Nevada: Laughlin

 11-13 May 2022

I joked with Dan that the only reason he picked this spot to camp was because we could put the Nevada sticker on the “states where I’ve camped in the RoadHouse” map! Laughlin downtown is filled with casinos and they must be very very busy because we didn’t see very many people out on the streets! Casino Street is lined with large hotel casinos from end to end. I have no idea how they stay in business. Our campground is located out of town and it may actually be on Indian land because the campground is part of a golf/RV park/casino/theater complex. We walked over to see “Fantastic Beasts” last night; our first in-theater movie since about January 2020! It was good to be back in a theater and we felt completely safe because there were only four other people watching with us!

Late this morning we took our bikes to a path along the Colorado River and road to the top of the Davis Dam, which holds back water to make Lake Mohave. On the other side of the river is Bullhead City and Kingman, in Arizona. On the other side of the road to our campground is California. So, we really are tucked right into the tip of the state of Nevada. Even so, it counts, and Dan will get his sticker!

Desert landscape between LA and Laughlin with Joshua Trees, taken from a moving truck.

Little Chollas (my best guess) budding out

Lake Mohave

The Colorado River downstream from the Dam

Our bikes on the Davis Dam; to your right is Lake Mohave; on the left, the Colorado River.

Note the hood on the walkway light. The entire paved pathway from the county park to the pedestrian/bike bridge to Casino Street in downtown Laughlin sported these lamps. I bet it was nice at night. I’m not sure of the purpose of the shade—my first thought was that it reflected the light down onto the pathway; but it may be protective as well; it was not a solar panel as far as I could tell.

Creosote bush, in bloom. The flowers reminded me of pussywillows.

I don’t know what these are but they were striking in the desert…maybe a type of sage?

I plan on making a separate food post at the end of our trip but today’s outdoor activities allowed me to convince Dan that we needed to stop at In-N-Out burger. When we passed it on the way to the bike path, I made a mental note. One needs to do that! I’d wanted to stop in either San Diego or LA but we never had a good chance. My cheeseburger was fresh-tasting and delicious. I enjoyed every bite! Dan had no problem polishing off his double-double!

Tomorrow we head to Holbrook, AZ and a chance to see the Rt 66 Wigwams there—stay tuned!

(I’m using an old and free blog-maker from Blogspot.com and could not get this photo to add within the storyline where I wanted it; it wanted to go at the end…so, this is a BONUS PHOTO.)
BONUS PHOTO: find the campsite hidden in this photo.
We were on the path to the footbridge to Casino Street and I saw a fellow on a bike, carrying a smaller bike wheel and he went up the side of the main path, on to the top of a rise and he was talking with an older, rough, sun-kissed “outdoorsy type”; you know, a person who might be homeless. We saw him later, sans bike wheel that he had previously. It kind of looked like he might be delivering it to that older man. Later, I stopped to take some photos and the older guy caught up with us—he was mumbling to himself (never a good sign; it makes me think: mental illness) but when he caught up to us he was a friendly chatterbox. In the end, our encounter was harmless, if awkward. I engaged minimally but Dan was “eyes forward”, no engagement. He was telling us about the plants of the desert and what you could do with them and I fully expected him to ask us for money but he never did. Later, after our In-N-Out burgers, we saw him ambling down Casino Street.  As we were re-tracing our steps along the pathway back to the truck, we saw another bicycle come out of the same path and down onto the path we were on. I could see the wheel marks made by bicycles going up the side to the top of the ridge above the path and I went up there to see what was there. I saw what you see in the photo. And then I saw it—kind of off in the distance, there was a campsite with a large tent and large tan tarp.  [If you look carefully, you will be able to make it out in the photo above—about halfway down vertically and 60% of the way over from the left side.]