Anyone thinking about going to Laughlin from Southern California, maybe this will give you some ideas from a couple of experiences we've had.
We haven't done the River Run every year, but we've been a few times with a couple different approaches to the trip. First of all, we haven't stayed in Laughlin. I enjoy the ride, I like the party, but after a few hours, I'm ready to do something else, and paying River Run prices for the local hotels, isn't something I'm signing up for.
So.. first time, went with 3 couples, guys rode straight to Vegas, up I-15 stopping only for gas, wives flew in... Vegas flights are cheap, wives carried all the luggage they wanted (including leathers and helmets). We booked a nice hotel on the strip, and did Laughlin as a day trip -across the Hoover Dam and down through Arizona, back up that evening through Searchlight. Laughlin's only an easy ~100 miles away, weather's good, and the hotels and restaurants in Vegas are much better!
The next year, we did basically the same ride, with a couple of side trips, but instead of the strip hotels, we rented a 4 bedroom house. Had our own pool, kitchen, pool table, and food and alcohol from the local market. A lot more time hanging together as a group of friends, but still had the Vegas Strip for nearby restaurants and night life. Still did the Laughlin day trip, but just to fill up a day.
The third time, the wives flew in again, and we rented the same house from the time before, but instead of blasting up the interstate to get there, we wandered through the desert and out to the river, hitting ghost towns along the way. We had lunch in Laughlin, without the wives (they didn't miss it). From Vegas, we took the ladies through Red Rock for a day trip instead of back down to Laughlin, and at the end of the trip, we wandered back home along different desert highways. The ride up and back was definitely the highlight of the trip.
This year, the ladies are riding with us up and back, and instead of a Vegas round trip, we've laid out desert towns to visit along the way. The trip is loosely planned with hotel reservations, but flexible enough to change along the way if we decide to. The days (and the miles) are deliberately planned short so (our) ladies don't grow impatient with us, with plenty of time planned in afternoons for sitting around the hotel pool, or shopping, or sipping margaritas. No hard-core miles for the sake of miles in the plan. Cause if the ladies aren't having a good time, I'm pretty sure we aren't having a good time.
Be safe and keep the shiny side up.
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