Mission accomplished...

The shake-down trip has been declared a success.

Hauling the cargo trailer was slick.  Set up and take down gave us a chance to double check all the utilities.  Riding together gave Joan the opportunity to mess with the Infotainment Center on the dash.  (Seriously, it does a whole bunch of stuff, but it isn't as easy and intuitive as Jill, the Garmin GPS, and the Sirius stereo we're used to.  A learning curve.)

We had a good time in Laughlin.  The trip back was uneventful.  Just the way I like it.  Little Izzy sat on Joan's lap for part of the trip...

She likes to put her face in the breeze coming from the vents.  Joan is convinced that she would enjoy a ride on the scooter if we put a basket on the front.  Yeah, I don't think so.  She is such a good traveler, though - settled in right away with the motorhome.  Doesn't fuss when it's time to move.  Joan put her up on the dash, and she stayed.

The ride home seemed prettier than the trip there... silhouettes in the distance...

And the cacti was back-lit...

The motorhome did what it is supposed to do.  We topped off fuel this morning.  Another Aspect owner told me he got 8 mpg at first, then 9 after about 5,000 miles, and now gets close to 10 regularly.  We got 9.72 mpg.  I was pleased.  The ride is good; the Ford V-10 has plenty of power for this weight.  It doesn't have the "grunt" of our diesel truck, but it should be fine.

Getting back to the resort here, set-up was a breeze.  Smart lay-out with all the utilities.  Yep... home is where you park it.  ;-)

Rolling... Rolling... Rolling on the River...

This afternoon, we took a ride on the Riverside's excursion boat.  It is a 90 minute narrated tour, telling about the area, the history, the Colorado River, and the story of Don Laughlin developing the casino business here.  Nice boat...

... 119 passenger boat, designed for this trip - it just fits under the bridge (that Don Laughlin paid for and gave to the state) and makes a run up to Davis Dam and back down river past the casinos.  Yes, we've done this quite a few times, but it another perspective... and nice to be out on the water.

From a driving perspective, it would be a short, repetitive trip... from the passenger perspective, it is another view of the area.  We enjoy it.

Pulling away from the dock...

Heading up river to Davis Dam...

The smallest of the dams along the Colorado River.  The narration of the use of water from the Colorado River was one of the more interesting parts.  Southern California, Phoenix, Tucson, and the areas between are dependent on this river for their water needs.

There is a recreation area south of the dam for day use and RV sites...

The southern portion of the trip runs by the casinos in Laughlin (all but one of them right on the river)...

If you don't want to drive across the bridge between Arizona and Nevada, you can park on the Arizona side and take a shuttle boat to the casino...

Back and forth across the river all day.  There are Water Taxi boats that go from casino to casino, also.

After the boat ride, we walked along the water and had supper at another casino - at Outback, not another buffet.  ;-)  Back to the Riverside for some more gaming.  While waiting for a shot at a Ghost Busters machine that keeps Joan coming back, we walked through the free car museum at the Riverside - a lot of nice vehicles, all in pristine condition.

I took this shot of the evening sky from that museum on the third floor...

More gaming (I'm still even, I didn't ask Joan, but she seemed to be doing well when I saw her playing), then we called it a night.  Well, pretty much a trip, since we will be heading out in the morning.  Walking back to our bikes, we found them surrounded by Harleys... I guess they wanted to hang with the "big dogs"...

It has been a good stay in Laughlin.  We didn't make enough to buy a bigger RV, so I guess we'll just stay with what we have.  :-)

What a Momma does...

Stephanie doesn't remember when she threw up into her Mother's hands (she was a toddler).  Doesn't remember getting her poopy diapers changed.  Doesn't remember when we pulled out the diaper and took a sniff to see if it was needing to be changed.

Last night, in the middle of the night, Joan got up to turn the heat on... it was still warm when we went to bed; actually ran the a/c when we turned in.  But, this is the desert, and temperature swings from day to night are the norm.

While up, she stepped on/in something.  She didn't want to turn on the light and wake me up... Mommas are considerate that way, too.  She assumed it was something Izzy left on the floor, and it wasn't a cat toy.  How do you determine what it is in the dark?  Yep: sniff test.

The good news: it wasn't cat shit.  It wasn't cat puke.  Izzy is a long hair cat, and we give her "snacks" that are supposed to move that fur (from her impeccable grooming) on through.  Yes, it was a hair ball.  Really, the least offensive of the options.  Well, for the one having to clean it up

But, it is what Mommas do.

50 ways...

Laughlin is a bit like a small Las Vegas: the casinos are open 24/7.  Of course, it is a lot of RVers in Laughlin, so instead of "a city that doesn't sleep," this is a bit more like "a city that takes naps and kinda turns in around 8:30 or so."

;-)

We haven't been to a movie in a while - the Riverside Casino has a nice theater complex.  I don't think we've done a movie-in-the-morning thing since I was a kid... and movies were 15¢.  (Fill in your own "when I was a kid..." thing here.)  There has been a lot of hype about Fifty Shades of Grey... let's go see that.  Even on the guitar forum I frequent, there was a thread about this movie.  No, I didn't read the books, but I understand the premise.

"So, how was it?" you ask.  Thanks for asking.  It was a pretty movie: pretty people, beautiful cinematography.  I gave away all my ties when we retired.  While I'm sure the Blonde thinks there are times I could use a spankin', I'm a bit too big for that.

I read that it (the movie) is better than the book (no wordy descriptive stuff).  I thought it was pretty good; didn't like the way it ended, but I understand they need to leave it open for the next one.  And this one made along the lines of $81 million, so I would bet there will be a next one.

Seemed likewise unusual to be eating popcorn in the morning (right after breakfast), but what would a movie be without over-priced treats?  On the really bright side, the woman doing the popcorn likes butter as much as I do.

Next on the agenda: an excursion boat ride on the Colorado River.  Yeah, we've done it a bunch of times, almost makes it a "tradition" for us... 50 shades of boat rides.

Get yer kicks...

On Route 66...

Scooter day today.  Destination: Oatman, Arizona.  We started the day with breakfast at the Riverside Casino.  They took a few bucks from me gaming, but I made up for it by eating $50 worth of bacon at the breakfast buffet.

Back to the coach, and ready to ride...

We crossed the river and rode through Bullhead City on the Arizona side.  You can see the casinos across the river, behind the Blonde...

Bullhead City's claim to fame is being along the Colorado River.  It is a long town, following the curves of the river.  About 10 miles from where we crossed into Arizona, we made our turn towards Oatman.

Not a lot to see on the way there...

A few miles outside of Oatman, you join up with Historic Route 66...

The scenery gets more interesting, too.  Getting closer to Oatman...

Oatman was a gold mining town in the early1900s.  The gold ran out in the 30s.  Now, it is some tourist shops and begging burros (descendents that were turned loose when the miners left).  We parked the bikes...

And saw the burros and the shops...

Plenty of tourists walking the streets and the sidewalks...

The shops are mostly trinket and t-shirt sellers, but I did enjoy the signage...

To support the public rest rooms, western-looking characters put on a "gunfight" on the street (for donations)...

The acting won't win an Academy Award, but it was an interesting diverson.  They might go to Deadwood to see how a public gunfight for the tourists is done.  ;-)

Back to the bikes, where we found a Harley that was embarrassed to be seen with the scooters...

Back down the same road...

One of the decorated scrub brush...

Instead of going through Bullhead City, we crossed the river at the Avi Casino, then rode to Laughlin on the Nevada side.  There were some irrigated fields...

And on the other side where it isn't irrigated...

Occasionally, you would get a glimpse of the river on this road...

We came across this marina...

Didn't look like anything was happening there... no boats at slips, only two cars in the parking lot.  Nice facility, though.

Coming back into Laughlin from the south - Casino Drive...

Back to the motorhome; little Izzy was waiting...

I took her for a walk, we spruced up - put on grown up clothes (I was wearing long pants that weren't jeans) - and I took my pretty wife out for a grown-up meal.  The Prime Rib Room at the Riverside has a great view of the river.  I made reservations yesterday - we had a table by the floor-to-ceiling windows...

A little more gaming after our meal... I am now officially even!  I know when to quit.  ;-)  I think Joan is still up... I didn't ask.