Day 4
Tuesday July 31, 2012
Got up early today to realize I had congestion and a slight cold. This does NOT make me happy. We finished packing and getting ready for today's move. Once we were ready we headed down to the front desk to check out and apply reward credits towards the bill. Originally when I booked the room I had to give one night's deposit. I wanted to reverse that charge and pay the bill with my points. The girl at the desk claimed I only had $15 in comps available. I knew better than that. She suggested I go over to the booth and get it straightened out. It took just a few seconds over there and I headed back to the front desk and everything worked out.

On the way back to the rental car facility I made a quick stop at CVS to get some Sudafed and then we were on our way. Returning the car went well and there were no surprises, other than a bill lower than I expected. I was expecting my coupon to take $13 off the price but it actually took $16 off and then the taxes were lower than expected too. In the end the bill was around $20 less than I prepaid.

The next stop was to the airport on the shuttle. Checking in was quick and everything went well. From checking in to security was a bit of a walk but nothing too bad. Security would have been smooth except one asshole felt the need to have a carry on that was way too big and had to be run through the x-ray machine 3 times, I don't understand why people feel the need to lug giant carry on bags all over the place and struggle through security. It's not like Southwest charges for bags. Just check the effing thing and save everyone the aggravation of your stupidity.

Once we were through security we had a little over an hour before we were going to board. I grabbed us an over priced lunch at one of the stands. I got Dee a pasta salad and I got a ham and cheese sandwich and a coke. The total bill for this was over $15 but I have to say the food was really good.

Our plane finally arrived and we were ready to board. We pre-boarded again like we did in Albany and took the front row. This flight was actually pretty full considering how many flights per day go from Phoenix to Vegas. This is flight 1305 and originally scheduled to leave at 1:15pm and arrive in Las Vegas at 2:15pm. We actually made it in only 41 minutes. The flight was so quick and was uneventful other than it being a bit bumpy and there was no service offered. It really didn't matter though because the flight was so short.

Once we got off the plane it on to baggage claim and our bags were already on the conveyor and we were of to the rental car shuttle. We had a great driver that was friendly and we were at the rental car facility shortly. When I rolled over to Avis I saw my name wasn't up on the board and I now had to stop at the preferred counter. The lady in there seemed confused as to my rental being so long but she eventually figured it out. 20 minutes later I was on my way to the car. It is another Chevy Impala, this time with 2200 miles on it. I checked it over and loaded it up and we were on our way. The first stop was Walgreen's for a few survival items and then we were on our way to Laughlin.

The ride to Laughlin was smooth sailing for the most part with exception of hitting quite a bit of rain along the way. It wasn't too bad and later in the night we'd learn that the rainfall in the area was quite bad earlier in the day.

We arrived at the Aquarius at about 5pm where we'd be staying for the next 3 nights. We don't normally stay here to start a strip but some great free play offers helped make the decision. Checking in was quick and we were on our way to room 17104. This is a handicapped room with a partial river view and partial mountain view. It's got a king bed, nightstands, sitting chair with ottoman, dining table, dresser, and 32" TV. The bathroom is standard with some extra space and bars.

Once we got settled into the room we went down stairs to hit the buffet. On the way there I scanned my card in a kiosk and printed out my voucher for a free pack of smokes. It's one of the benefits of having a red card along with a few other things like 4X points and skipping lines. I don’t smoke but I’m allowed to get them and my buddy that smokes back home saves a few bucks when I bring them home to him.

Tonight was Italian night at the buffet and that made Dee really happy as she is a huge fan of this fare. This buffet is average at best and over priced at around $18 a head. You get a discount with your player's card but it's still too pricey. The only thing that makes it tolerable is that you can get beer, wine and margaritas with the meal.

After we ate we were going to take the Riverwalk down to the Golden Nugget. The problem was it was closed by the Edgewater. I'm guessing because of the rainstorm they got earlier in the day. We turned around and I brought Dee back to the room. She wasn't feeling too great so I got the car and drove down to the Golden Nugget. The main reason for going down there was to use $50 in free play I had on my card. I found one of my favorite penny slots and loaded the play. This machine killed me and I got $60 in action out of this free play as the hits were far and few.

Next up I hit the double deck blackjack game. Things were rough here with the dealer pulling hands out of his ass. Things leveled off and then got a little better when a new dealer came along. I got back to even and ran away glad it wasn't a lot worse.

The Golden Nugget was a disaster inside and out. Earlier today they got slammed in Laughlin with a major rain storm and everything was washed out. They had banks of machines shut down and covered with plastic. Another player said similar things happened down at the Riverside too.

I got back to the Aquarius and Dee didn't want to go downstairs so I ran down there to wash through the free play we had. Dee had $50 from her mailer on her card and my card had $225 from my mailer, $100 for our anniversary from our host and $50 for Dee's birthday from our host. I chose our usual 8/5 bonus triple play machines and quickly turned Dee's $50 into $10 not hitting much of anything. I switched machines and cards and turned my $375 into $300 with very similar results. In total I only got about $500 in play and lost over $100 of the free play. I quit with $310 of the $425 and called it a night.

Total win/loss for the day $300
Total Comps for the day $551