Laughlin, NV on Friday, March 11

Laughlin, NV is a little north and across the Colorado River from Bullhead City.  Named for founder Dan Laughlin, an enterprising Las Vegas businessman who built the Riverside Resort, Laughlin is best known for gaming, water play and entertainment. In the beginning, there was a cafe and a motel that catered to the local miners. Now there are 9 large casinos offering over 10,000 rooms. In 1987, Don funded and built the Laughlin Bridge at a cost of $3.5 mil so that cascino employees wouldn't have to travel down river 7 miles to cross and then back 7 miles to work.  He donated the bridge to the states of Arizona and Nevada.

The evening back at Silver View brought serious wind gusts and periods of rain.

Welcome to Casino Drive, Laufhlin, NV, 70 miles south of
 Las Vegas.

  

Tropical plant in bloom in a casino atrium. 

I believe this water feature was in the Aquarius. 

The palm trees had made interesting shapes
 searching for the sun. They looked like snakes
to me.

We had a seafood lunch at Bubba Gump's. 

These 12" koi were well fed in this casino moat.  They 
knew where  the food machine was so they would 
congregate under it hoping for food being tossed their way. 

We took a 2 hour lunch cruise on the Colorado River.
 The day was warm but overcast till late in the afternoon.  
The river was running swiftly-more current  and under tow
than I would want to kayak on.

Looking north towards the Davis Dam.

"Fisherman's Trailer Lodge" along the river.

This casino had a little sheltered beach area which 
most did not.  The Colorado River is known to be the 
cleanest in the US.  Great for swimming when not
in the strong current.

The Riverside Casino today.  When Dan first came to Laughlin with his family, they lived in 4 rooms of an old 8 room hotel. Now, they use the pent house rooms near the top floor. In the 60a, a woman bought several lots on the river which rose in serious value over time.  She received many offers to sell but held out till over $2 mil was on the table plus lifetime housing in the casino that was built on her land.  She was to have a 10 room pent house with sunrise and sunset views.  She traveled the world to purchase furnishings but sadly, she passed away a few short months before she was to move in.

Small boat launch near the Riverside.

Sonny is pondering the shoreline from the
 open air cruise boat.

A water taxi ran up and down the river between casinos.

B J  Thomas was a favorite singer with the girls on my dorm floor when I was in college. "Hooked on a Feelin'",
"Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head", "What Does it Take".
I wasn't able to get tickets to his show, only a picture of the sign.