» 26- Friday, November 13, 1998 — North Shore News Viva Laughlin — Nevada’s border boomtown | Liesel Unger Contributing Writer WELL it ain’t Vegas. Being a first time visitor to this end of the world [ wasn’t too sure what to expect. | thought that tons of lights would be blinking and horns would be honking but [ found none of thar. Laughlin is located on. the Colorado River, bordering Arizona. Besides Bullhead, Arizona on one side and I aughlin, Nevada on the other side there really isn’t much more around but desert. My trip began on Thursday evening with a short drive to the Bellingham Internationa! airport. Thanktally we were. . departing on a Thursday evening, not a Friday, so the traffic heading out of the city was nor so bad. As well, the border traffic was extremely light. The entire drive was just over one hour. Once at the airport (very easily found) we parked the car and were instructed that it would cost $4.80 a day to leave the car there. We and went inside to check in. We were given no tickets or. paperwork for this trip, only confirmation number, This “2 “ssystem proved to be com- pletely hassle free. All they asked for were our passports and we were on our way. ‘The staff at the airport were super-triendly and had us all laughing as we passed through the metal detector. The plane was pretty punctual and left only 20 minutes past departure time. We flew down on a Boeing 737 with what was the most casually-dressed cabin crew I have ever encountered. At first I was taken aback by this, but as soon as we were scated | began to appreciate the comfort the crew put forth. On board they served peanut snacks and pop at no charge. Wine, beer and hard bar were available for $3-4, Prices were in USS. dollars and they did not take Canadian or make change casily so be forewarned. The three hour and fifteen minute flight was relatively uneventful and we arrived just behind schedule at the Bullhead, Arizona airport at 12:30 a.m. * The wind was quite strong but the air was nice and warm. ~ After a very quick baggage retrieval we w cre lined up to receive our hotel passes. : Due to the. tardiness of our booking our names had not yet madc it on the hotel list. The staff, however, was very helpful _ and instructed us to come along with the group and ‘assured us they would set us up when we arrived at the hotel. - Even though we were not on the hotel masterlist at'the check-in counter they quickly sorted out the problem and had ~“our bags promptly delivered to our newly assigned room. With “all our problems sorted out we were free to spend some “money — and spend we did. The casino was lo ud, bright and --Well-serviced by many cocktail waitresses. Just what I ad anticipated. “2s The next morning we decided to take 2 good look around. It’s safe to say that we were definitely on the younger side __ “compared to most of the hotel’s guests. Although the hotel has set up facilities for children and families it is certainly designed more for mom and dad... : he temperature outside on the second day was around and bright and s sunny. Since v we knew we would spend '. : ~ confides Prayshaw ‘From a: feats | Bul’s creation looks like a large abstract work unloaded our bags * Photo Liesel Unger 8 LAUGHLIN is on the banks of the Colorado River in the tri-state area of Nevada, California and Arizona, - “ most of our evening inside we chose to spend our afternoon outside exploring Laughlin. First stop were the two outside pools at the resort. Next we moved on to take a Jook at their private beach right on the Colorado River. They offered lots of water sports at the beach, swimming, boat rental, Jet Ski rentals and river boat rides. We: didn’t partake in any of the activities but they sure looked like a lot of fun. Later on we wandered down the street and popped into the shopping mall located in the middle of town to check out’ ” - what bargains were to be found. In the evening we tried our luck further at a few different casinos and then headed out toa cabaret called the Losers Lounge located in the Riverside hotel younger. people in town. It was a nice break from the casinos. All the hotels on the main strip in Laughlin are very well-kept and cach offers a variety of restaurants, casinos and other activ--- ities for you to enjoy. ‘I recommend trying happy hour ar the Colorado Relle hotel. You can’t miss the place. It’s the one that looks like a big Mississippi paddle boat! On Sunday afternoon, as our weekend | éame to ani ‘end, we packed up our bags and had the hotel staff, once again, look. after everything for us. They made sure our bags were entered on the shuttle bus and traveled with us back. to the Bullhead airport. ; 3 The same flight crew w greeted us s for our return flight (still * you'll sce different views points. It’s always changing as our culture changes.” ~” American ‘multi- media artist. -No matter. what you're reac-" «tion to Majestic Splendour or The music was great and this is where we found most of the of the works -Brayshaw select-. d for this last room is an’: Original plate by: Michael * Heizer-depicting varyi degrees of abstracti 1 fish:.“It’s.a bit of a joke on ther work: i in the,next:.: ferring t dnjestic . Splendéur by Korean art tures ;140 trout corpses, dec: ated with sparkling bangles scaled.in plastic bags; ed.on the wall in tid and lecomposing. It.has pro voked strong reactions. cel a ard about the “cmounted on the wall. It is . Yonly.as you come close that you recognize the dead fish cand probablv. take a step or-- two back. “It estheticizes decay and makes people con front i it,”,explains Brayshaw ° “If you stand in front of a work of art and don’t change ‘our mind about something, you're a fool,” says > Brayshaw quoting from % Robert Rauschenberg, th _ any of the works contained in -The Natural. World or Change +> that art should chalienge you to think differently about: : your ‘life or your world view. :“There’s a fundamental - democracy Within art gal-" | . leries,” he explains: “The art - gallery makes a Variety of. viewpoints on the world ©. -accessible all in one place.” con ~ Every time you come back, Change or Die will be: “replaced November 28 when ° - or Die exhibits, Brayshaw feels . . Audubon’s: Wildérness Palette: The Birds of Canada comes.té roost opposite The Natur al “World until January 24. - Meantime, at the Surre _ Art Gallery until January,” Brayshaw, has’curated the fea-- »-ture exhibit. Edge City, art.) -about the. suburbs created - mainly by contemporary, young : artists: : as casually dressed 1 might add) and we left right on our scheduled time..We arrived back in Bellingham at 7:30 p.m. . Although Laughlin had nowhere near as much glitz-and Jamour as Las Vegas, I must say I enjoyed myself much mo ” ta this’ quieter locale. For those who enjoy fabulous shows and out of this world hotels, Vegas is the place. But for anyone who prefers far fewer - people, much better food and drink prices and far more‘atten:, tive and friendlier employees, I would recommend } Laughlin: over Vegas any day. : :—.For more infor’ mation on ; Laughlin, Ne vada contact ‘your ‘local travel aprent and ask for Americana Tours. 2° One Day Se Saturday, November 14 6408 Bay St, Horseshc Bay, Wes Vi Phone 921-8972. in” : _ 1999! Holland ren ca - and BCAA are offering