Why It's Called Golden Valley

Golden Valley AZ just outside of Kingman, is known for its hot, dusty winds, even dustier people, and their exceptional meth labs. There isn't much out there, just one main road that goes through the whole valley into Laughlin NV. I've driven that road many times, and Golden Valley has always been my least favorite place. Last year, my BFF Amy was telling me stories about her grandma Minnie, and how she grew up in Golden Valley. She said that her gramma said that it used to be covered in golden flowers in the spring. I thought to myself "what a wonderful sight that would be compared to what it is now". I imagined a whole desert valley covered in brilliant yellow flowers softly swaying in the desert winds, warm rains trickling down and the smell of sweet sage and wet sand. It was such a fantastical idea for me that it seemed like I would never see anything of the sort in my lifetime. As of now Golden Valley is a brown stretch of land with a road, Maverick, Pleasure Palace, Dollar General, and a Family Dollar. Other business are speckled through out the valley but you get my point. It's dusty, hot, dry, and mostly scary people live there, a few really nice wonderful people but mostly scary ones.   That's the Golden Valley I've always known.

I didn't have to look hard, but I found myself a road, it stretched for miles ahead and I could see the valley before me, it's an April morning and I'm out trying to find myself some good shots. There's a storm rolling in and it's coldish, the sun is warm but the clouds strip the warmth and blow cool winds. Nobody is out driving, it's just me, gnarled bloody bunny ears, and scavengers. I keep driving out in the middle of no-where-ville and I see speckled on the road patches of golden flowers.

The stuff in the middle of the road is mangled bunny ears.


As I got up higher in the mountains there was definitely more life, and out of the blue, I finally realized why it's called "Golden Valley"