Day 15 Saturday December 28, 2002
Well today is the day I have to go home. When the alarm clock went off and woke me up I was a little bummed out that this trip is just about over. It seems that most of the time it’s time to go home just as the trip is getting good again. Maybe that’s a good thing in a way. That way I get to go home with some winnings instead of staying around and dumping it back into the casinos.
Most of my stuff was already packed so I just had to get ready and pack up the last of my stuff. It’s amazing how much crap I can accumulate over 2 weeks and even more amazing that I can fit it into my suitcases.
I finally left the Suncoast at about 12:30 and the only thing I really had to do was top off the gas tank of the car so the crooks at Alamo won’t charge me $4 a gallon to do it for me.
I took the long way back to Alamo going down 95 into downtown then taking the strip. I stopped at the gas station just outside of Sunset Rd. While I was filling up the car I realized I was way too early to return the car and go to the airport. I was hungry and needed lunch and the thought of going up to Henderson crossed my mind but I knew I’d never make the flight if I did that. Instead I went over to Silverton to get some lunch. I’ve got enough points here to eat free for the rest of my life and I planned on heading to the coffee shop. Unfortunately it was packed and I didn’t have that much time to wait around and get bad service. Instead of the coffee shop I went to the Deli. The deli here has all types of sandwiches and grilled foods like burgers. They also have pizza and other quickie foods too. I got an order of Chicken fingers. The order size is pretty large so I saved half the order for the flight back since there are no meals on America West flights.
After I ate I still had plenty of time so I popped a $20 bill into a VP machine taking one last shot before I actually went home. Nothing happened here and it was time to leave.
Returning the car went quickly and there were no hassles from the agent. I had just missed the shuttle bus but I had plenty of time to wait for the next one. I guess the guy ahead of me didn’t though. He went running after the bus but it didn’t stop for him. He got back into the waiting area yelling all sorts of choice words and kicked the trashcan.
The next bus came just a few minutes later and shortly I was at the terminal. The line was long but there were plenty of agents available to check passengers in. I only had to wait 2-3 minutes and then I was checked in, as always in less than 1 minute once I got to the counter.
The line at security was long but moved at a decent pace. They had all of the lines open and an agent there telling people what line to go to. I was carrying my bag full of casino chips and as always got pulled to the side to have the bag hand searched. This happens every time I bring chips home with me.
I still had about an hour to wait but it went by fast as I watched some lady playing slots. She was winning like crazy. Amazing considering it is the airport! She finally cashed out a big bucket of quarters.
When the boarding process began there was a mad dash for the door but like in Newark if your row wasn’t called the agents told you to go sit back down and wait. It amazes me that adults have to be talked to like children when it’s time to board the plane.
I was in row 20 with a window seat. The plane was just about full but there were a few seats left open. All 3 seats in my row had people in them though so there wasn’t going to be any extra room like there was on the way out.
After the plane was all loaded we were sitting there and it was getting very hot in the plane. There was no air coming out of the blowers and when someone asked why the flight attendant said there is no pilot so the plane isn’t running yet. Did she say no pilot? That’s correct. She said no pilot. Apparently there was some bad weather in San Francisco where the pilots were coming from and they were going to be delayed in getting into Las Vegas. I understand this but why did they board the plane so early if they knew the pilot was going to be an hour late getting in?
I don’t normally mind delays but it is situations like this that make the delays really miserable. If the heat and the waiting weren’t bad enough there was a little baby a few rows back screaming and yelling the entire time.
Finally the captain arrived and said they just got in and they now had to do the paperwork and it would be about 20 minutes longer before we left. Finally about an hour and 10 minutes late, we departed. When we took off I had a great view right down the strip. The traffic on the strip looked to be really bad since all I could see was lots of taillights on the cars. I-15 was all backed up too. I guess it was all the people from California coming to town. This is one of the best views you’ll ever get of the strip at night. The only problem with it is that if you get this view it means you are going home.
We circled out near Nevada Landing and Gold Strike and then headed out past Henderson. A few minutes later I could see off in the distance what I determined had to be Laughlin. I’m not 100% sure that’s what it was but based on the flashing lights and the short amount of time we were in the air it’s really about the only thing it could be.
By this time the screaming kid cried itself to sleep and it seemed like the flight was going to pretty peaceful. The captain said we were going up to 37,000 feet and expected a smooth flight most of the way.
Today’s movie was Miracle on 34th Street. It was the remake of the classic. Not a great movie but not terrible either. I of course didn’t need to rent headsets since I still have the set I lifted back in August! After the movie there were a few short programs to keep us occupied and then we started heading into Newark for our landing.
Even though we left over an hour late we made it into Newark only 20 minutes late. It was now about 12:30am local time. I made my way to baggage claim and couldn’t believe my eyes. There were already bags coming out when I got there. This has to be a record for Newark. They are famous for taking forever getting your bags to you. My first bag came out right away and my only hope was that there wasn’t a repeat of what happened in August. My bag was the first out and my second bag was one of the last. Things weren’t quite that bad tonight though.
After I got my bags I was on my way to the monorail to Avis to pick up my car to drive home. I was 3rd in line and there was only one agent. Both people ahead of me had reservations but for some reason the agent decided he was going to work in slow motion. It took about 40 minutes before I was on my way. This guy just didn’t seem to want to be bothered. I had a rate of just $39 for the one day rental for a mid sized car. They gave me on Oldsmobile Alero. It’s a nice car but sure didn’t have all of the features that the Intrepid did out in Las Vegas!
After finally getting out of the airport complex I headed north on my way home. As I got farther north I could see the snow was getting deeper on the sides of the road that we got here on Christmas day. About 3am I finally rolled down my street to see my driveway had about a foot of snow in it. I parked on the street and made my way up to the house. The driveway and luggage could wait until tomorrow. Right now I was headed to bed after a long day of travelling.
I couldn’t believe it. I was in my own bed and this trip was actually over. It seems like just yesterday I was getting up and leaving to start this trip.
I guess that’s all to write about in this trip report as another trip comes to an end.
Total win/loss for the day 0
Total comps for the day $6
Final Thoughts
Total win/loss for the trip +$1700
Total comps for the trip $1629
I hope you have enjoyed this report. As always any questions and comments can be e-mailed to me. Thanks for reading.