Pre-Trip Events
If you aren't interested in the pre trip activities, scroll down
Thursday September 19, 2013
I had to work a short day on Thursday and had someone cover the rest of the shift for me, getting out at 2pm instead of the normal 6pm. I swung by the house to pick up Dee who was totally ready to roll and we hit the road at about 3:00pm (I only live 5 miles from work).

We headed up the NY State Thruway on our way to Lake George. On the way we made a quick detour onto the Mass Pike so Dee could add another state to her list. That being Massachusetts. With a quick picture of the welcome sign. We made a quick stop for a snack and some lottery tickets where we bought $2 worth and cashed out for $3!

We stopped off on the way for dinner at Arby's on Wolf Road. After dinner we hopped onto the Adirondack Northway and eventually to the Lake George exit then, through Lake George Village. I've never been here this late in the year before and expected it to be pretty cold at night, but I was wrong. It was quite nice this evening. It was a surprise at how dead the town was in the off season at around 7:45pm.

We pulled into the Econo Lodge of Lake George parking lot at about 8:00 and I went into the office to check in. Things were a bit off here because they didn't have my reservation. It turns out they expected us last night. They quickly fixed the error and we were into room 118. Dee had booked a handicap room on a special rate of just $50. I'd never stayed here before and while not the greatest place in town, certainly not the worst, especially for fifty bucks!

We just took it easy for the rest of the night because I had been up since about 4:30 this morning.

Total win/loss for the day $0
Total comps for the day $0

Friday September 20, 2013
We were up early today and had a bite to eat here at the hotel with their continental breakfast. We got cleaned up and then headed out for a fall drive through Diamond Point and Bolton Landing, 2 towns just north of Lake George Village then turned around. Back into the Village we drove through the village a little more checking out the sites and seeing what changed since our last visit and then headed out of town stopping at Riley's souvenirs store and seeing what bargains we could collect.

For a quick lunch we hit A&W Root beer. These are all corporate now but this is one of the original versions and they still do car service. After a burger and some fried cheese were were on our way out of town. About an hour later we were in Latham where I had a reservation at the La Quinta Albany Airport. I had booked 1 night in a handicap accessible jacuzzi suite for $134. We'd also be parking the car here for the duration of the trip. This rate was only a few bucks more than booking just a regular handicap room so I thought it was a good deal. Checking in was quick and we were assigned room 230. This is the same room we had last time we stayed here back in the spring when we went to Florida.

For dinner we went to a favorite place called Grandma's. They are known for their pies and have been around for a long time. I got the beef stew special with cream of turkey soup and Dee got the Grandma's special sandwich which is turkey, ham, Swiss, lettuce and tomato and marble rye with one side dish. We of course had pie afterward.

After dinner we went back to the hotel to relax and hop into the jacuzzi tub before going to bed.

Total win/loss for the day $0
Total comps for the day $0
Total number of eff bombs for the day = 51
(This is a new feature where Dee now counts the number of times I use the eff word during the day - she hates when I say it!)

Day 1
Saturday September 21, 2013
We were up early today full of excitement for today's big trip. We started off with the hotel's Bright Side Breakfast which consisted of standard hotel breakfast items like fruit, breads, and waffles. When we were done we ran back up to the room to finish getting ready for the trip. I reserved the shuttle for 9am. We met the airport shuttle out front and were off to the terminal at Albany International Airport.

Today were were back with flying Southwest after using United last trip. I booked these flights back during their anniversary sale back in June for $189 and really didn't find the fares to be that great. I checked the fares daily between then and now and they never dropped. For my flight I used a $150 LUV voucher they issued to me for a mishap on a flight home from Fort Lauderdale earlier this year (they also refunded my payment for that ticket as well). I paid for the balance of the ticket. For Dee's ticket I used some of my points, many of which I earn with my Southwest Visa. So in total for this flight with fees we actually spent $41.

Checking in was fast and then we were off to security. This takes us a bit longer with Dee in the chair but she knows the drill now and we allot plenty of time for this.

Before the flight I grabbed a sandwich from Brioche Doree because other than a small snack, there's no food on this flight. I got us a ham & cheese for the great bargain price of $8.

It was almost time for our flight and they are about to start their preboarding process. With Dee in the chair we have been using this option. The staff was accommodating and made Dee feel good.

We pushed back on time and we were on our way. This is flight 3475 nonstop to Las Vegas departing at 11:15am and scheduled to arrive at 1:40pm with a flight time of 5 hours and 25 minutes. The captain came on during the flight and said we'd actually be flying for 5 hours.

The flight was good other than a few bumps and as always, I hate the length of this flight. I try to sleep during as much of the flight as possible. It was tough to sleep today though because there was this, to quote my father, “a big impression builder” talking very loudly for 5 straight hours spewing his wisdom to the couple next to him. I shit you not, he blabbered for the whole flight. I woke up at one point feeling us starting to make our initial descent. I looked at Dee's watch and saw we were less than an hour from landing.

We touched down 30 minutes early. It took a while for them to get Dee's wheelchair to the jet way but then it was off to baggage claim. This time I actually got us to the right terminal for baggage claim unlike the last time we were in town. When we got there the suitcase was already on the carousel.

We tried something different this time with the rental car. Dee decided to stay at the airport while I got on the shuttle. It's a bit of a pain in the ass for her to get on and off of these buses and takes way more time. The plan was for me to go get the car, and then park in the short term lot to pick her up.

This trip I booked the car with Alamo. The rates for this trip were very high compared to trips in the past. By that I mean double and at times even triple. I was able to score a decent rate of $115 per week on a full sized car using a VISA discount code and a $30 off coupon. This rate lasted for 1 day on July 25th. I checked rates with all of the companies every day and they never even came close to dropping this low. In fact, most days they were more than double this much.

I used the kiosk to check in and I was off to my car. There wasn't much of a selection available which would explain the high prices. I grabbed a Nissan Altima with over 17,000 miles on it. This car was starting to get beat to shit. I gave it a once over and I was headed back to the airport to get Dee. This worked out well and saved her the hassles of being loaded on and off of the shuttle and time wise only took a little longer so it was well worth it.

From the airport it was off to the 99˘ Only store on Blue Diamond Rd. for some supplies. This store had just opened when we were out here in the summer. The store was in good condition but a bit smaller than some of the others in town. From here it was off to Target to get a few things that 99˘ Only didn't have and then one final stop at Walgreen's.

Next up it was time to head downtown to Main Street Station. I booked this offer through host Ipo on our last trip using my September offer of 4 complimentary nights, $75 free play and a food coupon book. Ipo swapped out the coupons for a silver card which is good for meals at all of the non gourmet restaurants at all 3 downtown properties as well as all bars. This is a perk we really like as it gives us lots of dining options and we don't have to use our points. She was also going to block the same room we had last time we stayed here.

Checking in was very fast as they don't allow that many check ins on Saturdays. We were assigned room 1724 and on our way there in just a few minutes. It has a king bed, nightstands, table with chairs, dresser, 32 inch flat screen TV, closet and a work desk. The bathroom is laid out similar to the regular rooms as well except it's all one room instead of being split into two. It's a bit larger as well.

I grabbed our suitcase, we got settled into the room and then it was off to the California's Market Street Cafe to meet up with long time friend Buddha and wife Nancy. There wasn't a line here but it didn't matter as I have an emerald card and get to cut the line here now. This is a new feature they've added to this cafe. At times there are very long lines here and one of the complaints I made in their surveys was to add this feature, as almost all of their other restaurants offered it. I'm not sure if I had anything to do with it, but I say yes!

Since our last trip they got new menus here. This usually means new prices and new items added as well as old ones removed. It also meant that the daily special sheet was no longer in the menu but was posted on the table in a plastic holder. I went with my old stand by here the hot open turkey but Dee could not get get her favorite, the spaghetti and meat sauce because it was gone. Instead she got chili over spaghetti and a milk shake. It was a good meal with good people which we enjoyed.

When we finished dinner it was finally time to hit the casino. We hit our favorite video poker machines. The triple plays. Not much happened here and the only real highlight was Dee dumping a junk hand and drawing a quad on the top line. Between us we hit 11 quads and got all $2 scratch cards except for the $3 I started off with. Dee initially dropped $100 but had a strong second half to break even. I was all over the place and ended up losing.

Next I ran my free play through the 50˘ progressive and was able to cash out with $65. All in all during this shortened gaming day we didn't do too badly.

It was getting late and we were still on east coast time so up to the room we went at about 9pm.

Total win/loss for the day $0
Total Comps for the day $215
Total number of eff bombs for the day = 17