Tuesday
I dropped Audrey off at the airport so she could catch her flight to do a job in Las Vegas, and then I started off in the car for… Vegas. Yeah. I probably could have flown, but wanted to visit Mojave National Preserve along the way, so figured driving wouldn’t be such a horrible thing. The preserve isn’t bad, and I need to go back and explore a bit more. I arrived in Sin City around nine o’clock, the third visit in the last month.
Wednesday
Spent most of the day in the Monte Carlo hotel room, then Audrey and I spent the evening roaming around trying to find the dumbest slot machines possible. She actually won some money on the mermaid machine, the shark game ate us alive, the old prospector took my five dollars, and Rocky came through and gave me a couple bucks. Most importantly we signed up for one of the casino’s player cards, so there should be hundreds of comps coming our way any day now.
Thursday
Scott and Anna arrived in the evening to celebrate Scott’s thirtieth birthday, but the flu bug hit so I spent the evening passed out in bed.
Friday
Fully recovered, Scott and I investigated how best we could lose our money by playing Let It Ride. My theory when it comes to gambling is that the casinos are always going to win, so the goal is to have as much fun over as long of a period as possible before they take all of the money — basically make the casino suffer a bit before it bankrupts me. During the day I managed to stay even, but a $10 minimum in the evening had me sweating. Cashing in $60 and getting six chips turned my stomach to acid, and while the game moves slow enough that the cash wasn’t burning up in front of me, it was still a pretty painful experience. As my chip pile slowly dwindled Audrey came over to watch the carnage, and I was dealt two aces. She then said with utmost certainty that one more was forthcoming, and a short time later I walked away from the table noticeably richer.
Saturday
Spent the last day in Vegas with Scott and Anna before heading off on my own to visit Wynn (wow) and then picking up Audrey for the ride home. The evening’s excitement was crossing back into LA county and passing a car chase going in the opposite direction — three cop cars and a helicopter all barrelling down the road.