Greetings All

The trip to Laughlin came about due to my Brother being unable to use a free 2 night stay that he'd been given from his stepson. It expired at the end of January, so I had about a 10 day window to plan and go. I'd not done much of anything after the 2 1/2 month stay in the hospital, so I thought it'd be fun to get out.
I'd not been in Laughlin in 25 years or so. Ever since I didn't get a job at the Colorado Bell that I was chasing. Prior to that, only a couple of Day trips when visiting Las Vegas, as It's a nice little 90 mile drive, and back then, I always won money in Laughlin.

The Comped Room was at the Aquarius, never seen the place before. Nice enough hotel, got a Handicap room on the 9th floor. Not river view, but still it had a view of the river from the corner that was good enough. I was not feeling well, so I stayed up in the room for a while until it was time to source dinner. Sunday Night 7 o'clock. Not much open. Subway or McDonalds in the Aquarius, and the buffet for $15. I didn't feel like the buffet, so a footlong and a large fries. Snarfed down the fries and saved the footlong to take back to the room for later.

Time to go exploring. From what I remembered of the Riverwalk I thought my scooter would make it. Just Barely. The incline up and down to get to the Riverside was enough to slow me to a crawl. The Riverside didn't know that Sunday Nights are supposed to be dead. The casino was packed. No seat in the poker room, not that I had enough funds to play anyway. The only thing I could'a played was $5 craps. I looked at the chips on the craps table and they were the most tired old looking things I'd seen in a while. Decided to move on, maybe come back later. They still have a bank of 4 or 5 5cent poker machines on the lower level in the walkway back to the Riverwalk that have a view out to the river. I used to spend a lot of time on those machines years ago. Great place to kick back with a beverage and watch the river go by. But the machines were all occupied.

Past the Aquarius on the Riverwalk to the Edgewater, where that section of the Riverwalk ends. The Edgewater is old and decrepit, as were the clientele within. I'd just gotten out of the nursing home, I felt like I was right back in. Granted I'm riding a Mobility Scooter, but sheesh. The place is dark and just looks like it hadn't changed since my 25 years past trip. But they had new chips that I didn't have. Took a couple of laps around the pit and settled on a $5 BJ table. Bought in for $20 from a surly dealer. Lost the first hand and whatever the side bet was. Shoulda run, but no, I'm stupid tonight and put out another $5 chip with another $1 on the side bet. Dealt a pair of eights to the dealer's king up. I just knew I'd lost the hand, but the "books" say (I think) always split eights. Last of the $5 chips went on the felt... My two 18's lost to the dealer's 20. I didn't even end up with a $5 chip for my collection. I'm less than pleased as I left with 3 $1 chips for my $20 bill. Buying chips off of eBay is the most expensive way to get chips, except for harvesting them yourself! :-)

River Otters?

Deciding my luck was not worth pushing for the rest of the evening, I decided to go across the River to Bullhead City. On the internet I'd found a Pizza Parlour that looked interesting, 4.3 stars on Yelp from over 100 reviews. I finally find the place, and it's closed! Deserted, as in tumbleweeds blowing across the empty parking lot. It's 9 of the clock on a Sunday night... I'm a Las Vegas Guy, 24 hours baby. Small town Arizona doesn't cut it for me. Found an Arbys open, so I could save my footlong for a midnight snack. Still not feeling well, I went back to the room, hoping to get enough sleep for a better day Monday. Planning on a trip to Oatman for the afternoon.

After not getting much sleep, I finally crawled out of bed and drug myself down to the truck to do the Oatman trip. I'd spent much time studying Google maps to find a good backroad path. I selected one that goes by the Avi Casino. Indian casino in Nevada. Go figure. Anyway, it turned out to be a nice place. $5 of free slot play with Card signup. Won $5 on the slot, things are looking up since yesterday's luck. Lost a couple of bucks at BJ getting my chips, but overall not too bad.

I left for Oatman, not feeling very well, but not willing to just cancel the sidetrip. Some tight roads, in need of repair, but only 10 or 15 miles of them. When I got to town I didn't even feel up to parking and trying to get out of the truck. It is old west and not mobility scooter friendly. So I just cruised the town a few times. Wild Burros my aunts pajamas. Only in that maybe don't keep 'em in a barn overnight. Open your window and they'll get in the car with you. I saw one T-Shirt hung outside that really made me consider going in for it. Like a Motorcycle club cut "Brothers of Arthritis" "Oxycodone Chapter" I wanted one so bad, but if I did try to park and walk they'd probably not have one in size Elephant Giraffe (3x or 4x Tall) to fit me. Oh Well, something to do next time I pass through town.

Back up in the room I crashed for a few hours before hunting dinner. Went back to the Edgewater to check out their Pizza / Burger bar. One slice of scoungy looking pizza was $5 bucks. Cashed in my 2 extra $1 chips from the day before and went hung out on the Riverwalk and checked out the Regency Casino. All slots now, nothing to see here but a big cow. Went back to Mickie D's at the Aquarius for dinner.

The Aquarius is a nice bright casino, busy but not overly crowded. Watched a craps game for a few minutes. Shoulda bought in, but no, I was too cheap to. Would have made enough money to pay for most of the trip. Found a Pai Gow table. They seem to be rare beasts in Laughlin. I give up on trying to figure out all of the different rules for whatever screwey version of the game they're using. $10 + 2 $1 side bets. I get totally Pai Gowed. But, one of the bets is Pai Gow insurance, So I get $5 back on one of the $1 bets. Yea, I win? Hit it again on the next hand too. Whoopie! Took my chips and ran.

I never made it to several of the casinos on the south end of the strip: Colorado Belle, Pioneer Golden Nugget, Harrahs etc. I just wasn't feeling well enough to get my Mobility Scooter off the back of the truck, and go into them.

At least I scored a few chips, got out and did something, having been pretty much holed up at home since getting out of the hospital. I just today had the Home Health Care Nurse declare my chest wound healed enough to not put on another bandage. Only took 5 1/2 months for the wound to heal :-)

Steve