Posted by misterKeno on 06-07-2005

Okay, last day in NV for this trip....

I wake up at about 8:30...again by BLINDING sun thru the window. LOL. The night b4 i wanted to leave them open so i can watch the sparkling lites, oh well. I got up and began to pack & i leave the t.v. on the weather channel, basically more of the 'same' weather was scheduled for LV and for Calif., so no suprises are ahead of me.

I shower up, dress, and go downstairs for breakfast. It was either going to be the caribe coffee shop, or the new buffet. The line at the caribe coffee shop was about 40 persons. Line for the buffet was zero persons.

I figured what the heck--i'll do the buffet. It's new, i'll give it a shot. Turns out they do their brunch on sunday AND SATURDAY. Soooo, i'm at a satur morning buffet for $22.00. Yikes. Well, i hope the food is good. Quickly seated...

I must say the tables are really really spread out, so there's no chance of backing your chair up and coming remotely close to another chair-or person walking by. I asked for a booth, though, and got it. The buffet is set up like a giant 'U', with seating in the inner portion of the 'U'. They had omlette's and the 7 or 8 'stations' for food selections. Folks, i'm not much into eggs--so i'm OUT for that sorta thing. But, otherwise--i cannot name a specific food item that was great. Most of it was 'fair' to maybe 'good'. The italian section had pizza, and one other dish--that i couldnt recognize. But, the pizza seemed to sit out for a bit, i can remember on my 2nd time thru,a pizza pie still sitting there & not taken away. And, that was a good 10 minutes, and it started to look sad. Ummm, mexican side had some kind of egg/burrito wrap that NO ONE was touching. Some sad chipolathicas or something, and then three HUGE bowls of salsa. Not much selection. The carving was pretty good. Ham or turkey or roast beef. Sausages & bacon were pretty good. Pancakes, alright. Yea, you can see i'm a pretty 'basic' person for food, lol. Lets see---fresh fruit was only melon. I know if i were over at bellagio, it'd be FRESH PINEAPPLE and sorts. And, i know the aladdin has HUGE strawberries even when they arent in season. But, i'm not at the aladdin, i'm at Cravings. Plus aladdin doesnt do a breakfast buffet if memory serves me right. Lets see... they had shrimp n crab legs (both cold) w/ cocktail sauce, some sushi, and a chinese stir-fry thing. The one with chicken was 'okay'. I didnt make it to the desserts section, but selection seemed 'okay' over there.

Cravings:
$22
svc--good, drink refilled often, dishes taken away quickly
clean--yes, spills & etc werent evident (though that pizza pie shoulda been yanked a while back)
comfort--not too bad
taste--it was 'alright'
value--not so good folks

Now i know why the caribe cafe had a long line. Plus--ive never gotten a bad meal there.

Went over to the roulette table & played for about 20 minutes, no luck. Played some vp, the pay tables stink at the mirage, lol. No luck. Back upstairs i went, while near the elevators there were just tons of people heading towards the pool this morning.

Finished packing, called downstairs so they could get my bag. They were up in about 15 minutes. Looked out my window one last time.

Went downstairs at about 11:00... turned my claim-check in for my bag, the jerk said 'you'll want to take your stub over there for your car'. So, i looked over to the island and said 'okay, over there you mean'. Then he said 'yea, if you want your car go there' w/ a snooty voice. "i'll bring your bag do you". Twenty seconds later he brought me my bag & i gave him the gratuity he deserved. Valet had my car up the ramp in about 3 minutes, not bad. Tipped him & asked for directions to Sams Town.

I had not been to Sams Town in a good 12 or 13 years, but my mom liked going there for bingo & the machines. He explained 'oh go down Trop for about 25 miinutes then right on Boulder Hwy'. So, i ventured out & didnt know for sure if a fwy overpass was the boulder hwy or some OHTER hwy, lol lol lol. So i took it--obviously it wasnt. And, the only map i had was a CA map. So--i just took it to wherever, figured it would meet back up with I-15 eventually. I got off at Sunset---and pulled into the Sunset Station. There wasnt hardly anyone in there for a satur afternoon. Clean casino--a lot of the popular video machines avail...table games were avail, but just not anyone playing them, except for roulette.

Went to the bar & played some 25-cent vp, 9/6 pay table. But didnt hit much. Switched to dueces wild & did a bit better, ordered two drinks while playing. Took my TITO, and went to a 1-cent 'something' video slot. This one was 1-cent, but max was 70-cents with all lines/stuff being played, so i hit some spins for 350, 410, 420, 310 credit payoffs, lol. Then TITO'd that over to another vp machine 9/5 pay table, and lost it in about 40 minutes. I wanted to hit the road soon and be on my way to southern calif soon... I opted for some roulette, bought in for $60. $1 chips minimum. I thought maybe-just maybe this off-strip place would have 50-cent, but no luck. I was up to about $92, then hit a nice 'hit' for around 212 chips!! Good dealer. Soon enough i was back down to about $70, but that was with greens & reds the dealer payed me in during some nice 'hits'. So i ventured over to the dice table. No luck at all. Nothing hit. Nothing at all. So i lost my $60, plus another hundred or so. So i threw in the towel and left the Sunset Station.

Drove in a different direction & hit GREEN VALLEY pkwy, or maybe it was GVR pkwy, figured that would hook me up with I-215 eventually, and it did. Finally on my way out of NV at about 1:15... traffic was medium. I wanted to fill up before getting into Jean, or Baker, or Etc. But i forgot to in LV--so i gassed up in Primm. But i was hungry too. Yikes--another venture into a casino.

The Primm casino parking lot was Jam Packed, so i gave the car to the valet. Went iinside--didnt see a coffee shop, just a buffet, and some sad looking snack bar. I walked thru the buffet. It was $9, and said 'no thx'. Walked to the other end where the factory outlet stores (i think they're called) are. And, they had a food court---got some orange chicken at the Panda Express for $9. Back thru the casino. I was smart. I played $3 in a machine & got out. I knew the place was a trap for my dough, lol.

I forgot to buy gas, got on the freeway. I still had 2/3 of a tank. So, i was 'pretty good' for a few miles anyhoo.

::::: REMAINDER OF THE TR DOES NOT CONTAIN VEGAS INFO :::::

Got iinto Baker & wanted a soda or some bottled water. I was very very glad that i had some fuel in the tank. The chevron in Baker was $3.49/gallon!

Got back on the road and made my way thru barstow & san bernardino. At this point i had no definate reservatioins / plans. I grew up in a few areas of southern calif. Was just going to do 'whatever'. I jumped on the I-210, to the I-10, i think it was...and headed towards ventura county, where i spent a lot of my child-years growing up. When i finally got in towards Glendale & Pasadena...maaaaaan, i was reminded of the smog.

Fiinally got onto the 101..and about 30 miles east of LA... drove thru my old neighborhood, and what not, man has it changed. Well, i guess you can say that about ANY PERSON going back to a town they havent been to in a long time. But, there was this one mex restaurant that my family LOVED!!! Drove up

to

it..and

It was burned to the ground. The street-side signage still up, and a chain-link fence around the rubble (sp?). )o: I havent really checked to see if this was recent or not, or what happened--or plans for a re-build. But, when i come into town---this place was a must do for me. Oh well.

It's now about 7pm. I decide to get a lotto ticket, and a bottle of water. Drive down 101 more, at this point 101 begins to go West as well as North...i can catch the sun setting over santa barbara. I know santa barbara pretty good, and i know of this one seafood restaurant that's been there for eight zillion years, good stuff. But this place is sooooo busy, i'd have to park far away & prolly wait hours to get in. So, i drive around a bit... get side-tracked here & there & then heck with it..i'm hungry!!! Find this little bistro place that has pasta/pizza/etc. Yikes, looks like pizza again for me. I order one up & belly-up to the bar. Very very busy place. They rbing out my boxed pizza. Oh well, looks like i'm a TO-GO order now, heehee. I dont mind.... ive got an automatic & the pizza is sliced thin, lol. I'm on the road & the very last glimpse of sun-light is gone.

Sooo, now im cruising the P.C.H. / hwy 101... woohoo. I figure i'll just take 101 all the way back up to N. Calif--plus its been years since ive done a coast drive. Traffic is very very very lite on this satur nite. Also, no hwy patrol were seen for next 225 miles.

I continue driving, and see little landmarks that i remember my folks took me to, like the Madonna Inn. I think we have a keepsake glass from there from the 70's. So, i drive, and drive, and drive more. It's 10:30, and im getting tired. I'm thru Santa Maria, then San Luis Obispo, then nothingness--its dark out, and when you think you're coming up to a hotel/motel or something or an exit--its already BY YOU--GONE!! LOL. So,,,, i roll down the window - BLAST THE RADIO - and have one last slice. I make it into Gilroy. Now Greg--you prolly can deduce by now that ive driven a HELL of a long way, lol lol lol lol. LV-->Gilroy. It's 1:01am, and i stumble out of the car & get a room at the something-inn. Nice room, actually really nice room. It would be a gem of a room to have for the gilroy garlic festival (fun !!!). But, they book those rooms months/years in advnace.

Go to my room, and zzzzzzzzz's iin about two seconds.