Summer of Cal/Nev – Day 9
For some reason, I’m sleeping really well during this stay at Harrahs in Laughlin. In most places (including here), I tend to toss and turn, wake up every couple of hours, and turn to go back to sleep. However, the past few nights, with the exception of short bathroom call, I’ve slept through these nights. After an eight hour rest, I was up and turning the coffee on and anxious to find out what’s going to happen concerning my car situation. Either the parts came in, and it gets fixed or I have rent a car and pick mine up on Tuesday when I return here.
A couple of quick notes to readers with some answers to their questions: I refuse to stay in the north tower here at Harrahs in Laughlin because it’s the main tower for families and kids; the elevators are always broken so that usually only two are working at any time creating ridiculously long lines just to get on one; I’ve stayed there a couple of times, once on the 14th floor, which was a suite and was fine, but the other time was a regular room and it seemed everything was either worn, torn, or broken. The Central Tower is my favorite (though there are occasionally kids there) as it’s close to the Diamond Lounge plus getting to the parking lot is easy. The South Tower, called the Adult Tower is okay as well, though there are times that they allow families to stay. Dog polices: Harrahs here allows small dogs with a deposit. It’s amazing just how many people do bring their dogs along. It’s become a “thing.” Playable games: Here there are only three (found a new one) that offer 9/6 Jacks or Better at the quarter level. PM me if you want their locations. Gambling: I haven’t done a lot of it. Mostly because when I have, I have been losing. I need to stretch my budget through ALL 60 days, so I can’t be gambling too much during this trip. Gas: I am keeping track of my gas purchases. As of now to date I’ve put $150 in gas into the tank.
After picking up my newspaper and enjoying breakfast at the buffet again, it was almost time to play in the poker tournament. Even though I’m an average poker player, I don’t put a lot of hope in these tournaments. There are over 350 people playing and most of them are novices, who like me, use the tournament as an excuse to get the three free nights that come with it. It’s actually more difficult to play with people who don’t know the game, because being able to guess what the other players have by their betting strategies is a big part of knowing when to hold ‘em and knowing when to fold ‘em (to coin a lyric). People who don’t know how to play well make silly bets with bad cards and they’re very difficult to read.
I was at table 5, seat 3 for the 10 AM starting time. The very first hand I was dealt K/K and took the pot. That was the end of my getting any chips. I went completely card dead. I was dealt 7/2 (the worst hand) on five different occasions and was never dealt an Ace. I was the sixth person out at my table less than an hour after we started. In its own way, that was okay because now I won’t have to hang around here tomorrow for the next round and can leave for Las Vegas early and hopefully beat the heat.
I really didn’t have much to do while waiting for my phone call about the car, so I decided the best way to make time go by was to play some live poker and the best place to play in Laughlin (at least with a 2/4 game with bonuses) is the Colorado Belle. So I used my comps to buy a couple more water taxis coupons and headed down to the pier.
They took me right in at the poker game. I bought in for a rack ($100) and sat down. I won the first hand (everyone dropped out); I won the second hand (one bet then he dropped out); I then won the third bet when everyone dropped out again. Then my phone rang. I walked away from the table and it was Mike from Finlay Chevrolet. The parts came in late last night, they worked on it and it’s all ready to go. Sweet! I cashed out of the game with a $14 profit (all three hands of it) and caught a cab. The cab fare came to $10.50. I still held the poker profit in my hand and gave it to the cabbie (because it was Saturday, the dealership didn’t have anyone to pick me up).
I paid for the car (new radiator, two new hoses, and coolant). The parts were just over $600 and the labor came to $600 (ouch). Because the “overnight delivery” wasn’t overnight, they did not charge me the extra hundred bucks (a little like not having to pay the pizza if it isn’t delivered in 30 minutes). I was just happy to be driving my car again. Whew!
I’ve only seen the Laughlin/Bullhead Airport from across the river. The way it’s laid out, the landing strip is level behind a small ridge and if you’re sitting in one of the many restaurants in the casinos and look across the river, you can sometimes see a 707 or 727 landing in what appears to be just desert. It’s an odd look. The Chevrolet dealership is right next to the airport, so I took this opportunity to take a couple of pictures. Many of the readers here have come in to this airport on charter flights, so you know it all too well, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it up close.
Entrance to the Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport (sounds important!)
Interior of the airport. Most airports say arrive an hour early for security, here, arrive ten minutes early
I drove to the Riverside with the intention of seeing another movie. I walked over and looked at the marquee, and thought, “I really don’t want to see a movie for a third day in a row.” So, I walked through the car museum again and took a few pictures and then a picture of the place where my mother claims is “the best hamburger in Laughlin!” I couldn’t help myself and sat down with $5 for the Four Card Keno…would you believe it? I hit a five for five for a $35 win. I took the small profit and headed back to Harrahs.
One of Evil Kan evil's motorcycles
According to my mother: The BEST hamburger in Laughlin! The snack bar in the Riverside bowling alley.
I arrived back at Harrahs and walked into the registration area and there next to the Diamond Registration was a roped off cage that was carrying a tiger cub. Dirk Arthur, who is performing for the next month here, was out there in his t-shirt and tennis shoes answering questions and handing out flyers to his show. He was very nice and patient as the place was surrounded by lookers and cameras taking pictures of the cub (I took a couple, but both were too blurry to use). I just thought it was cool of him to casually hang around and chatting with people. I have some free tickets to see his show next month, though I’ve already seen it a couple of years ago when he was at the Tropicana in Las Vegas.
The Diamond Lounge here at Harrahs is open 4 to 9 on weekdays and 12 to 9 on weekends, so I thought I’d enjoy a cool light beer and watch some sports on TV and just chill for the rest of the day. Surprisingly, they actually had real food in the Diamond Lounge today. They had all the fixings to make your own tacos, which is pretty extravagant for this Diamond Lounge.
As I was sitting in the lounge, I struck up a conversation with an older couple. Her name was Bobbi and his Franklin, whom she calls Fran. That’s pretty funny in itself. They lived in Michigan all their lives, but moved here to Laughlin about five years ago. They’re retired and have two kids both married but no grandchildren. I asked them why they picked here to live and they said it was the weather mostly. Their kids lived out of state, so with the exception of old friends, there was really nothing keeping them there. They used to go to Las Vegas when they were younger, but like many who come here, they were Diamond members with Caesars and were offered free flights to Laughlin. After a few of those, they decided to move here.
Fran is an Elk with the Laughlin branch and Bobby plays with a bridge club, but aside from that, they pretty much just enjoy their retirement. Bobby tells me that after they sold their place, the found a two bedroom house here in Laughlin that they could pay cash for and love not having to worry about mortgage payments. I wondered what kinds of things they do, and they said that there are always plenty of activities. The Elks are very involved in the local schools with scholarship drives and other charities. Laughlin and Bullhead continually have activities and events that she said you couldn’t possible do every day.
They don’t gamble too much anymore (just enough to keep their Diamond card status) and as locals, they receive a lot more offers than others. They like coming down here to the Diamond Lounge a couple of days a week because they know everyone who works here and “it’s always good to get out of the house.”
I asked them if they would mind if I told their story in the report and they said it would be okay, but they refused to let me take a picture of them, even after I told them it might make them celebrities. When I asked if they were glad they moved here, Bobbi said that come around January and the weather reports 15” of snow in Michigan, they look at each other, smile, and give thumbs up.
After my visit with Bobbi and Fran, I finished my beer and headed over to the café to pick up some chicken nuggets and it was up to the room. This is only the FIRST stop of many to Laughlin during this trip. I’m looking forward to visiting California in a week. It will be nice to see something NEW to report on.
More tomorrow.
For some reason, I’m sleeping really well during this stay at Harrahs in Laughlin. In most places (including here), I tend to toss and turn, wake up every couple of hours, and turn to go back to sleep. However, the past few nights, with the exception of short bathroom call, I’ve slept through these nights. After an eight hour rest, I was up and turning the coffee on and anxious to find out what’s going to happen concerning my car situation. Either the parts came in, and it gets fixed or I have rent a car and pick mine up on Tuesday when I return here.
A couple of quick notes to readers with some answers to their questions: I refuse to stay in the north tower here at Harrahs in Laughlin because it’s the main tower for families and kids; the elevators are always broken so that usually only two are working at any time creating ridiculously long lines just to get on one; I’ve stayed there a couple of times, once on the 14th floor, which was a suite and was fine, but the other time was a regular room and it seemed everything was either worn, torn, or broken. The Central Tower is my favorite (though there are occasionally kids there) as it’s close to the Diamond Lounge plus getting to the parking lot is easy. The South Tower, called the Adult Tower is okay as well, though there are times that they allow families to stay. Dog polices: Harrahs here allows small dogs with a deposit. It’s amazing just how many people do bring their dogs along. It’s become a “thing.” Playable games: Here there are only three (found a new one) that offer 9/6 Jacks or Better at the quarter level. PM me if you want their locations. Gambling: I haven’t done a lot of it. Mostly because when I have, I have been losing. I need to stretch my budget through ALL 60 days, so I can’t be gambling too much during this trip. Gas: I am keeping track of my gas purchases. As of now to date I’ve put $150 in gas into the tank.
After picking up my newspaper and enjoying breakfast at the buffet again, it was almost time to play in the poker tournament. Even though I’m an average poker player, I don’t put a lot of hope in these tournaments. There are over 350 people playing and most of them are novices, who like me, use the tournament as an excuse to get the three free nights that come with it. It’s actually more difficult to play with people who don’t know the game, because being able to guess what the other players have by their betting strategies is a big part of knowing when to hold ‘em and knowing when to fold ‘em (to coin a lyric). People who don’t know how to play well make silly bets with bad cards and they’re very difficult to read.
I was at table 5, seat 3 for the 10 AM starting time. The very first hand I was dealt K/K and took the pot. That was the end of my getting any chips. I went completely card dead. I was dealt 7/2 (the worst hand) on five different occasions and was never dealt an Ace. I was the sixth person out at my table less than an hour after we started. In its own way, that was okay because now I won’t have to hang around here tomorrow for the next round and can leave for Las Vegas early and hopefully beat the heat.
I really didn’t have much to do while waiting for my phone call about the car, so I decided the best way to make time go by was to play some live poker and the best place to play in Laughlin (at least with a 2/4 game with bonuses) is the Colorado Belle. So I used my comps to buy a couple more water taxis coupons and headed down to the pier.
They took me right in at the poker game. I bought in for a rack ($100) and sat down. I won the first hand (everyone dropped out); I won the second hand (one bet then he dropped out); I then won the third bet when everyone dropped out again. Then my phone rang. I walked away from the table and it was Mike from Finlay Chevrolet. The parts came in late last night, they worked on it and it’s all ready to go. Sweet! I cashed out of the game with a $14 profit (all three hands of it) and caught a cab. The cab fare came to $10.50. I still held the poker profit in my hand and gave it to the cabbie (because it was Saturday, the dealership didn’t have anyone to pick me up).
I paid for the car (new radiator, two new hoses, and coolant). The parts were just over $600 and the labor came to $600 (ouch). Because the “overnight delivery” wasn’t overnight, they did not charge me the extra hundred bucks (a little like not having to pay the pizza if it isn’t delivered in 30 minutes). I was just happy to be driving my car again. Whew!
I’ve only seen the Laughlin/Bullhead Airport from across the river. The way it’s laid out, the landing strip is level behind a small ridge and if you’re sitting in one of the many restaurants in the casinos and look across the river, you can sometimes see a 707 or 727 landing in what appears to be just desert. It’s an odd look. The Chevrolet dealership is right next to the airport, so I took this opportunity to take a couple of pictures. Many of the readers here have come in to this airport on charter flights, so you know it all too well, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it up close.
Entrance to the Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport (sounds important!)
Interior of the airport. Most airports say arrive an hour early for security, here, arrive ten minutes early
I drove to the Riverside with the intention of seeing another movie. I walked over and looked at the marquee, and thought, “I really don’t want to see a movie for a third day in a row.” So, I walked through the car museum again and took a few pictures and then a picture of the place where my mother claims is “the best hamburger in Laughlin!” I couldn’t help myself and sat down with $5 for the Four Card Keno…would you believe it? I hit a five for five for a $35 win. I took the small profit and headed back to Harrahs.
One of Evil Kan evil's motorcycles
According to my mother: The BEST hamburger in Laughlin! The snack bar in the Riverside bowling alley.
I arrived back at Harrahs and walked into the registration area and there next to the Diamond Registration was a roped off cage that was carrying a tiger cub. Dirk Arthur, who is performing for the next month here, was out there in his t-shirt and tennis shoes answering questions and handing out flyers to his show. He was very nice and patient as the place was surrounded by lookers and cameras taking pictures of the cub (I took a couple, but both were too blurry to use). I just thought it was cool of him to casually hang around and chatting with people. I have some free tickets to see his show next month, though I’ve already seen it a couple of years ago when he was at the Tropicana in Las Vegas.
The Diamond Lounge here at Harrahs is open 4 to 9 on weekdays and 12 to 9 on weekends, so I thought I’d enjoy a cool light beer and watch some sports on TV and just chill for the rest of the day. Surprisingly, they actually had real food in the Diamond Lounge today. They had all the fixings to make your own tacos, which is pretty extravagant for this Diamond Lounge.
As I was sitting in the lounge, I struck up a conversation with an older couple. Her name was Bobbi and his Franklin, whom she calls Fran. That’s pretty funny in itself. They lived in Michigan all their lives, but moved here to Laughlin about five years ago. They’re retired and have two kids both married but no grandchildren. I asked them why they picked here to live and they said it was the weather mostly. Their kids lived out of state, so with the exception of old friends, there was really nothing keeping them there. They used to go to Las Vegas when they were younger, but like many who come here, they were Diamond members with Caesars and were offered free flights to Laughlin. After a few of those, they decided to move here.
Fran is an Elk with the Laughlin branch and Bobby plays with a bridge club, but aside from that, they pretty much just enjoy their retirement. Bobby tells me that after they sold their place, the found a two bedroom house here in Laughlin that they could pay cash for and love not having to worry about mortgage payments. I wondered what kinds of things they do, and they said that there are always plenty of activities. The Elks are very involved in the local schools with scholarship drives and other charities. Laughlin and Bullhead continually have activities and events that she said you couldn’t possible do every day.
They don’t gamble too much anymore (just enough to keep their Diamond card status) and as locals, they receive a lot more offers than others. They like coming down here to the Diamond Lounge a couple of days a week because they know everyone who works here and “it’s always good to get out of the house.”
I asked them if they would mind if I told their story in the report and they said it would be okay, but they refused to let me take a picture of them, even after I told them it might make them celebrities. When I asked if they were glad they moved here, Bobbi said that come around January and the weather reports 15” of snow in Michigan, they look at each other, smile, and give thumbs up.
After my visit with Bobbi and Fran, I finished my beer and headed over to the café to pick up some chicken nuggets and it was up to the room. This is only the FIRST stop of many to Laughlin during this trip. I’m looking forward to visiting California in a week. It will be nice to see something NEW to report on.
More tomorrow.
