I Love A Parade...

 

The Laveen Light Cruise (Lighted Car Parade) this evening.  Steph, Dan, and I went; setting up camp chairs alongside Dobbins Rd, right in front of Amadio Ranch Heritage Farm (the folks who put on this event).  A beautiful evening, and great participation from those in the parade as well as the people watching.  A fun community event.

We brought camp chairs and had great seats for viewing the parade...

 

These are some of the participants in the parade...

 

Almost as much fun as the Lighted Boat Parade in the Tropical Tip.

 

Oops, I Did It Again...

 

If you said, "Britney Spears, 2000," you get 5 bonus points.  If you were picturing me in that red vinyl outfit, you lose 12,000 bonus points and are permanently banned from this blog.  Yes, I will know... I am psychic... or psychotic... it's one of those things.

"What did you do again, Jim?"  Thanks for asking.  I have been considering another e-bike.  My wish list: lighter than what I currently have, smaller, more range, and newer technology.  After all, our other e-bikes are 11 years old.

I ordered a Lectric XP4 750 with the step through frame.  It weighs about the same as our SSR Trail Vipers, but is smaller, folds up smaller, and has nearly twice the range.  And, it is easier to get on and off, and that matters.

The bike arrived yesterday.  We had just finished unloading the van, and had some other things to get done; so, I didn't get a chance to open the box and start setting the bike up until just before sunset.  I started in the garage, then moved to the courtyard, where I had more elbow room.

Just getting the box opened and the folded bike out of that box was a bit of work.  I shot some video while I did the unboxing and set-up.  By the time I was done, it was getting dark, and I was tired.  So, more work on the bike this morning, then out for a short test ride.  Here's the video...

 

At first blush, I think I am going to enjoy this bike a bunch.  Joan says she is happy with the e-bike she has, but we'll do some swapping back and forth.

For full disclosure, I rode almost every day when we lived in Texas - part of my morning routine.  It was easy on our island, with limited traffic.  Living here in Phoenix, the traffic can be too heavy for me to want to take a bicycle on the streets here.  It is pretty quiet in our neighborhood, but you have to deal with some heavily traveled surface roads once you are out of here.

So, we'll see how this works out.

--------

 

Joan and I did get out on the e-bikes this afternoon, our first bike outing to Caesar Chavez Park...

 

 We swapped bikes for a while... Joan likes that Trail Viper she is on, I am quite fond of the new (blue) Lectric XP4.  Joan found us a way to the park that only required crossing Dobbins (and not needing to ride around traffic).  Apple Maps, satellite view.  We have lived here two years; I had no idea this walking, jogging, bike path wound through a neighborhood to get to the park.

 

 

 

A 3-state day...

 

Been a while since I posted that title... but this was a pretty easy: leaving Laughlin (Nevada), south through Needles (California), then into Arizona for our way home.  Different routing from what we took to get to Laughlin.  This route ran along the Colorado River for parts of it, taking us through Lake Havasu City and past Parker Dam.

More nostalgia for us, as we had traveled all around this area back in the 90s.

We didn't take any photos until we were past Lake Havasu City.  That town has grown a bunch since we were there last.

South of there, we came across the first boondockers along the way...

Lone campers (above) or groups (below)...

 What are boondockers?  Thanks for asking.  There is a lot of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land in western Arizona - you can stay on BLM land for cheap (or free, depending on the location).  No hookups, no defined sites, you just pull out into the desert... and there you are.  Not our style, but a lot of people take advantage of the cheap living; or, they just like being out on their own in the desert.  There are some LTV (Long Term Visitor) areas that have a dump site and a place to get fresh water - you will pay something for that.  Other areas, you are just out there on your own.  If you are into that sort of thing, a trip to Quartsite (about 10 miles from the California border, on I-10 in Arizona) sees a couple hundred thousand boondocking visitors over the the winter, with January being the "high month," with a giant RV show, swap meet, gem show, bringing in the crowds.  We also did that a time or two back in the day... even in our younger years, we preferred more amenities than just parking in the dusty ol' desert.

But, I digress.  South of Lake Havasu City, the terrain turns rugged, and there are plenty of resorts along the Colorado River, on the California and Arizona sides...

 We bypassed Quartsite, taking a diagonal road that put us on I-10 further east.  Nothing much else to talk about with the Interstate traveling.

Home around 2:00, unloaded the RoadTrek and put it away.  For a while.

Murphy seemed happy to be home.  Definitely happy to have his "domain" (our courtyard) again.  I did take him out on the leash once while we were in Laughlin, but he wasn't happy about it.  Joan is glad to be back in her home.  I kinda missed the Christmas tree.  But, I really enjoyed being out and about in the van for a few days, and revisiting some some of the places we enjoyed in our "winters away" time in the bigger motorhomes.

The RoadTrek isn't big.  There are people living full-time in Class B campervans ("VanLife"), but that would not be us.  The first night out in the van felt like real close quarters.  After that, you get used to it again... to the point where it feels very comfortable.  Not sure Murph ever got to that point this trip.

 

Down By The Riverside...

 

If you said, "An African-American spiritual, whose roots date back to before the American Civil War," you get 15 bonus points.

The Riverside Casino is alongside the river here.  The Colorado River, to be specific.  Our planned activity for the day was a walk along the riverside, past the casinos.  You can't go as far as you used to be able to.  (Explanation coming."

This is another nostalgic thing for us - when we first came to Laughlin, during the winter, after leaving South Dakota, you could wear shorts while walking along this riverside walk.  It was another beautiful day here today, with a high near 80º.

Leaving our site...

We started at the Riverside Casino, heading down river...

 

Next along that walk is the Aquarius Hotel Casino Resort.  Most consider this the nicest casino in Laughlin...

 We stopped and played for a while.  Next up is the smallest casino, the Regency, right next door to the Edgewater (another highrise casino/hotel).  Things have changed: what used to be the least expensive buffet along the river is now a bingo hall in the Edgewater.  Obviously, bingo makes more money than a buffet.

Next up would be the Colorado Belle hotel and casino... except, it closed down in 2020 when Covid hit, and never opened up again...

 The Colorado Belle was designed to look like an old river boat.  I always liked this place.  No plans to re-open it.  As you can see in the photo above, the river water level is way down - it would usually go right up to that seawall (the corrugated looking wall).

With the Colorado Belle closed, the entire property is closed off, so you can't walk any further along the river.  In the past, you could get to the New Pioneer, the Golden Nugget, the Laughlin River Lodge, and then finally Harrah's Laughlin.

So, we walked our way back "up river."  The Aquarius has a new river boat...

 Meal service onboard, live music, and a river tour... when the water allows.  The dock is covering the lower portion of the boat, which looks to be an enclosed cabin space, probably where the meals are served.

The shuttle we took from the RV park to the Riverside was driven by a young lady who is a boat captain; with the water level low, she was happy to have work driving the shuttle van.

The Laughlin/Bullhead City area has two seasons: summer, when it is hotter than Phoenix, but the river is hopping with boats and jetskis; and winter, when it is cooler and more comfortable and the snowbirds start showing.  We have done the riverboat at the Riverside Casino several times - an interesting two hour tour along the river.  No doubt this new boat at the Aquarius will give them a run for their money.

We had lunch at the Outback Steakhouse in the Aquarius, picked up a sandwich at the Subway there for the drive home tomorrow, then back to the Riverside, where Joan needed to cash in a voucher.  If we don't go play at the casinos tonight, I think she might be close to even (I don't ask).  I am down $11 - not bad for 3 days entertainment.

Back to the van this afternoon, we need to dump our holding tanks.  Since we had pulled in straight forward in this back-in site, we needed to do an "about face" so our macerator pump and hose would be on the side by the campground sewer connection.  No big deal.  We are rotated, tanks dumped, and enjoying some chill time...

 Murphy's silhouette, looking out the back windows of the RoadTrek, towards the casinos.  While compact, this van is comfortable and easy.

We've had a good time here.  A selfie while waiting for the casino shuttlebus...

 

Damn...

 

If you said, "What does a fish say when he runs into a big wall of concrete while swimming?", you get 15 bonus points for laughing at a kid joke.  If you said, "That is dam, not damn," you lose 20 bonus points for having no sense of humor and being the Language Police.

After cleaning up, we got our day off to a good start with the breakfast buffet at the Riverside Casino.  I may not come out ahead after a bit of gaming, but I make up for it on the buffet... especially when there is bacon involved.  And besides all the usual breakfast fare, they had lunch stuff, like a taco bar, Italian dishes, BBQ pulled port, brisket, and beef burgundy.  In the words of the philosopher Arby's: we have the meats.  So, I came out even more ahead, especially with that $2 off we got for flashing our casino players' card.  ;-)

After breakfast/brunch, we did a bit of touring around - all the high points: a drive along Casino Row (this is obviously not high season here, judging by the number of open spots in the parking lots), a stop at Sam's Club for cheap (well, less expensive) gas, a trip to Wally World... and then some actual sight-seeing.

It has been a while since we went to Kathryn's Landing and Davis Dam (no "n") - rugged scenery and blue water...

 Yes, I enjoy the curvy roads, even when we aren't on the scoots.

Lake Mohave (I thought that was supposed to be a "j" instead of the "h'), formed by Davis Dam across the Colorado River...

 There is a plan for a walk along the casinos on the river, but that might have to wait until tomorrow - the wind has kicked up (not unusual here) today.

We have reservations for the Prime Rib Room this evening.  Another nostalgic stop here.