Tonopah, Nevada  

Posted by Stan Harrington

For the first time this trip, both Suzie and the truck compass is pointing us going N for a sustained time, so I guess we must be headed towards home. We are now in a very small town about 309.7 miles north of Laughlin, Nevada. Passing through Las Vegas without a stop and Suzie did her typical outstanding job directing us through the interstates and traffic, I really do love her!


We did pull out of Laughlin a day ahead of schedule, not due to heavy gaming losses, quite the contrary. Prior to our arrival in Luaghlin, I called my favorite hotel, the Colorado Belle. I have stayed there a half dozen times, even with my youngest daughter. Wanting to make reservations but discovering that they do not accept pets which I thought would be the case. However, they recommended a kennel in Boulder City which is just across the Colorado River from Laughlin. Wanting first to checkout the kennel, I did not make reservations at $22.00 per night despite the fact that they are advertised on the Internet at $19.00 per night.

Found that the "spa" for Dutch was very nice, he had a lot of company and I am sure he did not get much sleep last night even tho he had his own pent house, but it appeared to me that there was a good number of "ladies" just hanging around looking for a little companionship, so he was in heaven with lots of friends. Leaving Dutch in Arizona, we headed to Laughlin, Nevada and to check into the Colorado Belle. Upon checking in, we discover the room rate is $30.00 per night, when questioned why the difference from the time I called, her attitude comment was "oh, those are reservation prices", I know I should have taken out the cell phone and called for reservations in front of her. Behaving myself, I went to our room. After settling in, I pull out the old laptop to see what kind of reception I had since they advertised "wireless". Surprise, I had great reception but first I had to register and pay $6.95 per hour! After enjoying wireless connection free of charge from the motels since we left Alaska, it upset me just a touch that a hotel this size and a casino, would charge for wireless.

Freshening up, we left for the casino floor. My next surprise since my last trip to Laughlin and Vegas, "what in the hell are all these penny machines"? Hundreds of them, the nickels and quarter machines were a minority! But, I did find my favorite dollar machines. After Terry lost $10.00, she gave up to go sit in the sun by the pool. My biggest surprise and it took awhile to adjust is that there are not more silver dollars crashing into the tray! It is all automated and programed noise of money falling. You feed any denominational bill into the slot and it gives you credits to play. When you quit, you hit the "cash out" button and it prints out a receipt showing your winnings or money you have left to play. You can use this later to feed into another machine or cash it in for the real stuff. By the time, that Terry found me for dinner I had accumulated a tidy profit for my time and enjoyment.
Following dinner and a refresher nap while watching the last game of the World Series, I returned to the floor to play until 1 a.m., this time almost tripling my earlier winnings. Over breakfast, I added my totals up and made the decision that I would leave Laughlin and the Colorado Belle a winner. This morning while Terry was checking out, I did have to invest $20.00 in my favorite machine from the night before, by the time she returned, I cashed out my $41.00 and gave it to her for packing out all the luggage and I walked away with a nice chunk of their money. The Colorado Belle's final surprise came when Terry was checking out, she had made two long distant calls from our room using her phone card. The check out bill included $1.00 for each of the times that she used their phone. I really do not mind the extra charges - but don't nickel and dime me to death - raise your room rates!

Making the drive from Las Vegas to here, if anyone ever offers you 1,000 acres of free land in this area - run! It is desolate, sage brush, desert, no water and small mountains on the horizon, however, we did add one more specie of game to our animal list today. These are wild burros that roam this area in large numbers. This was the largest herd that we saw but we saw several other small herds. You can find out more about these animals by visiting the HITW. Talking with the motel owner tonight, he also said there are a lot of wild horses as well and they have an annual round up on them each year to keep the herd in check.
Tomorrow, we will arrive in Reno early so most likely, we will stop for a little casino entertainment before continuing home. From Reno, we have no idea which way we go but it will be in some northerly route. Got to go, Bronco game is over, they did better than I thought against Green Bay. See you down (up) the road.

This entry was posted on October 29, 2007 at Monday, October 29, 2007 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

7 comments

I lost a little money there..wish I could do it again.

10/29/07, 10:11 PM

Head for the coast!...hwy 101 up the coast...beautiful drive...Sealion caves...wax museums, From southern Oregon to the Washington border...nothing better than the Oregon Coast if your in the "states".

Seaside Oregon is a beautiful town with a calm and entertaining night life...a street carnival year round...up the road a ways is Licholn
City....the best Casinos in Washington and Oregon are located here....A very nice hotel that does take four legged friends is there with decent rates this time of year...fire place in the room...balcony overlooking miles and miles of sandy Pacific Ocean Beaches....you can hear the waves ALL night long while the fire crackles near by....and FREE INTERNET! After a couple days here you can drive out on several roads or continue back up the coast...another WONDERFUL casino is located just 20 miles inland from Lincoln City. If you cut back to Interstate 5 and follow the Columbia River Gorge inland it is a beautiful drive...and there is a paddle boat restaurant and cruise that is an enjoyable event. So anyway you are obviously in an area I know well so if you want interesting things to do...head for 101!!

10/29/07, 10:20 PM

The Northern California area is a beautiful drive on 101 too...but Southern Oregon is kinda crappy! Just watch the border police...they steal your strawberries!!!!

10/29/07, 10:21 PM

Good to hear of the winnings - thought, by the length of time slack, they may have caught you rounding and took you to that quiet place in the desert with wild burrows....

10/30/07, 12:06 AM

Are we on the road again yet? Can I dump just one more dollar? and what the heck is that all about with the penny machines?? Takes forever to pay on one of those...not to mention who has a penny anymore?

10/30/07, 7:47 AM

Nice picture, all Democrats I see.

10/30/07, 5:39 PM

Heather received her post card today and was very excited! She laughed hard at the picture! She also thought she should inform me what the other name for burrows is! Boy she sure thought it was cool to say that!

Anyways they are doing well and now that you have given her a date she has marked it and will keep close track! (IF YOU ARE NOT BACK BY THAT DATE SHE SAID YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXCUSE!! I TOLD HER WHAT IF YOU GOT "LOST" AND SHE AND SHE VERY PROMPTLY EXPLAINED THAT YOU HAD SUZIE SO GETTING LOST WAS NOT AN EXCUSE! SHE DOESN'T MISS A THING.)

10/30/07, 8:34 PM

Post a Comment