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August, 2005 Gary left I gave John a hug for Jerry (KrAut?)

 
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john
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PostPosted: Jan Sun 01, 2006 9:34 am    Post subject: August, 2005 Gary left I gave John a hug for Jerry (KrAut?) Reply with quote

I can’t believe I am still at it, writing those TR’s instead of doing my normal weekend chores …

Friday, August 26
This time, we had breakfast at the buffet at the Eldorado. We had to hurry because they were starting to prepare lunch already – when I went for a second helping, they actually had closed down the buffet for warm meals (at around 11 a.m.). I decided to ignore that, climbed over the rope, grabbed what I wanted and left in a hurry before someone could say anything. We enjoyed our meal, lots of choices, quick service – and they mean “large” when you order a large orange juice.

Went back up and finished packing before checking out. Apparently, they figured we lost enough money at their place (I should say!) and we got both rooms comp’ed, didn’t have to pay for anything anymore. At least, that felt good.

All in all, it was a nice stay at the Eldorado, we liked the hotel, but their slots seem awfully tight. It’s just not much fun if the machines don’t give you any playing time. Fortunately, one can only get a certain amount out of ATM’s per day (being a non-American) – otherwise, I might have been into trouble – I mean, if you finally made it to Reno, you want to play, right? It’s just not a nice feeling when you go to bed knowing you won’t be able to play most of the next day. Kinda defeats the purpose of having a good time – at least gamblingwise.

We waited a few minutes for the valet to bring the van around. Loaded the car (who brought all that baggage???) and drove to the Peppermill. We took the “scenic” route … on the way, we passed some really nice neighbourhoods, cute houses, fancy lawns and gardens, very pleasant to the eye. I somehow didn’t expect that much green in a Nevada suburb.

OK, here we are, the Peppermill at last. Wow, what a nutty lighting. It feels like entering a different world – somewhere between eerie and hilarious, all those dark colours. Went to check-in, it was about 1 p.m. Our rooms weren’t ready (check-in time is 3 p.m.). Left the baggage with the bell clerk and sat at the bar right next to the lobby, waiting on the other parties to arrive. Fortunately, the meds had worked and Gary was doing better. He decided to venture out to find a store – we really wanted to give the kids the Harry Potter movies on DVD. I made the mistake of ordering a Corona at the bar – gimme a break, 4,70 $ ??? That hurt. After Don and Lena arrived, I left the family to themselves and headed for the Promotion Desk. Had to line for a bit, but got our player’s cards. I was glad I knew about the $ 100 cash-back thingy for first-time Peppermill players, because I had to ask them for it, they wouldn’t offer it by themselves. So, they set me up. The deal is you play for an hour (starting to count once you first use your player’s card) and your losses within the first hour are reimbursed as credits on your player’s card. You can’t cash out the credits, but any winnings from it. They have a card-sliding promo thingy too, so I did that and got a 5 $ off any restaurant any meal coupon. At the Peppermill, you can only slide once a day though.

As all I had left for that day were the 100 $ I saved for the promo, I went back to check on the others and to see when I could take an hour to play. My sis-in-law with family didn’t arrive yet. Bob kept checking on the room, no luck though (we reserved one Tower Room and one Imperial Suite). He decided to go get his player’s card - so, off I went for my hour of play. I looked around, played here and there and stated that the machines were looser than any I played on downtown. Still, I had no difficulties to lose my 100 $ during that hour. I tried hard to find my way back to the Promo desk – it’s easy to get lost at the Peppermill. Now, they looked at the data on my card and gave me 80 $ of credit – they said it’s a calculation of what you won and lost. Go figure. I KNOW I lost $ 100. Well, better than a sharp stick in the eye.

Back to the bar. Everybody was there meanwhile, including a very sweaty Gary. He walked (!) to some store past the Atlantis, quite a workout in that heat. But he was successful and got the DVD-set. Checked on the rooms again. Ours – the tower room – was finally ready. No such luck with the Imperial suite. As Gary desperately needed a dry shirt, we decided to get our luggage up. Very nice room, spacious and with a view of downtown Reno, on the 14th floor. High time to try to reach John, I thought. Now, he must be a real celebrity in Reno – you call him, you get this annoyingly long message about how he doesn’t take calls from unknown callers but that they’ll pass you through this ONCE (boy, did I feel special!). What shall I say – he wasn’t in, probably out hunting for girls or Heineken or both.

After Gary dried himself off, we went back down again. Bob still didn’t get his room. I said “let me check on that”. Lined again at check-in, by now it was like 3:40, and – surprise, the Imperial Suite was ready. Bob was impressed – lol. So, the whole kid and caboodle went up to check on this suite. Triple wow! What a room! Huge, windows on 2 sides, great views (12th floor), giant Jacuzzi, kitchen, living room area with sofa, chairs and 2 tables, 3 TV sets, fake plants everywhere and … eerie lighting, lol. Apparently, this is the nicest Imperial Suite they have – at least, that’s what the girl told us who set us up with that room when we reserved by phone. I believe it. It was definitely worth waiting for.

As my sis-in-law with family and Don and Lena had to leave that day, we just spent some more time together, enjoying the company in that fabulous room. After that, we said our good-byes and they left (the kids quite happy with their Harry Potter movies). Julie was tired and wanted to rest up a bit. I persuaded Bob and Gary to go back downtown for the 7 p.m. drawing at the Eldorado and for an Awful-Awful burger. It was decided to meet downstairs at the bar – I took the chance and tried to reach John again. Wow, they put me through a second time! This time, he was in and we set up to meet later at Nickel heaven as he plainly refused to have dinner with us. Go figure. We drove downtown. In the middle of the road, there was a red sports car and a lady in handcuffs surrounded by police officers. I wonder what she did. Was that your mom again, John?

All together, we had about 35 tickets in the drawing for a free slot tournament. As gambling was so unlucky at the Eldorado, I figured I’ll probably get lucky with the drawing. Ha, of course not. They called my name neither for the 7 p.m. nor the 8 p.m. one. Now, I just got a Corona (see, it’s my way of getting sufficient vitamin c supply in Reno – all those limes) when the boys were suddenly ready to walk to the Nugget. I figured “what the heck” and walked out of the Eldorado with the bottle in my hand. Finished it out on the street, tossed it in a waste bin, turned around a corner and faced … 3 mounted police guys. Yikes. They were busy arresting some guy for something. This was a narrow alley and I was reluctant walking by so close to the horse’s rear end. They assured me it’s fine though. OK, turned around another corner and walked in the back entrance of the home of the Awful-Awful burger. It is a quite small place, that. And it was packed. We managed to grab 2 seats at the kitchen counter. Bob got really excited: “these places are so rare anymore”. The guy next to me turned, looked at me and said with a snarl “I dunno about rare, but I was raised here, eat here every day and never had a bad meal”. Wow. He ate the meal of the day, and it did look good. We finally discovered that there are tables outside the kitchen and managed to grab one. And then it came. The Awful-Awful. What a burger. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. The helping of fries it came with would have lasted me at least a week. And yes, we ate it right there. It’s not the cleanest of all places, but we didn’t encounter any bums, either. Girls and guys, this is definitely a MUST DO in Reno, mark my words.

Leaving the Nugget by the main entrance this time, we walked right into a bad fistfight. Next to the Nugget is a drink shop and the owner of that place was beating up a bare-chested guy – I assume he tried to loot something. Ugly. We managed to squeeze by unharmed and went back to the Eldorado – one more drawing, again, no luck – back to the valet. There was an unbelievable amount of cars piled up at the valet parking and we had to wait about 10 minutes until they got our car. Meanwhile, a stretch-limousine delivered some guests, so I asked the driver if he’d let me take a look inside. Nice guy he was, he did. Looks spiffy.

Drove back to the Peppermill and fortunately didn’t see any more crime scenes on the way. My time to be curious now … heading for Nickel Heaven to finally meet the master of all birds. I spotted him right away when he walked up the stairs. So we hug, and he gives Gary and me a tour of the different bars at the Pep. We went to the Fireside Lounge and had a drink – Gary, not wanting to intrude, decided to disappear. We had a fun time talking about this and that (no Jerry, I won’t tell ya any details). During that evening, my knowledge about parrots increased considerably. He really is a nice guy and does a marvellous job with this board. I am very happy about having stumbled upon this site and about getting in touch with you people.

All of a sudden, John gets this itching about playing video poker. We head back to Nickel Heaven, he sits down at the bar, greets the bartender and that guy generously provides us with more drinks. As I am not interested in VP, I checked out the slots. Time to use my credit. Sit down at an Alien machine, put 20 bucks worth of credit in, get 50 bucks out. Happily, I show the ticket to John and thank him for bringing (or as he claims giving) me luck. Next, I discover a Pharao’s fortune machine. Oh boy, I love those. Invested another 20. Why, I get into the feature where the machine lets you pick tiles on a building. I picked well – got 19 free games at 6 x multiplier. That machine gave me 200 $. Back to John, showing the ticket, grinning stupidly by now. OK, next machine. I forgot what it was, but it gave me another $ 150. I am really having fun and I bet John started wondering about me by now. He introduced me to a friend of his that he stumbled into. Cute tiny girl. We go back to the bar and as we are approaching, the bartender gets our drinks ready. What a guy. A waitress comes by and comments on my sweat jacket. It has this furry bear on it’s rear and she thought that’s a great way of getting free back rubs (she actually rubbed my back, lol). With my last 20 $ of credit, I make another $ 100. Life is good. I am not sure if John got disgusted by my winnings or if he really got tired – anyway, he calls it a night. So, it’s good-bye until we meet again … and he refuses to give Jerry a hug for me, but points out that I should rub his bald head for luck if I ever meet him. Next time, I’ll insist on taking you out for dinner, John – you deserve it.

Figuring I got all out of Nickel Heaven that I possibly could, I head downstairs. A Monster Mansion machine grabs my attention. I love the theme. It is a very friendly machine that decides to give me $ 500.

Funny side-note: while I was having a good time with John, Gary went to the Promo desk with his dad to get the cash-back deal. They give him hassle, as we apparently have a joined account. So, the deal is not per player, but per room/account. I didn’t know that. The guy checking out the account says to my hubby: who is this lady? I want to gamble with her … if I was you, I’d stick around her. She’s doing well.” Is there nobody willing to keep secrets any more? Lol.

Now, I am on fire. Finally, gambling is really fun. They provided me with enough playing money to test out some machines. Over the 2 days we were there, I managed to get money out of every Alien machine they have. Those pay best when you play pennies, all lines (I believe 25) at 10 x bet. I managed an average win of $ 150 on each one.

Of course, I lost some money back. Then, I discovered a whole group of fun machines right opposite the Oceano restaurant. Now, being the rookie that I am, I wonder about those moving spotlights they have there. Playing a Sea Monkeys machine, they annoyed me by shining those stupid lights right in my face. It took me a few moments to figure out what that meant – I got chosen for the mini-jackpot. That was around 20 $ - and I only noticed when some guy stood up and looked around who the hell got his jackpot, lol. Well, after that little jackpot, the machine decided to pay. Made another 100 $ there. Moved to a different machine, Shake your Bootie. Guess what – got that mini-jackpot yet again. And a very good run with the feature – the characters kept dancing and shaking coins out for another $ 200.

There was another nice machine, which doesn’t spin reels but drops gems. The feature leads you in a gem lab, where you make gems out of the raw stones. When your stone cracks, the feature is over. Result: another $ 200. Oh boy.

The only criticism: the later the evening, the poorer the drink service. And: it is RIDICULOUSLY cold at the Peppermill. My feet were solid ice after a while. Most people I talked to about it agreed with that perception. If you go gamble there, dress warm.

Finally having a lucky streak, I played all night and went to bed around 5:30 a.m. while still having about $ 1.000 in my pocket.

To be continued … (darn, I really need a break now!)
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