Saturday

This picture makes me laugh. We were on the bus riding to Nevada on Friday. I held the camera in front of us and snapped the picture of Ron and myself. To my amazement, I see that my parents, seated behind us, are also both in the picture! Funny, funny!

We had a fun day. We each took $20-40 dollars and spent ALL DAY long slowly spending it on the penny machines. No...none of us brought home any winnings but we had a fun day.

On the other hand, it was sad looking around and realizing that many of the people there are seriously hoping to "win the big one". The casino's are dark inside. You don't know if it is day or night....no concept of passing time. The smoke burns and reddens your eyes, and the waitresses will bring you any drink you wish....for free...as long as you are gambling. (Do people really believe that is FREE???) Perhaps many of the people there could afford to spend money in this fashion but I kept wondering about how one could be a "good steward" of their money if they took up visiting casinos, or any other gambling, on a regular basis. It was easy to see how this becomes an addiction with people. How sad.

The bus ride up and back was long, but memorable for us in a ridiculous way. There was a man seated behind us a few rows with a bad (and annoying cough). He also obviously had indigestion based on the sounds eminating from him. It was so disgusting that Mom and I could only choke back laughter after awhile. I got the giggles so bad at one point late on the ride home that I was actually holding my hand over my mouth! As every family outing does, this one held some silly little unimportant incidents that will keep us chuckling for some time to come.

We arrived back at the park by 10:30 p.m. and headed to bed, but were up early, with plates in hand, to head over to the Pancake Breakfast. There was a nice crowd and some good pancakes. Afterward the different clubs and organizations in the park all held "open house" and we toured all of their hobby rooms. You could never take part in them all, but I enjoyed seeing the displays and chatting in each room with people who do: scrapbooking, oil painting, leather tooling, basket weaving, lapidary, ceramics, woodworking, wood CARVING, stain glass work, sewing, quilt making, and other crafty things!

When I was young, my dad's mother would go to FL and live each winter in a tiny mobile home. She would write us about bingo, arts & crafts, and pot luck dinners. It was truly something that I related to "being old" at that time. No wonder my son makes such fun of me as I post all of those same types of activities I am now THOROUGHLY enjoying.....as well as all of the friendly people from all over the country that we are enjoying them WITH!