Laughlin 2008

My wife and I left Thursday morning with two other friends and rode down to Laughlin, NV for the River Run Rally. Thursday we did over 400 miles and stayed in Boulder City. We took the cut off after mesquite and rode down by lake mead to avoid Las Vegas. I know there was some talk by some earlier about that road as a route from AZ to the Western Rally. There are pros and cons to taking that road. Parts of the road are very good and parts of the road are very bad (potholes that will jar your kidneys/don't plan on going faster than 35 mph through the bad sections) It is also out in the middle of nowhere and you might not encounter another human being. That may or may not be what you are after. If you are comming from Hoover Dam and plan on taking that road you need to fill up at the 2 pump Cheveron across the street from the Hacienda Hotel and Casino a couple of miles after the dam, because there is nowhere to get gas on that back road until you get to Overton/Logandale.

Day 2 we rode from Boulder City, over the dam and into laughlin through AZ. Laughlin was a mad house. There was at least 1000 bikes leaving Laughlin headed Toward Kingman as we were heading in Friday morning and we still had a difficult time finding a place to park! We hung out for a couple hours got some shirts and took off through Searchlight back to Boulder city. We rode over 200 miles Friday.

Saturday morning we decided just to ride through Vegas rather than take the back road by lake mead. It wasn't bad traffic at all we jumped on 515 and hooked onto I-15 in North LV and fought a nasty headwind all day. We hit 4 states in 3 days and covered nearly 1100 miles. In all it was a fun trip,

Here's some pics: http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x4/sjmarsing/Laughlin%202008/?start=all

[audiogooroo]

Cool! Looks like a good ride.
Was this the first long ride for your wife? Did she love it?
Thanks for posting the pics pal.

Pretty cool pics, Wolfman. I've been over Hoover Dam a few times but I've never been up along Lake Mead. Looks like an interesting ride.

[cactusjack]

Thanks for posting the pictures and the tale of your journey. I am still considering bypassing Vegas on that highway, because when I hit the Vegas area, it's going to be about noon on a Thursday.

[rflnomad]

Looks nice Wolfman. Which drivers backrest do you have? I am 6'2" and preparing for a set of 2 or 3 inch risers and want a drivers backrest.
Looked like a great time.

AG: Last year my wife and I did a 300 miler one day. By the end of the day she was complaining about a sore butt. This time she had fun and didn't complain. The difference was that I put the shocks on number 4 with no air. It rode like a caddy and we didn't bottom out once. With the air it was a stiffer ride and my wife got a sore but.

RFL: I have the backrest from dakals/grasshopper its nice and priced good too. I'm also 6'2" and have 3 inch straight risers from chuckster.

CJ: 515 goes on the east side of Vegas. I found it to be less hectic than I-15. WAY better than driving through Utah County. For the most part the back road by lake mead isn't too bad. It gets pretty narrow and there are some tight turns with no speed warning signs though.

[MarkG]

Thanks for the update on the rest of the road by Lake Mead. Guess it will depend a lot on time of the day, how hot, and how tired I am which way I take going to Mesquite. Glad you both had a good time on your trip.

[skeeter]

Thanks for the pics and trip report. Awful nice of them gals to let you guys set on their bikes.

[rlfaubion]

Nice ride Wolf! Thanks for the flicks. I liked that road around Mead myself.

[tomk]

Nice WM. I like that area. Have retired friends in Bullhead.

Thanks

[rflnomad]

Thanks for the reply Wolf; That is what I thought you had on your bike.
These were the two mods I was thinking about EXACTLY!
I feel so smart!

[cactusjack]

Nice WM. I like that area. Have retired friends in Bullhead.

Thanks

My parents had some friends that retired and moved to Bullhead City 35-40 years ago. We drove down there for Thanksgiving one year. Bullhead was a lot smaller then and Laughlin didn't exist yet. The only thing on that side of the river was a bar/casino that used to run a boat back and forth to carry customers. I don't think the bridge across the river was there back then. Anyway, we got into town as the annual Santa Claus parade was going on and the "reindeer" were burros with fake antlers on their heads. It was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen.

ISN'T THIS A NICE VIEW??
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x4/sjmarsing/CROP-5.jpg

[skeeter]

Whoa Nellie!! Dang near leaned plumb out my chair!

[blowndodge]

beautiful view. I wish I was there! Nice posting Wolfster. Look at a dem freekin' bikes!!!! WOW what a zoo!

[rlfaubion]

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s31/rlfaubion/100.gif

[jrd]

Wolfman,

Looks like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

John