Day 3
The usual morning routine rules, except this is Rosa's day off, so we all plan a visit to Lake Tahoe. It's an annoying ride, going up and down -- after a trip on an airliner, my ears bother me for days, and the fact that anywhere we go requires frequent and extreme changes in altitude is driving my ears and sinuses crazy (they don't put population on city signs, they put the altitude). It would probably be fun if I were driving, but the T-bird is a long way away from Tahoe. We get there (finally) and stop at a state run lodge for lunch. A pleasant place, but something's missing -- no slot machines!! We are there to take a boat ride on the MS Dixie II. We pose for a picture before we board (afterward, Rosa buys us all copies), and start off on an afternoon cruise, again no slot machines (the boat enters California waters, so no gambling). It's a pleasant trip -- cool, and humid enough to give my poor dried out sinuses a bit of a break. It's a 3 hour cruise (the obvious connection to Gilligan's Island only now occured to me), and during the trip they run a video called "Lost Treasures of Lake Tahoe" -- as if pirate galleons are sunk all over the place, waiting for intrepid treasure seeker willing to brave the extremely cold waters of Tahoe. The commentary on the scenery is more interesting, so I spend more time on deck. We decide to drive down to South Lake Tahoe and into California. The town straddles the border, and it's very obvious where the border is -- I'm almost suprised there wasn't a sign saying 'Last Slots before California'. We went to Harrah's (Bob used to work there), unfortunately (or maybe not) too late to see the Captain and Tennille. The next production coming up was Grease, and, remembering my wife's description of the Las Vegas style show she saw years ago, I started chuckling. Sharon asked me why. I said, 'Can you imagine a Vegas version of Grease -- fuzzy sweaters with holes cutout for the dancer's breats to stick out. G-strings instead of poodle skirts. It gives new meaning to the lyrics of the song "Greased Lightning" (listen real close next time, you'll get it). Rosa wants to try the Mega Machine, one handle pull away from $18,000,000. Sharon and I decide to try our luck -- we start with $21.50, I end up with $9.00 (which was $9.00 more than I started with) , Sharon had at least $20. Hurray for Harrah's! We go back to Carson and stop at a new place, Pinon Plaza, for supper. $21 for 6 adults and a 3 year old (and it's better than the $21 lunch back at the airport in St. Louis). It's almost that much for 2 of us here at the local buffets. We try the slots there for a while -- we didn't do so well -- and I told Sharon to stop. She agreed that it was a good idea, and besides, it was time to go anyway.
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