Laughlin Casino Ratings...

So after touring most of the casinos outside of Harrah's. Which is another story, here are the results...with an omit to Harrah's.

Top Gambling Slot/Table Action:

1. Golden Nugget

2. Aquarius

3. EdgeWater

Top Food Choices:

1. Golden Nugget

2. Tropicana

3. Colorado Belle

Best Casino Look/Mood

1. Colorado Belle

2. Aquarius

3. EdgeWater

Hardest Casino to walk to:

1. Harrah's

Harrah's is almost impossible to walk to from the rest of the "strip". We attempted and failed after 40 minutes of pursuit. There is a sidewalk that aligns along the river, sadly it does not connect to Harrah's. Why? Unknown, it didn't make a ton of sense to us either.

I wonder if Harrah's feels they are more of an "island" destination, where they want their customers at the hotel to stay at their casino. It may make sense, but it limits the foot traffic from the other casinos along the river.

Desert Photos #3

This is a panoramic photo I took at the Tropicana looking East towards the Colorado Belle.

Desert Photos #2

The first photo is some non-active volcano on Route 66, there was magma all over the desert around that area. I guess it hasn't been active in 500 years, which in terms of a volcano, is not that long ago.

June Trip: Desert, Laughlin, Nevada

I was lucky enough to take off with 4 good friends for Laughlin, NV earlier this month. It was a great time, driving in the desert, you realize how far you are from legitimate large size urban sprawl.

Laughlin, NV is build along the Colorado River, across from Bullhead, Arizona and 99 miles south of Las Vegas. As a group we have done Vegas before, so Laughlin was quite different, but we expected that. We stayed at the Aquarius Casino and Hotel, which was formally a Flamingo. There was Flamingo designs still in the elevators, so it may not of been too long ago when the change was made.

From what I have read, Laughlin, NV was named after Don Laughlin, founder of the first hotel/casino, Don Laughlin's Riverside. According to online reports, he is still alive and from my estimation, is like the Godfather of the city. Can you imagine, being the originator of a large destination vacation city? I mean, not even Walt Disney had that kind of power to name the city after himself!

The swimming pool at the casino was terribly small for the amount of people who stay at that hotel. The pool was the size you would expect from a 300 room Holiday Inn Express. In any event, the pool was on the 3rd floor, so it was on top of the connecting building roof. The connecting building connected the casino to both hotel towers. So it is understandable from a engineering standpoint that the pool could only be so big. Maybe they will upgrade it sometime. The best pool I have seen was at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, where a tidal wave machine took place every 15 minutes. Quite awesome.

As a group, I don't think we came ahead on the gambling side of things, but it was pretty even. You would win a few bucks at one casino, then lose at the next, only to win at the third.

It certainly allows you to enjoy small casino/hotels in Laughlin. The Colorado River had wave runners for rental and farther up the river at a Mojave reservoir you could rent boats. If you are into smaller crowds and not big into the glitz of Las Vegas, then Laughlin, NV maybe your "bet" for a gambling vacation in the heat of Nevada!

M

More Camping Photos!

More Camping Photos

Camping: Truman State Park

We went camping at the Harry S. Truman State Park in Warsaw, Missouri.

The park is situated on Lake Truman. The waterway winds to the Lake of the Ozarks, but it appears from the map it is a long way.

The campsite had no grassy flat tent pads, so we had to sleep on an incline...and there were plenty of rocks and bumps. Awesome.

Although, the private trail to the Lake was pretty sweet.

And there were plenty of Raccoons around, so we heard the buggers at night. The dogs didn't mind, until they tried to open our coolers. We had them scram, then we put the cooler in the car.

And the Thunderstorm we survived in the tent was epic, but we lived. The woofers said, it was ok, as long as they could have more grilled food next time.

Here are some of the top photos...

Go after MLB Antitrust Exemption...

For the sheer reason that the commissioner of Major League Baseball, Allan "Bud" Selig, has yet again showed his ineptitude to the position. I know there are larger issues looming Washington D.C. currently, but Selig has lost me totally on his decision today.

Selig transmitted a memo that he would not be correcting the record book for Armando Galarraga's perfect game yesterday against the Indians. The memo did take notice that instant replay issue would be "reviewed" immediately. This side steps the issue, Selig's fingerprints are all over the thievery of Galarraga's Perfecto. For this reason, I believe legislators should go after MLB antitrust and remove Selig from power.

The man can't take a stand for what is right, the 2002 All Star Game in Milwaukee (Selig's Home Team) that ended in a 7-7 Tie, and he shrugged his shoulders and threw his hands up, whispering the words "what can you do?". He did the same today, and did nothing. Selig gets paid (some report up to 14) millions of dollars each year, and his lack of leadership has paid dividends yet again. He could of took the stress off the Referee Jim Joyce that blew the call, but he didn't. Selig left the Joyce to hang out and take the proverbial beating.

Guess what "Bud", you got it wrong. You should correct your error and then take early retirement outside of your 2012 schedule departure. You started as "acting" commissioner in1992 and as far as I can tell, you are still acting,

because you have no idea what the right type of leadership is required from your position.

And yes Bud, giving the All Star Game winner home field advantage in

the World Series is still a joke. You make NHL Commish Gary Bettman look great.