Vacation ups and downs- now that I'm home

I didn't post anything because the Aquarius in Laughlin charges 12 buck a day for internet, I am cheap and my laptop is too old to handle the high-speed anyway.  So here is what I think will be my final thoughts on this vacation.

I think I lost weight on this vacation.  I know, I know, usually people gain weight, but I didn't eat a lot  this time, the food wasn't all that good.  My friend Tom says I always complain about the food and I suppose he is right. Chris and I were talking about one of the two good places and I said "well I won't downgrade them because the food was not to my liking, it was well cooked and lots of it"  Chris pointed out I talk like a restaurant reviewer, which I suppose I do.

We had been told there was a wonderful place for pie in Williams , the Country Pine, so we made a point to go there before leaving town.  Frankly, I was disappointed.  I got peach pie which is one of my favorites.  They used CANNED PIE FILLING! I should know,as I am a pretty fair scratch baker.  Chris got the chocolate cream cheese and it was just ok.  He and I talked about the pies I needed to make when I get home, Including a new twist on my chocolate- orange pie.  The food at the Country pine was microwaved.

We had HORRIBLE food in Laughlin as well as some amazing food in Laughlin.  NEVER, and I mean NEVER eat at the Windows on The River in the Aquarius.  Here is what I posted on my Yelp review:

Where to begin?  I suppose it's best to begin at the beginning.  I should have turned around when I first looked  at the offerings on a Tuesday night,  The "fruit station" had leftover meat from the sandwich bar from lunch  ( this was DINNER around 8 pm)  The cooked meats looked like they too were leftover from lunch , dried and curled up.  The "carving station " featured a roasted PINEAPPLE that they "chef" was carving up.  I tried the corn from the sad little salad bar, it was vinegar-ed so badly I spit it into my napkin. But the FINAL straw was that the piece of pie I thought might make me feel better about the place had MOLD!  At 20 bucks a person I felt violated.


Chris had several "meals" at McDonald's  I actually had a Happy Meal at one point.  Chris has been having some real trouble with his hip pain, several times I could see that the pain was way too much for him to bear so we rented a scooter.  I could NOT have pushed him in a wheelchair, as my knees are not doing so well either and there was a LOT of walking at the Grand Canyon. The scooter was well worth the money and it really made a difference in our trip experience. We decided to "motor" over to the Pioneer to get breakfast. I thought it would be ok and I could walk it. It was a HELL of a lot farther than we remembered and the River-walk was closed at some points so we wound up zigzagging through the parking lots of several casinos before making it to Bumbleberry Flats.  It was WORTH it.  I got a waffle and eggs that were so yummy I ate too much.  I also treated myself to an Irish coffee to cope with the pain in my knees.  There was NO WAY I could walk back and no one could confirm that the water taxi could take the scooter, so Chris "motored" back and I took the taxi.  It was nice to be on the river and the captain assured me that the taxis CAN take the scooter ( except to the Nugget where the step is too steep).  When it came time for dinner, we went next door to Daniel's on the River. Here is what I said on Yelp:

We went for dinner, more out of desperation than anything else.  We had not found a good meal in Laughlin other than Bumbleberry Flats.  It was a Wednesday night- apparently two for-one burger night and the place was packed!  It took a LONG time to get our meal, my husband ordered the Chef's salad and I got a Philly cheese-steak.  we were BOTH really impressed, the salad had real cooked chicken, not the weird processed meat you often find in a Chef's salad.  My cheese-steak was perfectly seasoned, the veggies cooked just right and BEST OF ALL the bread had been toasted on the grill, not microwaved.  YUM! The server apologized for the long wait and they did keep up well supplied with iced tea during the wait for the food. We went again for breakfast the next morning as it was next to the hotel we were staying in and I did not feel  like walking or driving very far.  The breakfast was HUGE and very satisfying.  A half- order of biscuits and gravy would be a full order anywhere else.  The service was excellent.

We did take the River Cruise, a 90 minute ride on the river with  a tour that gave you the history of Laughlin. We opted for a small snack and a drink on the cruise and were pleasantly surprised that one of the waitstaff, Tiffany, remembered us from the dinner cruise we took back in November!  I recommend both the dinner cruise and the tour, which at ten buck a person is a bargain ( the dinner cruise is a bit more pricey BUT you get dinner and it's good!) It was a lovely day and we shared the table with three people from Australia.  You meet the nicest people when you share a table.  When we were leaving Williams, we went for the final breakfast at the Depot Cafe.  Meals were included and while it was nothing to write home about, it was still ok food.   The line was VERY long and time as short, as they stopped serving around 9.  The hostess asked if anyone wanted to share a table.  A few people said NO!  I can't understand that.  We said "sure" and were seated with a nice couple from Texas.  We got to talking about libraries.   The husband said that he had been driving through his hometown with his dad and both had remarked that they were surprised it was still in business.  I got really enthusiastic about how libraries are providing this amazing service and began to tell them all the things that LAPL does and I encouraged him to check out HIS local library to see what they provide.  They were from Austin and I think their library is probably a pretty good one.  He said he would and I believe he just might.  It's strange to me to find people that don't use libraries, as they had always been a part of my life, even before I started back working there as an adult.  Readers raise readers, as the saying goes, and my mom and her mom were readers.

I am back to work today, as a medical procedure next week (nothing serious) has me off for a few days.   It's good to be back in my own bed, even though most of the beds were pretty comfortable, The bed at Harrah's was strange and it wasn't until the second day that I really looked at it and realized it was not sitting square on the box spring. THAT explained it.  We did NOT get any housekeeping service while we were at Harrah's, as they tried to come in the room after we had been out all day- around 4 or 4:30 and we were resting. It was ok.  I like staying at Harrah's because we WIN at Harrah's.