was melting off the egg.

I guess I have confused people about my intentions with my tour and blog after the New Year. I am ending this story at that time, the story of my idea to buy a trailer and head out on the road delivering my own comedy stimulus. Then I am going to compile it and tell what happened and what I learned, release the DVD in the spring.

I still will be on the road with the trailer after the end of the year, just not on a comedy bailout tour. For now, this trailer is my home. I also imagine I will continue to document my experiences, but I will end the commitment I made to regularly blog about it. I saw some things along the way I want to check out more, some things I didn't get to see that I want to see, and we love this rig and the freedom it affords, so there will be more adventures for us. Hopefully warmer!

It's dentist time! We convoy from Pahrump to Yuma, AZ with Vince, Cheryl and Miranda. They have been to the dentist in Mexico five times, so we take advantage and of their experience and follow them down to Algodones, Mexico.

I have been in several countries, none of which did I think going to the dentist would be a good idea. Mexico never came to the top of the list when I thought about getting some dental work done, but here I was getting a root canal in Spanish at TLC dental.

Dentistry in Mexico is much, much less expensive than in America. Medical tourism is alive and well. I saw lots of older folks who looked like they just came out of a Sunday buffet waddling back and forth across the border, holding bags of ice to their faces. I saw no soldiers, no machine guns, just Good Sam Club members and dentists.

I picked up a root canal, crown, fillings and some other work. Took a couple of days what would have taken weeks in America. All the transactions took place in English, paid with American dollars. The dentist and his staff spoke Spanish to each other, and English to me when I talked to them. They didn't waste any time and worked fast. They were friendly and clean.

Ironic. Our new friend Miranda needed fillings because she was going into the Navy. A United States citizen getting medical care in Mexico to be fit for service in the American military. It's a brave new world.

My experience and results were good. I had some misconceptions about Mexico and the dentist, necessity required I drop them. It was a wild experience and the food was delicious!

See all the photos in the album here.