One Night in Laughlin

I don't know about other states, but Arizona has quite a few casinos. They are allowed on Indian Reservation land. Well, pretty much anything is allowed on Indian Reservation land. Our rules don't apply. So, they build casinos and us gringos come and give them all our money. It's the least we can do for taking their land.

David's work has quarterly meetings usually in Flagstaff, but they are branching out and having the meetings in different parts of the state. He has a meeting today in Bullhead City which is in Arizona. You could stand in Bullhead City and throw a rock and hit Laughlin. So, his work got a group rate at a casino here because they are so cheap.

When David told me he had an overnight in Laughlin and invited me to go, it took me about 2 seconds to say yes. I'm not much of a gambler. There is a casino 20 minutes from our home and I've been there once, to eat. But I do like to pull some slots every now and then. Outlet mall across the street, staying in a casino, yes I think I can find plenty to do while you are at a work meeting for 4-5 hours. Before my Mom moved in with us, this wouldn't have even been a possibility. she knows our routine now and I knew the kids would be just fine.

We left in the late afternoon yesterday and it took less than 3 hours to get here. We hit some snow.

And some gorgeous mountain ranges.

And mountains that at first glance resembled a castle. I was waiting on some Hogwarts to fly out. Ok, I have no idea what I'm talking about. Never read or seen a Harry Potter anything.

The Colorado River separates Arizona and Nevada. Bullhead City on our side, Laughlin on their side. We also gained an hour which was really confusing for a state that never changes time. Depending on where you stand in the casino, your phone registered 2 different time zones. At one point, David thought he had 20 minutes to eat breakfast. It was actually an hour and 20 minutes.

Anyway, we got here and were hungry, so we headed right to the buffet on the river.

Then the show started...the full moon came up. So, so pretty and that moon dazzled me for an hour. He's a show off.

We took a little walk on the river after dinner. I needed to burn off the 4 desserts I ate. And I saw this sign.

In the 80's, I used to think Charo was the bomb. I'd watch Love Boat and Charo would be on doing her coochie, coochie, coo and I thought she was great. They would dock in some magical place, like Acapulco, and I dreamed about going there one day. I took a cruise to Mexico once with my Aunt and when we docked, it was nothing like The Love Boat. I never saw one chicken running around the streets on that show. Although, chickens aren't usually seen in a Hollywood back lot, but what did I know.

Then it was time to gamble. The last time I was in a casino, you'd carry around a bucket of nickels and go from slot to slot with dirty fingers. I had no idea that everything is on a card and vouchers spit out of machines. I figured it out quickly though. David doesn't gamble really, so he was content watching me play some slots.

But as soon as I turned my back, he was hitting the spin button.

Then he took a moment to sip his drink and listen to Emily read him a book about little bunny foo foo. I think he even sang the song for her.

We played for 2 hours with $20. The last few minutes, we hit big...1,460 pennies. It brought us back up to $20 and we did a few hail mary's of "max bet" and got to 0 in about a minute. Then, we headed upstairs.

David is at his meeting now and I'm going to go play a few machines. It's been a nice relaxing trip and a fun little getaway. Thanks to my Mom for watching the kids and my friend Dakri for doing both legs of carpool and taking Em to ballet.

I wonder where David's next meeting will be?