Day eighty two - Friday

Kingman, Arizona to Las Vegas was just over 100 miles by the direct route. However, there was construction at Boulder Dam and vehicle restrictions. So, rather than fight the traffic and restrictions we decided to take a little longer route and go through Bullhead City, Arizona and Laughlin, Nevada, which are across the Colorado River from each other. My Mom and Dad used to stay in Bullhead City during their winter vacation. This was before Laughlin had more than one casino and before it was a destination.

Although we knew we were going to Las Vegas, we weren't sure where we were going to stay. Before we left Kingman I checked some places on-line, including a place I figured would be too expensive to stay. We'd stayed at Outdoor Resorts before but the price had doubled since we were last here two years ago. However, when I checked their website I found they had a coupon for five nights free, with restrictions. Hmmmm, worth a try! I called and found out the restrictions were that you couldn't have stayed with them in the past six months. That was it! I made reservations and off we went. We were still concerned that they would spring some kind of kicker on us when we got there but, no, it was free! So, instead of three nights in Vegas, we'll be staying five. We love this place but would have had to pay almost $500 dollars to stay here without the coupon. GREAT DEAL!

Once we were set up, we did some grocery shopping and had a game of Scrabble. We met with Ann's Uncle Gilbert at the Red Rock Casino on the west outskirts of Las Vegas. This casino is near Gilbert's home, so it's convenient for him. We had dinner at the casino. Dinner for the three of us was $60.00. Then Gilbert and I played Texas Hold-em while Ann played slots. I bought in for $60.00 and two hours later cashed out for $100.00. Ann had $30.00 and cashed out for $31.44. So, after paying for dinner and playing Poker, the evening ended up costing $20.00. Not bad!

BTW, we're back in the Pacific time zone. Kinda strange after spending a couple of months figuring the time difference for TV and phone calls home.