Little Overnighter to Laughlin, NV

[Phartz]

With the 3 day MLK day holiday I decided it was time to take a ride out to Laughlin. Beautiful weather and temps the whole way. Left home Sunday morning. Stayed overnight. Rode home Monday.

Left Orange County via the Ortega Hwy. Breakfast in Elsinore. East to Paris and up the 215 and out the 60/10 to Hwy 62. Out through Yucca Valley and 29 Palms (I actually think there's more than 29 there). Then out Rte 66 through the alphabet towns of Amboy (& Roy's Cafe), Cadiz, Essex, Goffs, etc.

Arrived Laughlin about 2:30PM. The night before I had got online and reserved a room at the Colorado Belle at the astounding rate of $18.95 (tax put it over $20 but I could afford it anyway ) I like the motorcycle parking right up front.

The other thing I like about the Colo Belle is the brew pub therein. I had an awesome wood fired pizza :eat2: and washed it down with an excellent Amber Ale :beer8: (hearty, malty) and a zippy Pale Ale :beer8: (bitter, hoppy).

Gotta love it ! ! ! :beer3: :beer8: :beer3: :beer8: :beer3:

I'm not a gambler so I turned in early, got up early and hit the road. It was a really nice, mellow ride. Not a challenging, twisty ride but a great-to-be-out-in-the-wide-open-spaces-cruisin' ride. :grin: :grin:

Here's a few pics . . .

 

[Mark]

Those are the kind of rides that make for great memories.

I haven't been to Laughlin...
hmmm microbrews... now I'll have to convince Chris that we should make a run that way...

Mark

 

[txdon2006]

Interesting post. You don't hear much about Laughlin and I found it interesting since my wife and I got married on a River Boat in Laughlin 11 years a go. We're still going strong.

 

[BigTom]

Yeah, a good ride. The roads are straight and (mostly) good, the people are friendly. Reminds me of Reno in the early 70's, before it got so big and self important.

Best food deal? The chili cheese dog at the coffee shop in the Pioneer. Aaaarrgggghhhh. Good and cheap.

 

[George]

Pat,I've been over all those same roads several times. Never stayed in Laughlin, tho, as my far end is closer to yur home.

You should have scheduled a couple more hours to make the run from Needles to Kingman and back. Actually, just U-turn 10 miles east of Oatman at the little convenience/gift store. No need to come all the way to Kingman.

 

[Texas]

I was looking at your pictures there Pat. $2.59 for gas?! Was that full service, or is gas that much higher in that part of the country? I know gas has gone up a little bit, but it is about $1.65 here in Houston.

Texas

 

[snowmoer]

If you can go to the Micro Brew on a Thursday, pints are 75 cents I will be out there next month to do some work for Lake Mead NRA.

 

[Mark]

Dan!!!

That is an *excellent* bit of information!!!



Thanks!
Mark

 

[George]

I was looking at your pictures there Pat. $2.59 for gas?! Was that full service, or is gas that much higher in that part of the country? I know gas has gone up a little bit, but it is about $1.65 here in Houston.

Texas

That price is in the near-ghost town of Amboy. Nothing else for many miles in any direction. They are open only sporadically and don't expect to sell much. It's a favorite stop for the Marines on their cruisers and sport bikes, out of 29 Palms about 70miles north. It's about another 70 miles east or west to the next gas.

 

[lwpaxton]

that's a nice ride,Pat.
Another good route is I-10 to Desert Center turn on Rice road to Vidal Junction to Parker,AZ or turn north to Needles,CA
Avoid CA 85 from Blythe,CA to Vidal at all costs, a very bad section of highway for almost 50 miles.

 

[Phartz]

Thanks guys.

Yeah, George & lwpaxton, I've been out that way several times and a done Kingman, Oatman, and Parker. Good suggestions though. I almost went for Oatman this time but then opted for the early get home to beat any end of the holiday weekend traffic -- which, of course, I'm allergic to. :

txdon2006, congrats on your 11 years that began in Laughlin. It's a great destination for me for a simple inexpensive overnighter. I like to make a trip out there during the winter. Room rates are very cheap (like $15 during the week) and riding temps are perfect. When I first got the ST I rode out there for lunch and rode back the same day. It's a few miles shy of 300 each way for me.

George nailed it on the gas price Texas. Amboy is way out there with nothin' around except some working salt flats and railroad tracks.

Ride on . . .

 

[Joetul]

Least you picked a good time of the year. We did a cross country trip in our Grumman Tiger from OK to LA and to Sacramento.
On the way back we stopped at Laughlin for the night. Temp was 125 deg F. An Allegiant MD80 was stuck because it wasnt legal to take of with the runway length/temp combination.
Stayed at Harrahs for something like 20 bucks and fired up in the "coolness" the next morning (93 deg f). That was a great trip and interesting adventure.

 

[Byron]

The temperature when you were in Amboy was a whole lot better than when Bob (SupraSaber) and I were there on our way to WeSTOC last year.

 

[Phartz]

Least you picked a good time of the year.

Oh yeah, winter is definitely the time to visit and ride through all the deserty places. Come summer I can head north, up the coast, or up into the mountains, or anywhere but the desert -- once I get out of it that is.

 

[fnmag]

With the 3 day MLK day holiday I decided it was time to take a ride out to Laughlin. Beautiful weather and temps the whole way. Left home Sunday morning. Stayed overnight. Rode home Monday.

Left Orange County via the Ortega Hwy. Breakfast in Elsinore. East to Paris and up the 215 and out the 60/10 to Hwy 62. Out through Yucca Valley and 29 Palms (I actually think there's more than 29 there). Then out Rte 66 through the alphabet towns of Amboy (& Roy's Cafe), Cadiz, Essex, Goffs, etc.

Arrived Laughlin about 2:30PM. The night before I had got online and reserved a room at the Colorado Belle at the astounding rate of $18.95 (tax put it over $20 but I could afford it anyway ) I like the motorcycle parking right up front.

The other thing I like about the Colo Belle is the brew pub therein. I had an awesome wood fired pizza :eat2: and washed it down with an excellent Amber Ale :beer8: (hearty, malty) and a zippy Pale Ale :beer8: (bitter, hoppy).

Gotta love it ! ! ! :beer3: :beer8: :beer3: :beer8: :beer3:

I'm not a gambler so I turned in early, got up early and hit the road. It was a really nice, mellow ride. Not a challenging, twisty ride but a great-to-be-out-in-the-wide-open-spaces-cruisin' ride. :grin: :grin:

Here's a few pics . . .

Thanks for your pics of Roy's Cafe in Amboy, Ca.
I can remember when my family first arrived in Amboy-it was in 1957 and my family was on a cross country trip from Chicago.
Even though these pics are 10 years old it's always fun to see these pics of the Mother Road.

 

[SupraSabre]

Thanks for your pics of Roy's Cafe in Amboy, Ca.
I can remember when my family first arrived in Amboy-it was in 1957 and my family was on a cross country trip from Chicago.
Even though these pics are 10 years old it's always fun to see these pics of the Mother Road.

This month marked a trip I did to Laughlin 6 years ago. I even rode down to the London Bridge in Lake Havasu.

Laughlin Jan 2013

 

[Don-STOC237]

Regular 87 octane is still about $2.50 up here in western Nevada. Even higher over the mountains in CA. And we're not out in the sticks - that's the lowest prices in the region (Reno, Carson City, Carson Valley)