Summary: We went to the Goffs Schoolhouse Museum.

Monday & Tuesday, March 31st-April 1st: We said goodbye to our new friends and headed down the road to Needles. We went north on Hwy 93 to Hwy 40, going back through Kingman and getting off Hwy 40 at Needles (130 miles). This was really familiar territory for me--having spent many, many weekends at Rainbo Beach Marina ($25/night, full hookups)!!!

We stayed in Needles for a couple nights to regroup. We did laundry, went to the grocery store and moved equipment from the Jeep to the Roamer. We left the Jeep at Steven's and Christine's mobile home for a week while we went on our Mohave Road adventure with the Roamer group.

Wednesday, April 2nd: We left Needles, going west on Hwy 40 to Hwy 95. We turned off Hwy 95 onto Goffs Road. We'd heard about Goffs Schoolhouse Museum from the MOE people and it sounded really interesting. As we drove up to the Schoolhouse, it looked closed. We got out to walk around a little bit. Then, as we were walking around looking at the signs, a man came by. He opened up the museum for us and sold us the Mojave Road Guide by Dennis Casebier. Carl had been trying to buy this book on the Internet, but it never worked. One of the reasons we wanted to come by the Schoolhouse Museum was to get this book. It contains the history of Mohave Road and we wanted to read it (or at least have it with us) as we drove the Mojave Road in the Roamer.

The first school in Goffs opened its doors for the fall term of 1911 serving the needs of cattle ranches, mining districts, homesteaders, the Railroad, and, most of all, the people supporting expanding travel on the National Old Trails Road---later U.S. Highway 66. The new school featured a distinctive mission style design. The new school was a source of pride for the community. It served their needs for a community center as well as a school until the spring of 1937 after U.S. Highway 66 was realigned and other factors had diminished the population. It reverted to private ownership in 1938 and became a private residence until 1954. During World War II it was in the midst of a large desert training center army camp--there being more than 10,000 soldiers here at some times.

We walked along the Nature Trail at the Goffs Schoolhouse Museum. There was a lot of history along this trail explained in the "Guide to the Goffs Cultural Center". The trail was lined with rocks and as we walked along, there were collections of ruins and relics strewn about. They were really artfully displayed. There was a pile of old broken glass, a pile of rusted old cans, an old stove with old rusted pots and pans. It was really very interesting.

This magnificent windmill (an Aermotor with fan 16-feet in diameter) operated for many years at the Marshall Ranch about 20 miles north of Searchlight, Nevada.

This large cast iron bell is typical of the type used in farmyards, at schoolhouses, and in churches across the American West. However, no such bell was used at the Goffs School. The teacher in the Goffs School used a hand bell or "triangle".

This huge hoist was situated at the Gold Chief Mine on the southern flank of the New York Mountains. The Gold Chief Mine was one of the principal mines in the Lanfair Valley Region in the early 1900s.

There were also a lot of desert plants labeled along the Nature Trail. We were here at the right time of year to see a lot of blooming cacti. They were awesome!!! We've been seeing a lot of different cacti on our desert trips, so it was really good to learn the names of them!! Now, if we can only remember them.....

The Beavertail cactus had large beautiful bright pink blossoms. We saw a lot of these in the next few weeks.

The Teddy Bear or "Jumping" cholla cactus is my personal favorite. It has bright yellow flowers when it blooms. These were quite blooming yet, but the buds were there!!