Year: 2005

Had a pretty uneventful drive from Tennessee to Virginia (although we did notice that the number of idiot drivers increased substantially the closer we got to DC, and we did pass a dump truck with it’s cargo on fire

). Got to Glenn’s brother’s and sister-in-law’s house around 6:30, where we ate steak and played with Glenn’s nieces. Unfortunately, for got to take pics there…sorry.

Glenn came over around 9, and we hit the road, stopping in Beaumont to get a car charger for his cell phone and a three-way adapter for the cigarette lighter to plug in all the toys. Got to Henderson

around 12:30 and had lunch at Pat’s: mmm, mmm good! Saw a Humvee with a rocket launcher

on the back of a flat bed, a Geo with Illinois plates and Rice parking lot decals

, and a truck with a cowbell where the spare should have been.

Despite the late start, we made it to Chattanooga before 11 (midnight Eastern), but the Comfort Suites, which advertised Free Wireless, failed to deliver. Will take it up with management in the morning.

[time passes]

Got them to give us the room for free! Woohoo! this update posted from an Exxon near Burlington, TN. Will put up pics later.

[updated with pics]

Got a good 8.5 hours of sleep again, finally clearing up my sleep deficit. Turns out our poker playing was even more beneficial than we thought: they comped our first night, and gave us the second night for $129, saving us about $300. We decided to try making standby flights, so hopped the shuttle to the airport, where I’m typing this up (yay McCarran free WiFi!).

Missed the 12:55 standby by one! Now waiting for the 2:55.

[UPDATE: Made it onto the 2:55 flight, but because of bad weather which closed IAH for a bit, we were first delayed from leaving the gate for half an hour, and now it’s for an additional, unknown time. They let us disembark, which I took advantage of to buy a new book (Guns, Germs, and Steel) and post this update. Greg, too, missed his standby chance, but he is stranded here til midnight. 🙁 ]

Got up about nine, just three hours after Greg got in. 🙂 While he slept, I played some more blackjack, winning a bit. Got us a line pass for the buffet, where I managed to practice my by-word for the year: Restraint. We talked tons of things for a good while afterwards, then went to the poker room. Greg knocked off to take a nap after an hour, but I kept grinding away, hoping to make some money off this one guy at the table who was going in on every hand. The sad thing was, he kept winning, and it always seemed to be on the turn or the river. I don’t know how much he bought in for, but when I finally got fed up, he had over $400 in front of him…extremely impressive for a $2-$4 game.

Greg got up around dinner time, so we dithered around about what to eat, finally wandering through the Luxor and Excalibur and ending up at the Nathan’s at New York New York. Took a cab to the Wynn, and during the ride the cabbie kept telling us tall tales about his exploits with his passengers (won the rochambeau for the fare, btw). Wandered around the Wynn; nice, but I like the Bellagio better, I think, except the giant screens in the sports book were spectacular. BJ was lousy, and lowest poker was $4-$8, so we left. Wandered up the Strip to the Stardust, where I left a box of chocolates as a thank-you for the lady who bumped me up to the suite, then we got our shoes shined, and shined, and shined…it must have taken at least a half an hour (I lost the rochambeau for the shines). Took a cab back to the Luxor (lost that one, too), then had smoothies (won that one). Greg went back to poker, and I sat down for BJ, and had an incredible streak: won $700 in half an hour, and decided to lock in the win instead of chasing comps.