Thanksgiving Road Trip 感恩節兜風行

View of Colorado River and Bullhead City, AZ | 科羅拉多河和亞利桑那州牛頭市

I took a road trip to Laughlin, Nevada right before the Thanksgiving holiday to beat the dreadful holiday traffic. I got a free two night offer from a hotel casino at Laughlin, NV, and thought it would be nice to visit a new location and pass through different states, as Laughlin is located near the borders of California, Nevada, and Arizona.
感恩節假期前後都是大塞車的日子，剛好手上有一張內華達州拉福林一家酒店旅館的招待卷，就決定趕在感恩節前去那裏散散心，然後再回家過節。我從來沒去過這個城市，得知它位於科羅拉多河岸旁，又離加州、內華達州、及亞利桑那州的交會點很近，想必有不同的風景，就興致勃勃的出發了。

I liked the stretch of the Interstate 40 between Barstow and Needles, California, which often runs along the historic Route 66. There weren’t any towns, only small rest stops along the way. The desert view was vast and calming. Right before Needles, CA, I left I-40 and took the Needles Highway to go north toward Laughlin, NV. I didn’t like Needles Highway at all; it goes up and down very much like a roller coaster ride. So on the way back home, I took a small detour and took the I-95 on the Arizona side to get to Needles, CA. It’s a nicer ride and more gas efficient.
一路上轉接了好幾條公路，過了巴斯斗後轉接四十號州際公路。這一段高速公路沿著過去66號公路之舊道，兩旁放眼看去是一片又一片的沙漠，沒有城鎮，偶爾才會有小小的休息站，開起來很順，心情也很平靜。快到加州邊境時我轉到Needles公路往北行駛，直到拉福林。我很不喜歡這段路，雖然車子少，路況卻不是很好，有一段路還上上下下如雲霄飛車，所以回程時我稍微繞了點路，過河從亞利桑那州的九十五號公路往南接四十號公路，反而比較好行駛，又比較省油。

Laughlin, NV is a gaming town with hotel casinos along the bank of the Colorado River. Across the river is Bullhead City, Arizona. Not far up the river is the Davis Dam. Basically, the Colorado River flows through the Grand Canyon to Hoover Dam (Lake Mead), then to Davis Dam (Lake Mohave). My hotel has a private beach and a water taxi dock at the river bank. It was windy and slightly chilly during this time of the year, so there weren’t swimmers around. Also, the current was quite swift.
拉福林其實是位於科羅拉多河畔的小賭城，對岸是亞利桑那州牛頭城的舊區，上游不遠處就是戴維斯水壩。科羅拉多河流經大峽谷後到達胡佛水壩(成為米德湖)，往南流到戴維斯水壩(成為莫哈維湖)，然後沿著亞利桑那的邊界一直往墨西哥流去。拉福林的旅館有自己的沙灘和水上計程車的小碼頭，但因為這個季節多風又氣溫偏涼，沒有玩水的遊客，我看水流也蠻快的。


My hotel room had a great view of the river and the old Bullhead City. I spent quite a lot of time looking at the scenery and the water taxis come and go. The water taxi takes visitors along the river to various hotel casinos and across the river. It costs $4 per trip. There weren’t many things to do in Laughlin, and the Preferred Outlet was a disappointment. This is no Vegas and everything is done in a much smaller scale. The Bullhead City across the river offers a variety of restaurants and stores…and cheap gasoline! The gas price in Arizona is $1 cheaper per gallon.
我住宿的房間正好面對河，從窗戶看出去就是牛頭市，風景很不錯，我花了不少時間站在窗前看水流和來來往往的水上計程車。這水上計程車專門載遊客去其它的旅館和對岸，一趟四元美金。其實拉福林蠻無聊的，沒什麼事可以做，所謂的購物商場也很令人失望，跟拉斯維加斯差很多。去到對岸的牛頭城就有各式各樣的餐館和商店，最重要的還有廉價汽油…一加侖比加州便宜至少一元美金。

There were tours available from the hotel to a nearby old gold town Oatman, AZ. Kingman, AZ is also only about one hour away. If I should come back to Laughlin in the future, I will definitely plan a visit to Kingman and checked out some of its interesting museums.
當地有一些旅遊團去大峽谷或附近西部拓荒風味十足的挖金礦 Oatman小鎮。若下次有機會回到拉福林，我大概會計劃去車程約一小時的Kingman, AZ看看，那裏好像很有趣，又有西部歷史的博物館。