12^th ANNUAL GAMBLER�S CLASSIC

POKER RUN

MARCH 11-13, 2004

Story and Pictures by Danny and Rosemary Rodriguez
 

On Thursday March 11^th, three Corvettes from PVCA began the trek to Laughlin, Nevada for the 12^th annual Gambler�s Classic Poker Run.  The Erickson�s, Goff�s, and Rodriguez�s enjoyed the sunny weather and little traffic to begin their mini-vacation.  The event headquarters was at the River Palms Hotel and all activities began on the grounds.  As usual, the group began the dining part of the weekend with a superb dinner at the Ramada�s Steakhouse. Thanks Randy, for choosing the restaurant.

On Friday morning, the original three decided to investigate the little town of Oatman on Old Route 66.  Scott and Nancy bought carrots to feed the local burros that wander around this quaint little mining town.  They fed, the rest of us watched.  They can tell you about the unexpected stop at Wal Mart in Bullhead City; Glenda and Rosemary found lots of goodies, hey it was a super store!

On Friday afternoon and evening the group grew to include Armases, Dimit, Shannon, Garveys, Powers, and Stidhams. That night, there was entertainment in the tent (in the hotel parking lot).  Surprise, surprise, we all witnessed a for-real wedding: white dress, white tux, vows, kisses, cake, the whole thing.  Then the real show started:  a band from the Hawaiian Islands played, dancers representing the South Pacific islands danced, an Elvis impersonator sang, acrobats from Kenya performed.  A comedian team kept us laughing. We were all impressed!

Most of us took part in the Poker Run on Saturday morning, which took us around Laughlin, Bullhead City, Needles and back.  Dave, Emily, Duane and Elora visited friends in Bullhead City, toured Kingman and had a good time.  A barbecue lunch was waiting for us at the end of the poker run. Patty and Shelley took part in a slot tournament and Patty won her round.  The car show took place from 2 until 3:30 p.m.  Door prizes were raffled off, with Goff�s and Rod�s winning one prize each.  For dinner on Saturday night, we all took a boat taxi ride to the Prime rib place at the Riverside Hotel.  Four of Brent and Marilyn�s friends/clients joined us on the boat ride and dinner.  Thank you Garvey's and Power's for keeping our non-reservations together for 2 hours.  Great meal, great company!  Mark Garvey won a wristwatch at the watch store that is guaranteed for 90 days!  Randy got lucky and won a lot of money on a slot machine!

Sunday morning and time to go home!  We had another beautiful sunny morning with medium traffic for the return trip.  Randy or Glenda can tell you about the couple of crazy drivers on the highway.  We had to have an ice-cream stop and photo-op at Ludlow.  Looking forward to our next trip!

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