Get Away: Part One

It was time.

We like to do it every year.

My friend, her daughter,

Becky and I find somewhere to escape to

before the dreaded wonderful new school year begins.

For Becky,

it means her Senior year.

For Lindsey,

it's her first year of college.

Teresa, the girls and I have been friends

since the girls were two months old.

One year, we ventured all the

way to South Dakota.

Last year,

it was camping.

Luckily,

we can still get two 18 year old

girls to join us.

This year, we traveled about an hour from home,

to the "other" side of the cities.

We began here for lunch:

one of many local casinos,

which is known for this:

$9.99 all you can eat.

I assure you,

we all showed great restraint.

Especially a friend,

who shall remain nameless,

that kept piling 

vegetables

onto her plate.

Next stop,

our hotel.

If you remember my camping trip,

the campground I had made reservations at,

turned out to be creepy.

Wouldn't you know it,

this hotel turned out to be yucky!

Imagine it if you will...

The dank smell of mold

wafting up your nostrils upon entering your room.

A very fast inspection revealed

a hole in one bedspread,

a mattress on one bed that

sank severely to the middle

and had a very strong

resemblance to the Grand Canyon,

and dark, dingy lighting to say the least.

What is it with me and reserving

places anyway?

Oh well.

We were not to be deterred.

We decided to pursue

more welcoming quarters.

In the midst of a Pow Wow,

a dog show

and

some big sporting event going on,

we were able to secure

a lovely room!

So off we went,

had a quick dip in the

hot tub and pool,

then readied ourselves for some...

horse racing!

It was new to Becky and I so our

lovely companions made reservations for a table

which looked like this:

Pretty fancy, schmancy for this

little chick!

It was

so we had 4 hours of

entertainment for $1.00

per person.

Well, of course

our bets were in addition to that

but with 8 races and an average of

$2.00 a bet, it was a fun, cheap

night of entertainment.

The horses were beautiful

and we reveled in their speed.

Everyone won a little

and that made it even more pleasant.

Becky proclaimed

"I won a wad!"

at her $14.00 win.

We were right above the winners

circle which was delightful.

Teresa and the girls

enjoyed running to the paddocks

to view the horses

up close and personal

(I'm not 100% sure it was the horses and NOT the jockeys they were eyeing)!

Back to the hotel

for a little chatter

and a good night's sleep

which was needed for day 2...

to be continued.