HappyTrails

Parked at a Casino

We decided to stop at Robinson Rancheria in Nice, CA. We always try to support a business that permits dry camping in their lot so we signed up for the Players Club, ate in the restaurant and played the slots for an hour. As it turned out we were ahead about $50 when we left the Casino. Happy Trails!

West Wendover

After a surprisingly quiet evening parked among the Semis at the casinos (free but not very level) we are headed to Winnemucca, NV. Check out Jane Kenny's "Casino Camping" book. Unlike the American Casinos book (which is very good but only gives addresses) Kenny's book gives some details and directions.

Happy Trails!

Our last night out....and my birthday

Today will be our last night on the road before returning to our family care duties.  It is my birthday today so I am in that "time marches on" frame of mind.  Jack made me a delicious latte with his home roasted coffee beans and our Ranchilio espresso machine.  This is living for me.  I'm still not sure if milk has started to cause some of my intestinal problems so I'm limiting myself to one latte per day.  I had stopped all milk products for a couple of weeks and the symptoms has reduced though not completey disappeared so I'm not sure milk is a factor.

Here's an adorable Boston Terrier we met yesterday.  His name is Baxter and he lives on a custom made 40' trawler.  What a life he has!

(Jack took this one with his D300)
Baxter lives a gypsy life aboard his people's boat in Florence.

We will drive to a "free" parking area at a casino on highway 101 for tonight.  This is our view if we can situate ourselves in that direction.  This is a very small casino with a "coffee shop" sized restaurant.  We may take advantage of the convenience but his casino doesn't draw us to use their facilities as they put the RV parking area at the farthest point from the facilities.

"There's gold in them thar hills"

We are now at the Jackson Rancheria Casino in the Sierra Foothills.  Our plans here are to have some quiet time and then meet with Jack's longtime friends.  The route from Napa to Jackson was easy on two red routes, US 12 and US 88 with a very short hop on Highway 99.  Our only challenge was the poor signage when we arrived at the Casino (perched on a very steep hill) and were unable to determine where a large motorhome towing a vehicle should park.  If you think you'll be in the Gold Country of California you will definitely get some good information on the history of the area by visiting some of the local web pages.  Here is the site for Jackson where there's a lot of "mother lode" history, a walking tour, museum and all that goes with California gold country history.

City of Jackson, California.

Casino visits

In the past year as fulltimers we have stayed at a half dozen casinos across the country.  Our experience has always been excellent because most casinos are RV friendly, they have decent food at an affordable price and you can lose/win money on games if that's your thing.  A number of other RVers have discussed this topic and I probably won't add much to those conversations by people far more experienced than me.  I do have several resources and include the links below.  I also learned of an excellent resource that was suggested to me by some folks we met at the John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks, NV.  Here is a link for one website that gives casino location information on casinos but this new resource, 2006 American Casino Guide, provides information about RV parking at each location and provides some coupons as well.  I highly recommend this book and their website to any RVer interested in Casino visits.  I'm also adding the web link to a Casino camper guide organized by fellow RVers. 

Our experiences in Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada and California have been very good.  Security is on hand to make sure all is well on their private property and sometimes a van or shuttle of some kind comes by to see if people in the RV parking area require a ride to the Casino.  This can be an excellent resource when traveling through an area quickly and if you keep a grip on your wallet, it can be low cost.