Laughlin Nevada

Laughlin, Nevada

001 Our site at Davis Camp

On the way from Grand Canyon to Las Vegas, we decided to "stop over" in a small casino town just over the Arizona border-Laughlin, Nevada. Bob had heard about it from his friend Ginny and her mom Louise. Not as noisy and over-developed as Vegas, this cute little riverside community offers some nice camping opportunities by the river on the Arizona side in Bullhead City, as well as a riverside strip of casinos on the Nevada side. For us, Laughlin was like a RAID roach motel, we checked in for an afternoon, but never left! And trust me, this was not because we were doing so well at the casinos!

Actually, we had a lot of fun in Laughlin. Little did we know as we rolled into town that the annual motorcycle River Run was starting that weekend. Perfect timing! Motorcylists would be rolling in from all over the states for the River Run. The town was set up with vendors everywhere, and there were all sorts of free concerts, including bands you heard of like Molly Hatchet and the Moody Blues. Most of the hotels and casinos have big signs out front indicating a "no colors" policy. The Laughlin River Run is apparently legendary for a fateful motorcycle club rivalry that ended up with a hail of gunfire at the Harrah's and some number of dead and wounded. This actually happened within the last 10 years. The most apparent impact is the number of police; and a number of dealers at the casinos remarked that the number of visitors has dropped significantly over the years from a high by some counts of over 60,000 for the River Run Weekend to the estimate 20-30,000 this year.

002 View from our campsite

We found Davis Camp, a local riverside park and camped along the beach for a few days before the official start of the River Run. Note to visitors, Davis Camp costs about $12 per night-unless it is River Run weekend. Then you pay $12 per night plus $40 per person for the weekend. Similarly, the KOA Campground on the Indian Reservation is normally $22 per night. On River Run Weekend, they jack up the price to over $80 per night. What a racket! On the other hand, the casinos that have available parking let you dry camp for free! We actually met some that "live" at the casino-use it as a home base for their RV while they sightsee in town and the surrounding areas. We moved from Davis Camp to the casino on the Indian reservation for the weekend. This gave us the added benefits of free Wi-Fi and the use of the casino hotel pool.

003 Avi casino and hotel--check out the bikes

We stayed in Laughlin for about a week. We did a little gambling, but mostly we either lounged by the pool or did some sightseeing or hiked through the desert. Plus they had vendors set up at the casinos for the big weekend, so we did a little shopping-I got a pair of leather chaps for motorcycle riding on cold days. Another day we rode the motorcycles over to a small town on Historic Route 66 called Oatman. Oatman is famous for the wild burros that wander the streets. They also have daily gunfights on Main Street. We met some nice people in Laughlin and had a relaxing mini-vacation.

004 American Idol design motorcycle

005 cool paint

006 Historic Oatman Main Street

007 Gunfight on Main Street

008 Oatman girls. . .?

009 Bob finds a home in Oatman

010 Carrie takes care of Bob after a few drinks :)