With snow at the Grand Canyon and night temperature around -10C and gas (petrol : ) at £2 a gallon we decided to ‘hole-up’ at our favourite Casino in Laughlin, Nevada and use our newly acquired skill at the Blackjack tables. (We have downloaded a casino rules Blackjack trainer as part of a master plan to get back on budget)Laughlin is on the Nevada side of the Colorado river with the twin town Bullhead City sitting on the opposite bank in the no gambling state of Arizona. Laughlin is evidence that the American dream was once a reality even if the word reality is a little lost on Laughlin. The story goes that in 1966 a 33 year old Don Laughlin a Las Vegas card dealer bought an isolated, run down motel for $35,000 across the river from an expanding Bullhead City. Arizona could not get enough of Laughlin’s ‘casino’ with its free river taxis and low cost meals and accommodation if you needed it. Business was so good that over the next 40 years Laughlin built a complete 24hr mini Vegas with over 10 major casinos (including one he still owns), 12,000 residents and 3m visitors a year. The packaged motel /alcohol /gamble model worked so well that he has become a very rich man… so rich that he has personally funded $1m of road improvements, built a bridge over the Colorado ($3m) and $6m to expand the airport so he could use the big jet airliners to market fly/gamble packages across the US. This is America!
Before you think we have won the lottery or lost it…
We are staying at the Casino… but in the RV Resort (which doubles as the Car Park :) for the week because at $5 day it’s a cheap, safe place in the centre of town while we do a bit of people watching after so long being surrounded by rocks and cacti. To add insult to injury the Lonely Planet quote… ‘Laughlin a down-home gambling type of place – think burgers, Budweiser and penny slot. It attracts an older, more sedate crowd- the kind of folks looking to gamble in a city without all the sin’ OK, YES - I know I am 55!
So Den’s 55th Birthday… a bit of present opening in bed with a camping lamp balanced on your head (as you do). Then off down the famous Route 66 road to Oatman, Arizona. Oatman is straight out of a Western movie… but it’s for real (well mostly – back to America and reality). It was a successful ($36m @ 1930 prices) gold mining town with a population of over 12,000 when in 1942 Congress decided that Gold mining was no longer essential for the war effort.
The population declined to around 250 who make a living out of our interest in the past. It’s a low key place with an authentic ghost town (shabby chic) look and feel (more Thorpeness than Disney) that manages to attract 500,000 people like us who come for the Route 66 association, a daily gunfight and wild burros.
The burros descendents were supposedly abandoned when the mines closed) who roam the main (only) street and can attack visitors on sight (or smell) of food.
The gunfight is hilarious even down to the warning (especially for California’s : ) that they are firing blanks and there is no danger or any need for anyone to fire back.
Unfortunately when the guns come out someone gets hurt - this time an innocent bystander - poor little baby burro : (.
After lunch and Birthday cake (coffee and walnut… made from scratch… no packet… a very, rare thing in the US - Thanks Jane X) in this one horse town it was home (RV - car park) for mojito’s and Italian meal in the Casino. These places are huge and the Tropicana Express (ours) has 7 restaurants’ to choose from! Den’s 55th Done.
As it’s my Birthday and I am allowed to be as long winded as I wish…
Gambling… we just don’t get it. Why do people do it??
Some sit with their credit cards in the slot machines and play hour after hour… after hour. If you must gamble Blackjack (think pontoon with hand signals) is your game. The house advantage is only around 1% (it’s up to 20% on many other Casino games) but if you count cards [think Dustin Hoffman… film, Rain Man] you can even tip the odds in your favour… and then they kick you out… for WINNING. What the… Our final analysis? Counting cards is virtually impossible without cheating (computer etc)... if you gamble you loose – it is only a question of when and how much.
Visiting or just driving through towns like Oatman is just like revisiting the Wild West we all read about as kids or watched as Hollywood turns fact into entertaining fantasy. In these places the classic ambush oozes from behind every boulder, with burly men and dusky voices carrying on the wind as imaginary gunfire echoes down the canyon - but only at 12:00 and 3:30pm – extra performances at weekends : ) Seriously you could have a really great holiday (fly / drive) just tracking down and touring the context of the really interesting Western history or even just Hollywood’s take on the folklore. It is possible to visit the jail that Billy the Kid broke out of or follow the travels of Wild Bill Hicok or see where Jessie James was assassinated. Tombstone still has an OK Corral for the budding Wyatt Earp’s – most of it still here (although this is America so someone will be cashing in somewhere). History comes alive in this young country in a way we are just not used to or prepared for… When Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was made (St George, Utah - not far from here) in 1969 Butch’s sister, Lula Parker Betenson, was 86 and talked to the cast and even endorsed the film much to the delight of the Studio as the critics slammed the film – what did they know – Great film. With no TV we have been reading and watching some DVD’s and revisiting some great old films etc.
Thank You all for my Birthday wishes.
Please note no burros were hurt in the making of this blog.
Den and Jane X
Some sit with their credit cards in the slot machines and play hour after hour… after hour. If you must gamble Blackjack (think pontoon with hand signals) is your game. The house advantage is only around 1% (it’s up to 20% on many other Casino games) but if you count cards [think Dustin Hoffman… film, Rain Man] you can even tip the odds in your favour… and then they kick you out… for WINNING. What the… Our final analysis? Counting cards is virtually impossible without cheating (computer etc)... if you gamble you loose – it is only a question of when and how much.
Visiting or just driving through towns like Oatman is just like revisiting the Wild West we all read about as kids or watched as Hollywood turns fact into entertaining fantasy. In these places the classic ambush oozes from behind every boulder, with burly men and dusky voices carrying on the wind as imaginary gunfire echoes down the canyon - but only at 12:00 and 3:30pm – extra performances at weekends : ) Seriously you could have a really great holiday (fly / drive) just tracking down and touring the context of the really interesting Western history or even just Hollywood’s take on the folklore. It is possible to visit the jail that Billy the Kid broke out of or follow the travels of Wild Bill Hicok or see where Jessie James was assassinated. Tombstone still has an OK Corral for the budding Wyatt Earp’s – most of it still here (although this is America so someone will be cashing in somewhere). History comes alive in this young country in a way we are just not used to or prepared for… When Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was made (St George, Utah - not far from here) in 1969 Butch’s sister, Lula Parker Betenson, was 86 and talked to the cast and even endorsed the film much to the delight of the Studio as the critics slammed the film – what did they know – Great film. With no TV we have been reading and watching some DVD’s and revisiting some great old films etc.Thank You all for my Birthday wishes.
Please note no burros were hurt in the making of this blog.
Den and Jane X
No comments:
Post a Comment