Laughs in Laughlin

So part of me really wanted to title this, Laughlin: Las Vegas’ retarded cousin. But to be fair it was all about the experience of going there with good friends and having a good time.

8 of us were sitting in the 12 passenger van owned by our buddy Adam. It was Friday night and we were heading out to Laughlin for his bachelor party! Despite numerous threats there was no gay raping and i was pretty pleased about that to say the least. Adam and I took turns driving, while the rest kicked back and watched movies on Adam’s laptop. He had cleverly hooked it up to a monitor speaker. This means it was easily loud enough to be heard all the way in the back.

In the middle of the desert, in the pitch black of night we stopped on the side of the 15 freeway to pee as only a bunch of dudes can. While passerby’s honked their horns at the show on the right shoulder we joked and marveled at the quantity and clarity of the stars.

We hit the road again and soon enough we were just outside of Laughlin on Needles Hwy. We considered stopping at a shack of a house on the side of the road as there was a large sign advertising Ferrets. Somehow reason interceded in that idea and we decided that a ferret would best be left until the journey home. You see we were not quite sure of the laws, rules, or regulation regarding walking around, in and out of hotels, bars, and casino’s with a ferret. Even in Laughlin.

Finally we reached our destination around 1:30 Saturday morning. We ate some In & Out and cruised around from casino to casino gambling and getting free drinks from the waitresses. We walked a damn eternity it seemed and gambled often but with small amounts of money. One thing became obvious however….. Adam (said bachelor in this bachelor getaway) was on fire. His luck was on, the whole trip. Which was only fitting as it was his party to begin with.

Around 6am we had some breakfast at a cafe inside the Aquarius hotel and casino we were staying at. At that point I had been awake for 24 hours and we were all pretty much zombies. We checked into our rooms and knocked out for about 6 hours or so.

We woke up at 1:30 Saturday afternoon or so to the sound of thunder. A set of thunder storms were passing through and it was a sight to behold. I went to the window of our room just in time to watch people running from the pool as the sky opened up and rain began to fall like tears from a Laughlin resident for being well… A Laughlin resident.

We hung out for about an hour and a half while we all showered and got ready. Finally we hit the road in perfect time as the storms had passed through and the sun had come out. Being a photographer, I am always looking for “cool clouds” and they were all over the place. Even the Colorado river in the area looked decent with the light and clouds the way they were.

We walked all over the place and ended up eating at the outlet mall. The choices were limited and somehow I ate some of the worst mall Chinese food I have ever had. But it did the trick and we had the energy and full stomachs to keep going. We walked around some more and I took some pictures of the river, mountains, and clouds as the sun set behind us.

We started off again and ended up spending some hours at this hole in the wall bar and casino on the river walk. We were lured in by cheap buy one, get one free drink coupons and 3 dollar cups of Newcastle. It was good fun and a nice chill spot. Like a neighborhood bar. After a while though we needed some interaction with a younger crowd. We ended up at a bar called The Losers and it was pretty happening! The live music was good and the crowd was partying. Other than a few tough guy types, most people were cool and soon a number of us were on the dance floor (not me) and we were all having fun. I was doing what I do, taking pictures and having fun without cutting a rug.

We eventually decided to hit another spot and wandered down to a club called Inferno. Wow! What a drag that place was. Loud dance music and about 20 people there.. Max! We promptly left and walked to back to The Losers and hung out some more.

In the midst of all this walking around were moments of gambling and just hanging out in casino’s. At some point Adam tripled the money he had brought. Like I said he was on fire all weekend. I won about 80 bucks from a free 5$ card they gave away at the Colorado Belle. We had some Burger King and kept drinking here and there. With all the walking, I found it nearly impossible to keep a buzz going but I was having a good time anyway!!

It was around 5 am when most of us were walking back to our rooms. We were walking along the river and we saw some lightning. So I steadied my camera on the railing and took a few 30 second exposures. I finally got one I liked and I admit I was a bit excited. It’s not a great picture by any means, but it is the first time I have captured lightning on camera! Once I had calmed down we went up to the room and crashed.

The next morning we woke up at 11am and got ready to leave. We stopped at Coco’s and had some breakfast and hit the road. We drove through a few Thunder storms which were pretty cool! We almost stopped for the ferrets but when we laid eyes on the shack selling them in the daytime we decided we would more probably end up as the ferrets dinner or worse. So no ferret for us! We made a pit stop in Barstow and admired all the Barstow beauties (heavy sarcasm) while we stretched and got some snacks.

We finally made it back around 7pm Sunday night. It was a fun trip and I had a great time. It was my first time really hanging out with a few of the guys and we all really got along well. I would like to thank Adam for the use of the van and having a great group of friends. A few guys could not make it and were definitely missed. Steve!

I would like to thank Adam, Nathan, Ed, Mark, Anthony (taco), Juan, and Andy (aka- A.C. Slaughter, aka- Sgt. Slaughter) for an awesome trip and a great time!! We totally slaughtered Laughlin!!! Let’s do it again soon. Just not in Laughlin. Lol

The clouds were awesome as we left.