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Neither of us slept well. I think we were too excited to get started. We were up at 5:40 am and on the road at exactly 6:33 am. This is the first year I'm using a GPS card in a Pocket PC for travel directions. The unit says we'll travel 542 miles and be in Wendover, UT at 3:03 pm. Of course it doesn't account for any stops, plus it doesn't adjust for the Mountain time zone so it will really be more around 5:00 pm or so. But nonetheless, it's a real neat setup and amazing to me that I have maps of Northern CA, NV, WY, SD, MN, ND, MT, and ID all on one 256 MB SD card (a little card about the size of my thumbnail). The drive was uneventful. Once we got through the Reno/Sparks area, I just set the cruise control at 70 mph and pointed her between the lines. Easy driving, not much construction, and no problems. Around 11:00 am or so, we stopped for lunch at a rest area. That plus a few potty breaks and I figure we stopped for a total of an hour. And just as the GPS unit predicted (with some human interpretation), we pulled into State Line RV Park right around 5:00 pm. I went to the office to register for a space. There was a sign that said just to pick any open space and then register at the hotel. Well what hotel...?!? There's two right here and several more up and down the strip. After we got setup, I asked our neighbor which hotel. It was the one right next door called the Wendover Nugget. But how is one really supposed to know? It could have just as easily been the Montego Bay right across the street. Anyway, we went in and found our favorite spot. That's right. Video poker at the bar. You get more free (OK, complimentary) drinks that way, especially if you tip the bartender a little. We normally play quarters. The machines take 5 coins so we're really playing a $1.25 per hand. Well earlier in the day, Denise said she wanted to take her first $20 and play dollars, $5 per hand. Well these machines were of the newer type where you could play either nickels, quarters, fifty cent pieces, or dollars. Just shove your money in and pick your coin. So Denise shoved and picked dollars. I figured this would be a fast 4 hands but unbelievably, on her third hand she hit 4 of a kind which pays 125 coins (or dollars in this case). Wooohooo! That's about a half tank of diesel for the truck. She plays some more. A few hands later, another 4 of a kind and another $125. She continues playing and hitting flushes, 3 of a kind, and other smaller payouts. After about 20 minutes of play, she's won about $350. The $350 was the highest level Denise hit but to make a long story short, Denise was the winner and I was a big loser. So as a team, we paid for camping, had cocktails on the Nugget, a few hours of fun, and left even. Not too bad, all things considered. |
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Questions,
Comments, Praise, Complaints?
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