Viva Las Vegas! ...almost

Still trying to get in posts of everything that happened this summer. So we'll go back a couple of months. This was 4th of July weekend. Mom and I used to go on vacations together all of the time. But the last one we went on was in about 1991 when I was still in college. So it was pretty exciting to spend a few days with her this summer. I knew Marty would do awesome with the kids and it was so nice to have a little break. Mom got a great deal on a flight/hotel package to Laughlin, Nevada (about 100 miles from Vegas). It was like $200 total. I think they must have known I would lose a lot while I was there!!

DAY 1

Here's me and Mom just getting off the airplane at the massive Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport. Two whole terminals!

And they loaded us on a bus right away for our long journey across the river. As soon as we got on the bus we could see our hotel/casino. We stayed at Don Laughlin's Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino.

And here's a view of the river (that's the Colorado River by the way) and mountains from our hotel room. The second picture is the Laughlin strip. Not quite Vegas but fine with me. We didn't leave the hotel very much anyway.

We didn't waste any time (ok maybe we took a nap and watched a little tv) but then we got down to business. Here's Mom planning out our first day of fun.

You would think our first stop would be the casino. Nope ... first we walked through the world's biggest watch shop (I highly doubt that claim!). Then on to ... the car show! Why not? It seemed like something fun to do.

And the sun started to set on our first day in Laughlin. Here's another picture of the river and mountains from our hotel at sunset.

But we didn't let a little darkness deter us. Nope we headed out to walk down the river and see the other hotels. Besides ... it wasn't 115° out after the sun set! Here's our hotel at night.

So we went to the car show, took a walk ... it's time to gamble now, right? Well no. Ya gotta eat! And lemme tell you ... we ate ... A LOT! I couldn't find a meal that had everything I wanted. So I just ordered 2 meals! Mom controlled herself a little better than me. And just a side note: Nevada sausage is really nasty!

So NOW it's time to gamble!! Nah. We were too sleepy the first night. All that traveling, walking and food made us tired. Night, night!

DAY 2

Did I mention that it is HOT in Nevada in July? So, of course, we had to walk around outside a little. I mean it was so hot that it made your eyes hurt. We only stayed out long enough to snap a few pictures.

And then we actually went in and gambled some. Actually I gave the blackjack dealers my money pretty quickly and mom won a bunch on 3 card poker (think that's what it was called). Anyway, we gambled a while then mom took me to the buffet because I was sooo broke. And what's the best part of a buffet?! Getting to eat as many desserts as you want! Here's me being a pig again.

We didn't stay out really late the second night either because it was the 4th of July and we wanted to watch the fireworks over the river from our hotel room. The fireworks show lasted about half an hour and then we talked about going back downstairs but never made it.

DAY 3

Day 3 is kind of a blur. I know we wandered around a while and looked at stuff. Then we spent most of the day in the casino. Since I was broke, I played the nickel slots for a while. And then we headed down to the non-smoking casino. I didn't even know that existed. And what did we discover there? It was an oasis! (Yes I know drinks are free while you gamble but you can't get a big ol' frozen margarita!)

So we were pretty silly after a few of these. Then we decided to go back to the main casino. I told you, I was completely broke. So I called Marty while Mom gambled. And he was so sweet and told me to get out another hundred dollars. Well this musta been the magic money. No I didn't win but I know I sat down at this one blackjack table at around 4pm and didn't leave until about 2am! And some moron at my table decided at about midnight to start ordering coffee and Kahlúa for everyone. Well drinks are free while you gamble so no biggie there but all that caffeine had me really wired. So when the money was finally gone at about 2am, Mom asked what I wanted to do. EAT of course!! And then we went back to the room because we had a flight to catch in the morning. But I couldn't sleep. Here I am at about 3am or so.

DAY 4

We had to check out of our room a few hours before our flight so Mom played Keno for a while. I was sooo sleepy and thought the Keno lounge would be a perfect place to catch a little sleep. The 2 police officers that woke me up didn't think so. Then we headed over to catch our bus. It was in the back part of the casino. And we saw the funniest thing ... a DOG in the casino. Never seen that before so we had to take a picture.

And that's it. Our adventure to Laughlin. Mom came home a winner. I was a loser but had fun. I'm so grateful to Marty for letting me go and watching the kiddos while I did. It was a needed break.

Here's an old song for you. Wilco: Casino Queen ... "The room fills with smoke and I'm already broke. And the dealer keeps on jokin' as he takes my last token..."