Monday morning, June 21st, the first day of our vacation, Mike and I are heading to Cottonwood AZ to visit his family. His parents are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary. We decided to drive out instead of flying so we could take our time and follow the road where ever it takes us. We are doing our usual casino hunting along the way. Most of the casinos out west are Indian casinos that are not registered with Dunn & Bradstreet therefore they are not on the Garmin. Interesting huh!! I called Garmin once and asked why they weren't showing up on the Garmin....Oh well that is what it all about...the hunt!
I woke this morning at 8:00am, thinking Mike would be in to wake me any moment. I got up showered and dressed and finished the last minute packing. I went in the livingroom and Mike was asleep on the couch. Now if you know my husband he is always in a hurry to leave at the crack of dawn. He has great dislike for traffic so I figured he would wake me at 5:00 am to hit the road. Wrong. We didn't actually leave the house until 10:15 this morning! That is unheard of for the Barnes family! After 10 yrs of marriage I have finally decided to go with the flow with my husband. I just settled back on the couch and drank my coffee. I even had time to watch Army Wives that I had recorded the night before. Mike busied himself doing all the tedious things that he does to ready himself for the trip. I learned along time ago to just stay out of the way. I can't pack the truck right, I can't carry the bags out correctly...etc. That's okay it isn't my thing anyway...I am better at playing the princess.
Now mind you we are in the same truck that we took 1 1/2 yrs ago on our trip from hell! We have all the things we didn't have last trip, flashlights, batteries, tools, gas can, floor jack, water, oil, duct tape...you get the picture right? I have my laptop, iPod, pillow, crossword book, and Danielle Steele...I am very low maintenance. This is the first trip I have taken in a long time that I haven't crocheted my way across America. I am determined to participate in the scenic aspect. I usually miss half of it because I am busy looking at everything but the scenery.
We traveled south on I35 for most of the morning. Kansas is both beautiful and flat. They even make you pay a toll to drive through the state. There was a van driving extremely slow in front of us at one point. Mike finally was able to pass it and we discovered a very odd shaped car driving in front of the van. It was a 3 wheeled vehicle shaped like a small jet. It had a clear top that covered the driver's head just a like a jet plane. It was really cool and the van was the experimental team following him. Of course I didn't have the camera handy so there are no pictures. After passing the jet/car we encountered yet another slow moving van, this time I was ready...camera in hand, window in the down postion...ready...Mike slowly passes the van so I can get a clear shot. Ready..Aim...what no jet/car? NOTHING just a slow moving van!! LOL It wasn't much later when we were looking down the road and on an overpass ahead was a cowboy riding his horse pushing a herd of cattle across the road! Now you don't see that everyday!
It was nearing lunch time we decided to find a Cracker Barrel along the way. That should be easy...right?? I got out the Garmin (nicknamed Jane Jetson) to see where the nearest Cracker Barrel was from where we were..."take the next exit", I shout...Mike makes the exit just in time..."what the hell', he asks...'we shouldn't be getting off here it's a toll booth". I assure him we have done the right thing so we continue to the window. I have Mike ask the toll booth lady where the CB is (after paying $4.00)...she gives directions which will end up taking us 30 miles out of our way. Mike refuses to go 30 miles out of our way...even though we are on vacation and we have 4 days to get to AZ. I am thinking aren't we on an adventure my love? Nope, we turn around get back on the toll road and return to our original destination. If any of you have driven across the state of Kansas you know there are no places to eat along the way. Finally at 2:30 we found a Sonic and ate in the truck. It was one of the best meals I ever had! I was hungry, what can I say?
We crossed the state line over to Oklahoma! It is hard to tell one state from another at this point. I will say that the rest stops in Oklahoma do lack a little luster. They literally consist of a path off the main highway with a trash can! Nothing else! I guess you are literally supposed to pull over and rest!
It was about that time my casino radar kicked in...I saw the billboard...Lucky Star Casino! WooHoo our first one...let the hunt begin. Now as most of you know I am not someone that is good with directions...I only read half of what the sign says and I can't really swear that I get that right. On my directions we once again left the main highway to find the Lucky Star Casino! Now the Indians are obviously on a limited budget when it comes to advertising because they can only afford 2 billboards and no other signs to guide the potential gambler. Mike being the DH that he is, followed my directions. As most of you know this isn't going to turn out for the best. We drove this way and then that way but not one sign of a casino. We turn around because we have gone off the planned course once again. By this time I have to pee....now I have been and excellent passenger to this point never asking to stop for a pee break. Having given up on finding the Lucky Star our search has now turned to desperately seeking a restroom. Mike took me to the first gas station but it had bars on the window so we decided to go elsewhere. The next stop was at the Dollar General (I had to buy a Styrofoam cooler because the one I brought had leaked all over the back seat of the truck) of course no public restrooms in there. Mike emptied the first cooler and we reloaded the new one. As soon as we took off the cooler started making that horrid Styrofoam squeaking noise...eeewww! I still have to pee but the guy in the Dollar General had given me directions to get to the Lucky Star. Off we go back to the same place we had just been...now I am not one for remembering directions that have more than two sentences....so I just couldn't remember what the guy said. Mike by now has had enough...once again we retrace the same way we just came from. I still have to pee mind you...he found another gas station that looked OK not great but OK. I went in looking for the restroom, the clerk noticing the desperation in my eyes told me the restroom was around back...now that is never a good thing....she handed me the key. I took it telling myself it would be alright but knowing that I was kidding myself. I walked around back through broken glass on the ground and opened the door....noooooooooooo I couldn't do it. I slammed the door shut and hurried back to the cashier to return the coveted key. I would rather pee myself than use that restroom! I won't even begin to tell you what it was like. Mike did finally fine a nice gas station and all was well with the world soon!
Back to the main highway we go....what do my eyes see???? another billboard for a casino! Eagle Rock...oh yeah we are in business now. We know the exit we are headed in the right direction...we rock...knuckles!! We actually got off on the right exit and found the casino on our first try...woohoo! It was actually a brand new casino and still in the process of being built. The inside was finished but the outside was still a work in progress. We pull in the parking lot... we open the doors...we get out of the truck....we are free at last! Oh yeah...doing the happy dance now we are! We really enjoyed ourselves and spent an hour and a half there really have fun! We even came out with a few extra bucks! It was senior day so I got $5 bucks for free play! If I had been there between 1-4 I could have had a free senior lunch.
You know, all in all it has been a great day! Mike was forced to let go and relax on vacation. We are going to really try to have a great time. We are currently tucked in for the night in Weatherford OK, Holiday Inn Express. It is a great room and we are kicked backed taking it easy...
One day under our belt....happy trails to us!
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