While exploring the bright and busy streets of Las Vegas I quickly made friends with people selling time shares and RV lots in the desert. They were giving away tickets to variety shows to those who were willing to listen to their high pressure sales pitch. Before my husband could set us up for a presentation — and free tickets to a girlie show — I told him we were getting outta there and going 100 km. south to a quieter place on the banks of the roiling Colorado River. It’s called Laughlin and pronounced Lawflin.

When we got there on an April afternoon the temperature hit 28 degrees, the sun shone, the river rushed, strangers talked nicely to each other and everyone seemed happy. Much to my husband’s sorrow no near-naked women were entertaining.
My frugal spouse was delighted to learn that the visitor to Laughlin can, for free, ride a ferry boat across the Colorado River to Arizona, ride a replica steam train around the Tropicana Casino and drool over an impressive collection of classic cars. One can eat a full dinner for under $8 (that’s $U.S.) and sleep in a huge, modern hotel for as little as $22 a night. For just $10 one can take a 90 minute historical boat cruise up and down the river. On the wilder and more expensive side one can join Extreme Mini Rails for a ride through narrow canyons on a mini-dune buggy to Secret Pass or to the town of Oatman where wild burros roam the streets in search of food from tourists.

After hubby got tired of the free stuff (five days later) we headed for Yuma, Arizona, a few clicks down the Colorado river and just a few steps from the Mexican border. This city claims to get more sunshine than anywhere on Earth and it grows more lettuce than anyplace on Earth that starts with the letter Y. It has an historic jail, a revitalized old-town, cycling paths along the river, and like Laughlin, it looks clean and prosperous – the type of place where a Canadian would feel comfortable. The place crawls with Canucks in winter.

At 3:10 p.m. in Yuma I headed for the tennis courts. I knew the courts must be a favourite place, since half the people I play tennis with at home flee south every winter. Many prefer Arizona’s guaranteed sunshine over Florida’s unpredictable climate and prefer dry western air over the east’s high humidity. I met Billy Findlay who, with his wife Elaine, leave Kelowna every year after Christmas and stay in Yuma until they get a favourable weather report from home. Billy gives two reasons for selecting Yuma: “I’m here for the great weather and great tennis.” We played a few games and talked about others who have come for the same reason.

In Yuma we stayed at two different places and they were as different as desert and jungle. I called them the newest of the smallest and the oldest of the biggest. The Best Western Coronado resides in an older part of town and it turned out to be a hidden gem with a beautiful little museum dedicated its own history. It’s the oldest active member of the huge Best Western chain and it dates back to1938. The little museum displays radios that were rented to rooms, a coin-operated Magic Figners vibrating bed, a portable Jacuzzi that was loaned out and hundreds of other fascinating items that evoke nostalgia for the days of motor courts.

Across town the native-operated Cocopah Resort/Casino was our luxurious home for three nights and it can be viewed as the newest of the smallest. It gets that title because the casino and hotel opened last year and it’s RV park and golf course, a dozen kilometres away, allows me to call it a chain – as small a chain as you can get. We tried the golf course and it was just the kind we love – wide fairways, short holes, no water hazards and just a few sand traps. Tennis courts, shuffleboard, games rooms, library, a big pool, billiard room and rooms for hobbies make the RVer comfortable. The casino and attached hotel offer a pool and a variety of excellent restaurants. Located between RV park and casino/hotel, Cocopah has a small museum that displays native games, food, weapons and lifestyle of the time before the European invasion. It makes an interesting comparison with the Best Western Coronado museum.