Reno Bus

I did not sleep very well last night in anticipation of my early morning departure from San Francisco's Chinatown to Reno via a charter bus. Since my wanderlust has been getting the better of me, I googled Reno bus tours last night and found a company that I did not know a thing about and booked myself on a round trip ticket to Reno for $30.00 in conjunction with Harrah's Casino. For $30.00, I would get $20.00 in Casino chips and a $7.00 food voucher good at three of their restaurants. If you don't buy in, you are charged $5.00 extra. I bought in with the intent on upgrading my Platinum to a Diamond Status with Harrah's as I was less than 500 points short of the coveted and elusive achievement.
As an uninitiated casino player on my first bus trip, a few of the passengers were very accommodating in helping me to secure a seat on the bus. Previously the night before, I had the printed out the Eticket but had another step to complete the day of departure and that was to visit the Harrah's office to process my check in. The facility, if you can call it that, was a tiny hole in the wall office that resembled a travel agency. As I requested for a window seat, I had visions of seeing white powdery snow that I had not seen for 20 plus years. Kari completed my check-in and with the proper documents now in hand, I was off and running to my seat. Excited and elated, I thanked Cyndi, a regular and the bus driver for directing me to the precise source of access. With everyone accounted for, we had one more pickup to make in Oakland and we're on our way. The smooth drive going through a mist shrouded Sacramento was uneventful as we stopped in Auburn for a 15 minute break at a McDonald's. This was a good time to gather extra toilet paper because the bus did not have any in the restroom on board. Not too long after we journeyed past the city of Auburn, the landscape began to change from it's formidable brown and dry summer colors to a tree topped snow white winter wonderland. The Nevada mountain range was scenic and majestic dressed in white as she came out to play. Snow covered rock formations and icy streams made the perfect postcard as the snow flurries hastened it's delivery upon tree branches heavily laden with old snow. For every bend and turn created new winter scenes like a movie camera producing an intimate slide show of nature for me. Awake and alive, I am in admiration and wonderment of the breathtaking artistry before me. The quiet chatter of the bus became silent as we motored through the exquisiteness of this alluring sight. Soon we arrived at our destination and one by one, like lemmings, we all single filed our way into the casino to collect our vouchers, casino chips and monies. It wasn't too long before I found my machine, in fact, four of us from the bus played on the "Wheel of fortune" dollar slot machine. Approximately two hours into playing, each of us had hit the 1000 on the wheel from the spin button. A growing crowd cheered us on and we dared not leave our seats. Another thirty minutes had past, again at different times, the four of us hit the elusive 1000! I called it quits and cashed out. We were all up at least $2000.00 and I had made my 400 some odd points to attain a Diamond Player status. I was elated! I felt the need for a good soak and proceeded to the spa. For a few dollars, I enjoyed a relaxing jacuzzi, sauna, steam or massage (extra). The jacuzzi is a welcome respite for my RA as I melted into the confines and blissfully content wishing that Lynn was here to enjoy this with me. With brief calls to her throughout my day as I summarize what my time has been like at Harrah's, she acquaints me with her story of how she met her hubby while they both worked at Harrah's 20 plus years ago.
Profound love during that time as it was with my ex husband. Now to come full circle to be resting on the other side of a woman, also profound love.
It was nearing the time of my departure as I had a few more tasks to complete. I received my new Diamond Card, cashed out my $2000.00 and cashed in my food voucher for a won ton veggie soup to go. My bus promptly arrived at 6:15pm and we were all on board and departed on time at 6:30pm. As we drove through a dark Nevada region, the beautiful white trees by day were now a silhouette of ominous and menacing shadows by night. After feasting on my soup and char siu bun, the quietness of the drive lulled me to sleep only to awaken a few hours later to the sudden stop of traffic as the bus lurched and pitched. With a quick drop off in Oakland, we soon reached San Francisco's Chinatown thirty minutes earlier than anticipated. My goodbye's were quick as the cold nipped at me and soon my thoughts of the Nevada snow-scape visited me as I continued my drive home.