Monday, September 25, 2000
I left the house at 9am on a hazy day in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dan was nice enough to hang around the house until 9 so he could lift my extremely heavy bag into the car. I have no idea how I end up bringing so much stuff for just four days! Then I look and once you add video cameras, digital cameras, laptops, binders, day planners and clothes for any occasion it all makes sense. :-)
I'm a big fan of the books on tape to make the 8.5-hour drive speed by. I'm in a Stephen King mood lately so I ended up with three short stories under the title "Blood and Smoke" all having to do with smoking in some way and the first part of "Apt Pupil" which I read about a decade or so ago. It really does make the time go by quickly. I have no idea how I could make it on that long drive alone with the books.
It was a very uneventful drive other than some road construction in the Central Valley area. Once I was over Tehachipi, the sky was blue, there was a slight breeze and it was a perfect fall day in the desert. I hardly even had to use the air conditioning.
The only notable thing I saw on my drive was a guy walking his cat on a leash at the Rest Area in Boron, CA. It made me miss my cats, especially the kitten that has recently come to live with us and who helps me type my email and websites every afternoon. I hope she doesn't miss me too terribly.
I resisted the urge to stop in Primm and take a breather. Instead, I headed into Las Vegas just as the sun was reaching the horizon. I drove down Tropicana, directly into the sun and I'm pretty sure I ended up at the Orleans around 6:10pm. It took me about 5 minutes to get the car checked with the valet and all my things organized and back into their bags in the car and off with the bellman.
Check in took another 2-3 minutes. I walked right up, gave my name, photo id and credit card. I asked for a high room with a view and got exactly what I asked for. I had originally reserved a king room, but she had a better view with 2 queens. It was just me, so that was acceptable and I headed off to room 1916.
The elevator is pretty close to the casino, just down the hall from the poker room, past the gift shop. There is a security guard there checking keys 24 hours a day. I got up to the 19th floor and found that the rooms start at room number 1942 by the elevator and the room numbers go down from there. They were originally going to put me at the end of the hall, but room 1916 is far enough! If you don't feel like the long hike down the hall, be sure to ask for a room in the 40's or high 30's. The even numbered rooms look out towards the strip.
Opening the door to my room I saw a dresser directly in front of me and beyond that a desk with an outlet and good lighting. There was a TV on the dresser that was pretty good size for Las Vegas. I'm not the TV expert in the family, but it appeared to me to be about 24-25".
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To the right were two queen beds with brass headboards. Between the beds is a table with the phone, a lamp and alarm clock/radio. Beyond the beds is a sitting area with a couch, table and comfortable reading chair (If only I could fit that chair into my suitcase, it would be perfect for the nook in our bedroom.) The sitting area has a good sized window and mine happened to have a view of the strip from Mandalay Bay to NYNY (straight out the window) and if you lean up against the glass, you can see as far north as Stratosphere. From the couch, the view is from Mandalay Bay to Caesars'. Nice view.
Opposite that sitting area is the bathroom. There is a dressing area with sink and clothes hangars, etc. Separate from that is the toilet and shower/tub combo. The tub has a railing on one side where you can rest a drink, etc. and is contoured for soaking. The room comes with bath gel along with shampoo, mouthwash and lotion. On the back wall of the shower (opposite the showerhead) there is a window about 12" wide and 15-16" high that opens up and offers a view of the valley and the Strip. There is also a telephone in the bathroom area.
I requested my bags be delivered by the belldesk at 6:30pm. I called Dan to let him know I had arrived and the bag came to the room in the first few minutes of our conversation.
After talking to Dan, I unpacked a few things and called room service. I got a club sandwich and they warned me that it might take 45 minutes. That was fine, as I had to wash up, get organized and relax for a few minutes anyway. It ended up taking closer to an hour (53 minutes) but not terrible. They did warn me and were within the 15-minute window that I give room service.
After eating, I watched a little TV and headed downstairs. Orleans is more of a locals' joint than the hotels on the Strip. I went to sign up for the slot club and get my 1000 points for signing up. Turns out I signed up here in 1996. I have no recollection of ever signing up, but I guess I did. :-) I didn't get the 1000 points, but I did use the coupon in the funbook to get a free $5 in coin.
I love the selection of games at this casino. Lots of full pay video poker and the newest slots. I saw Texas Tea here as well as lots of 5 and 10 play video poker. They had double down stud poker and all my favorites. Unfortunately, Monday night is double slot club points night and the place was jammed with locals. Any good machine that wasn't being played, had the chair up, or was otherwise saved for someone.
After about 15 minutes of wandering I found some machines that were kind to me. I quickly racked up about 1000 points and moved around from machine to machine. I went up and down a little, but ended up cashing out ahead around 10pm. I had some things to do, so I headed back up to the room.
Around 11:30, I headed back downstairs. The machines were clearing up so I decided to give them a try. Turns out that the cool 5 play video poker I wanted to play had a terrible pay table … 6/5 !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I found some better video poker and did pretty well. I found a bank of double down stud that was kind and played some bonus poker for awhile.
I went back upstairs much too late.
