Dateline Dayton — This past weekend Pauline and I planned an overnight trip with my sister Susan and her husband Willie.

Each year I take my Vegas trip with Willie. Next year we will include the wives because we’re going to the Grand Canyon after spending a couple days in Vegas.

Anytime the four of us are going to a casino, it’s referred to as a “Road Trip.” These trips can be for a few hours, a day, or in this case, a scheduled overnight. Willie has wanted to go to a casino/racetrack in West Virginia. By last Saturday, we were on our way.

Our first stop was for breakfast. A well- know national chain restaurant is a short distance from our home, and on the way. When we pulled into the parking lot of the establishment we found only one car. At 8:30 in the morning, this place should have been crowded. Therefore, we didn’t even stop. This could have been an indication about the day ahead.

We continued on, stopping at a regional restaurant chain, which all of us are familiar with, and had breakfast. It was not anyone’s first choice, but it was convenient and the food was good. Or was it that we were hungry by this time?

Once on our way again, the drive was beautiful. Leaves are just starting to change colors and there was very little traffic.

We arrived at the casino at noon, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was non-smoking. Once inside, the most important chore was to get a player’s card. Once accomplished, we agreed to meet at 1:30. It really wasn’t that necessary to set a time since the casino wasn’t large and we were always crossing paths.

Pauline had lost her twenty dollars, our limit. We are the last of the big time gamblers. I had a balance on my ticket, as I had only spent $5.25. I found Pauline and told her to play the Wheel-Of-Fortune machine. She won. I said to stop playing when the balance reached $20. She actually left $17.50, so I stayed well below my $20 limit

A dog track was connected with the casino, so we went over and watched a couple races. None of us is into racing so we decided it was time to eat. Finished by 2:30, we headed toward another casino five hours away.

Always a Casino Nearby

Another lovely drive with little traffic. We were getting close to Wheeling by 7:30. I suggested stopping for the evening. We still were an hour from our casino destination. We could drive there in the morning. Since we were very close to a casino in Wheeling, we stopped there to inquire about a room – none. I got a player’s card, though, and we moved on.

We decided it would be best to head west on Interstate 70 since that was the direction we had come from and had noticed hotels at a few interchanges. As you might have guessed, there wasn’t a room at any of them. We finally learned there was a college track meet taking place, with 40 colleges participating. We were also told that we wouldn’t find any rooms until the other side of Columbus, as there was a horse show in Columbus.

We ended up driving home, arriving at 1 a.m. We tried to talk Suzie and Willie into spending the night, but they decided to drive back to Piqua.

What started out to be a leisurely overnight trip, turned into a long, tiring day. I do however, have two new player cards for my collection.

Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net