Laughlin River Run
April 22-27, 2007

At 0800 on a clear and crisp Sunday morning Rob Giese, John Cimino, Jim Harrison, Kirk Graham, Mike Hendricks, and Jesus Guerrero anxiously awaited the arrival of Neil Webster so they could launch on their adventure traveling to Laughlin, Nevada.  Neil finally arrived and we jumped on the interstate and rode into Utah, through Castle Valley and stopped for breakfast at the Jailhouse Café for breakfast. 

At the La Sal junction, Neil left the group and headed east to join the Weenie Ride riders.  After saying our goodbyes and bidding Neil safe travel we rode on.  We stopped in Mexican Hat for cold beer and a snack along the San Juan River.  We stopped and took pictures as we made our way across the spectacular scenery in Monument Valley.  We spent the night in Kayenta at the Hampton Inn.

The next morning after breakfast we loaded the bikes and because rain was already coming down hard and the sky to the west was ominous looking we donned our rain gear.  As we rode into the rain, thoughts of a miserable ride were prevalent in our minds.  All of that was confirmed as we rode west into Red Lake and hail began to pelt us as we rode.  I was leading and for a moment I thought about turning into Red Lake but decided to ride on into the clear area that I could see ahead.  We did ride out of it and discovered that John and Jim weren’t with us.  We waited for quite awhile and after deciding to ride back to check on them I passed them going the other way.   While waiting we could hear thunder and saw lightning flashing.

We rode to Cameron and fueled up the bikes and headed west to the Grand Canyon.  At this point the weather looked pretty good and we had a pleasant ride to Desert View.  We stopped and gazed in awe at the raw beauty of the Grand Canyon.  We decided rather than stop a lot along the way we would ride to Grand Canyon Village and have lunch.  As we approached the village we rode into a blizzard.  The snow was coming down hard and visibility near zero.  Mike, Kirk, and I rode up to the Rim Lodges and when we got up there discovered that Rob, John, and Jim were not behind us.   We found a place to park the bikes and made our way to El Tovar and had a beer and planned strategy.  We decided rather than have lunch we would ride the loop and see if we could spot our buddies.  We couldn’t find them anywhere so we decided to ride on to Williams, because earlier we planned to re-connect there if we got separated.  The snow continued to fall and at times riding toward Williams it seemed like the middle of winter.  The heavy wet snow accumulated on our windshields and we could only see the road by looking over or around our windshields.  We finally made it to Williams and as we rode into town we spotted them parked along with a Williams Police Vehicle visiting with officer Graham.  We pulled in to the parking lot and talked for a bit, took some pictures and inquired about places to stay and places to eat. He told us that Pancho McGillicuddys has good Mexican food and that his daughter worked there.  We proceeded to check into Motel 6 and walked four blocks to the restaurant.  We consumed copious quantities of alcohol and had dinner.  It was an interesting walk back to the motel.  It is a good thing that the sidewalk was wide, Rob had John to be his designated walker and Mike and Jesus survived the dangerous walk back.  Mike and I shared a room and I felt his pain as the Jack Daniels kicked him twice.  He had a firm grip on the porcelain god throughout the night.

Tuesday morning broke with blue skies and crisp air and everyone except Mike rode back to Bellemont to the Grand Canyon Harley Davidson store for some shopping.  On our way back through Williams we hooked up with Mike and rode on together to Seligman, Arizona  for breakfast at the Road Kill Café.  After breakfast we wandered around a bit, took on fuel and rode west on Route 66 to Kingman.  We stopped at the Mother Road Motorcycle Emporium.  They sell Harleys and Hondas and other motorcycles at that place.  Jim looked at a Classic and talked to a salesman about a trade.  Obviously they insulted him and no deals were consummated.  We grabbed a cold beer and made our way up over the hill and down into Laughlin. 

On the way into Laughlin we stopped to visit David, a friend of Jim’s in Bullhead City.  We seized the opportunity to don our helmet to cross the bridge into Nevada where helmets are required.  It was beginning to be hot and the helmets didn’t help the cause.  We all initially checked into the Ramada Inn Express.  After unloading a stowing our gear we wandered over and had an In and Out burger for dinner.

Mike and I were in a relaxation mode and enjoyed visiting all the vendors in the area and there were lots.  There were four major vendor locations and extensive shopping to be done.  Rob, Jim, John and Kirk took some short day rides.  On Wednesday they went to Oatman, a small town that has been taken over by burros and to Lake Havasu on Thursday, where the London Bridge is located.  Mike and I took a cruise in an air-conditioned boat up to Davis Dam and back.  We bought a bucket of cold Coronas on ice and enjoyed the sights on the banks of the Colorado River.  We enjoyed good food, good drinks, good company and wandered around admiring beautiful motorcycles and the sight and sounds of the rally.

On Thursday, Mike and I had to check out of the Ramada Inn Express and move across the street to the Aquarius.  Mike and I decided that we would head for home on Friday morning and discussed it with Rob.  We pretty much decided that we would launch early to avoid the traffic and heat of Las Vegas.  We got up about 0530, loaded our bikes, kicked the tires, lit the fires, got gas and headed for home.  We stopped in Los Vegas for breakfast, Mesquite for gas, St. George to lose our helmet, Cedar City for lunch, Salina for gas, Green River for gas and arrived at my house about 2130.  It was one hell of a ride and a great adventure.  We encountered every kind of weather phenomena known to man and survived.

Jesús Guerrero Jr.
Photographer/Historian
Western Slope H.O.G.