Las Vegas

by Jeff · June 13, 2017

Some Poker, Some Hiking

Good Morning from Las Vegas!

We arrived in town after a long run from Coarsegold, CA that included a long stop on Interstate 15 northbound out of Baker. Seems there was a vehicle fire that spread to the brush near the interstate at the pass just south of the Nevada state line. 3 hours of sitting on the interstate with no movement and as we passed the scene finally it looked as though the vehicle involved may have been an older motorhome. Not really sure as all that was left was the burnt out husk of the vehicle, reduced to metal and running gear. We hope they are alright.

backed up to Baker

northbound 15 from on top piper

Set up at the Oasis, our home away from home for the next 10 days and just kind of flaked for the day. We were both tired from the almost 12 hour run. The weather is clear but incredibly windy. We discovered in Coarsegold that the OEM LG TV had given up the ghost (sound but no picture) and so needed replacing. Got up the next morning and headed out for an easy day of errands and scouting other RV parks in the area. E decided we needed mani/pedi treatments so we got into a nail spa and had our pampering. She picked out a couple of colors, a dark blue for her toes and a robin’s egg for her fingers. As always, I joked about having them paint my toenails with the same color she chose. Well, I finally did it to the mirth of the staff and E.

painted toes

We hit Costco for a new smart TV (good deal on a 32 inch Samsung unit) and then Walmart for our grocery needs and headed back to Piper with our spoils.

We got everything put away and then took a nap before heading out to the Roma Deli. This place is co-owned by Max Pescatori and Todd Brunson of Poker fame. We walked in the door and were greeted with a hearty “hello” and shown to a table. The atmosphere is a cross between a small food market with dry goods and a huge deli counter balanced by a kitchen in the back. The table behind us had the chef and some VIP’s that were all speaking Italian and having a good time. The staff all spoke Italian and English and were welcoming and friendly. A menu was produced that had typical Italian fare as well as the specials of the day. Unlike a lot of restaurants, the specials menu was hand printed and not a permanent part of the menu, which is always a good sign. The waiter (who also happens to be the selling owner, Mossimo) brought my beer and E had iced tea. She ordered the Sea Bass Picatta and I had the Osso Bucco Ragu. The Sea Bass came out as a whole fish that had been cooked to perfection and includes a side of pasta of your choice. My Ragu came out well mixed with the pasta perfectly “al dente” with the veal being diced and perfectly cooked. Dessert was a perfectly made cappuccino for each of us and the home made Cannoli. The combination was great and perfectly sated our need for sweet. Kudos to the staff and owners of this historic deli/restaurant for keeping things simple and well made in a nice atmosphere.

cappuccino and cannolo

We then wound our way to the Rio casino to check on the WSOP (World Series of Poker) and caught glimpses of some of our favorite players. The nice thing about poker is that it is indeed a great equalizer. Even the “big Names” stop to say hi or talk with you. There are a number of famous and infamous Hollywood celebrities who play and they are just like any other poker player at these events. Almost everyone is approachable here as opposed to catching them where they are indeed celebs and the paparazzi is on them. We eventually got to the Venetian (thanks Sheldon for not making your parking paid yet) where we sat in our chosen poker games. We rarely sit together on a table due to the nature of the waiting lists and we often ask for separate tables to keep anyone from claiming we collude. We played for a few hours and returned to Piper feeling very content for the night.

On Sunday we got up and headed out. We have friends playing in various tournaments around town and planned to go “rail” (cheer) them on. We got downtown to the Golden Nugget where a friend was playing in their daily tournament. We cheered him on and then made our way to the regular poker room and sat in our games. We kept in contact with him through the afternoon and then left after making a small profit to head to the Orleans. We very rarely play any tournaments but they have a H.O.R.S.E tournament there that was pretty rich due to all the players that are in town.

starting tourney chips

Neither of us made any money in the tournament but we did have a good time. Tournaments are a grind. They last a long time and you sit in the same chair for hours and it sucks to put that much time into a game and then come up short of being paid any money. We prefer cash games where you can get up and cash out your money at any time and are not tied down to one table.

We have found ourselves falling into the Vegas “routine”. Up late, not getting home until 2 or 3 or later in the morning and then sleeping as late as possible. Piper is not designed for being a dark den to sleep in so we have tried to black out her windows without doing any permanent changes (there is now foil on the windows of the bedroom).

Monday dawned bright and the wind finally stopped. E checked the weather report and it was forecast to be the coolest day of the week, with temperatures under 90 degrees f. We got breakfast and packed snacks for our trip out to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. This is the white sandstone slashed by deep red sandstone area that is west of Las Vegas. Easy drive from here just take Blue Diamond Road west. We have our annual Multi-Agency National Parks pass so there is no charge at the gate and the ranger there sends us through with a smile.

Flynn at the entrance

Our first stop is at the visitors’ center for some new t-shirts and a visit with Mojave Max (twitter @mojavemax). Max is the Desert Tortoise who has become the face of the Mojave Desert.

Max headed for his burrow

We head out to the Keystone Thrust hike and head out on foot through the desert. Again, we do hike in some inhospitable places and our gear is set up for that. Camelbacks, snacks, walking sticks, good boots, appropriate clothing and plenty of sun screen. We walked through some wildly changing terrain, numerous altitude changes and different geologic formations to get to the end of the trail that looks over the north (back) side of the Calico Hills rock formation that everyone sees from the front (south) side. This is a moderate hike that is a little over 2 miles out and back. Good shoes are a must as you traverse sandstone, granite and soft scree material often while going up or downhill. The vistas from this trail go from just desert to OMG almost constantly. As we came around one hill, we walked out on the red sandstone and the wind was blowing directly into our faces and had a chill to it. We met many folks on the trail and a couple parties really stick in my mind. There were the three women and a guy. They had pulled up to rest in a small canyon and we did as well. One of the women lives in Vegas and the others are family in visiting from out of the area. They noticed my hiking stick adorned with pins from all of the places we have hiked in and commented upon it. I have never counted before but there are 32 pins on that stick from all over. We chatted about places we have all hiked and about micro-breweries and restaurants in town before heading our separate ways (they were on the way back). When we arrived at the end of the trail there were three young adults (maybe 18?), two boys and a girl along with their dog. They were snacking and watering their sweet little dog. I took pictures for them with the rock formations in the background. We talked with them a bit about being outdoors and hiking and were very happy to see three young adults enjoying the outdoors with no parents along to make them get out. They all lived locally and said that they are out hiking fairly often. What a treat in this electronic age.