2008 Rallies & Events
Laughlin claims 10,000 hotel rooms. So assuming four people per room maxes out at 40,000 people. Now deduct the 1,000 or so vendors and their help and the organizer’s claim of 70,000 bikers seem preposterous. And add in the hundreds Metro police from Vegas. Ya think they stay ten to a room? Guess again, I bet they’re comped.
So on arrival I stashed my Bagster in the parking structure until my Sunday departure and checked into my decrepit $18 (plus tax) room for three nights when it would turn into a decrepit $200 (including tax) luxury ha-ha dump. Some promoters think that they’re entitled to gouging. I was able to walk the one street and many parking lots of this town. That’s the only redeeming feature of this event as I see it; the entire gig can be seen on foot if you don’t get heat stroke from the extreme temperature. Wear a hat and drink lots of water and less alcohol.
I was watching the talented and professional Purffect Angelz dance group who put on their usual outstanding show of sexy song and dance. I couldn’t help comparing to the Bud girls and others that are just hired models hyping a product or hustling calendars today, and tomorrow it could be demos for stoves or TV’s at another show. Once again as the saying goes, “Be Real!”
The bike show was a bust (in my opinion) with maybe 20 bikes at the event on the deck of the Colorado Belle. For some reason this is not a bike show event. Maybe because it’s more of a drinking event because every place you go there is a bar. Actually the entire venue is an informal bike show. Just walk and look anywhere on the strip. A non-sanctioned tattoo event was held at the Aquarius Casino Resort, formally the Flamingo Hilton, as a separate deal. They had some forty artists working.
Vinnie and Cody of newly-formed V-Force Customs showed up and the crowd gathered for the meet and greet. I got to spend some quality time with both of them and they had a neat looking bike with them. I wish them all the success in the world, they deserve it.
On a positive note (rare for me) the casinos seem to hire a lot of senior citizens as dealers, cashiers, bartenders, and other personnel as opposed to Las Vegas’s choice of the young and foxy for those aforementioned positions.
It seemed to me the crowd was down due to a combination of police enforcement, gouging by the hotels, and the lackluster economy. Pick any two outta three.
Cellular service in Laughlin has sucked ever since that form of communication became popular. In Daytona for the Daytona 500, cell companies bring in portable towers to handle the quarter-million NASCAR fans who attend the races. Aren’t we as high on the food chain as them? Vendors need cellular for their credit-card machines. Bike events attract huge crowds of cellular customers, but it seems they don’t count.
And as far as Verizon goes, they let thousands of their customers at Laughlin hang without service because they did not bother to bring a portable tower. Remember their biker ad with the near-eyed nerd and his crew standing behind him? Well they didn’t make friends in Laughlin this year. Verizon owes the motorcycle community an apology.
Food in Laughlin runs from buffets at all the casinos (which none win an award for great food, more like upscale high-school cafeteria food) to wannabe “gourmet overpriced” restaurants plus the in-house Burger Slims and MickyD’s to the free-standing IN-N-OUT Burger which is the hands-own favorite of most people judging from the never-ending line. The Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall’s snack bar is one of the best deals in town and the food won’t make ya sick. Unfortunately it’s always understaffed and the service is slow, but it’s worth the wait. Good, bad, and ugly. A new Starbucks franchise in the Aquarius Casino Resort has free Wi-Fi, but charges about 75-cents-a-drink more than company-owned stores. Not a big deal though as they do have comfortable lounging chairs right on the main casino floor which believe me is a plus. While on the subject of the Aquarius, I learned that the Hog Heaven catering truck lease was not renewed and was sold. So this year it was located at the Golden Nugget up the street under the watchful eye of its founder, John Mayne, who sold it so he could pursue other interests which include a pair of Belgiums that eat like horses because they are, and a old-fashioned peddler’s wagon, but that’s another yarn.
Breaking news: John Mayne is repo-ing the big black Hog Heaven rig after Laughlin and it will be in Sturgis with the best food and prices in the Black Hills…happy days is here again.