Weekend Update

When I woke up this morning I was kind of in a bad mood. It was raining really hard and it was cold outside. I had to go to the dentist first thing in the morning and I wasn't really excited about it based on my last visit. But when I got in the car I heard Bill Withers singing Lovely Day and my mood improved dramatically. Turns out rainy days and Mondays don't really get me down when there's good music on.  So here's a little Bill Withers for you; I hope it makes you smile.  (PS: The video is lame, just listen to the song)



My weekend involved a lot of girl on girl time. No pervs, not that kind of time but you can keep wishing. Friday was book club where we discussed On the Road by Jack Kerouac. It's considered a novel, but it's actually based on Kerouac's actual travels with people like Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. I can't believe I didn't read this book when I was going through my teenage years trying to figure out who I was. I think I read Catcher in the Rye about 10 times in high school. I even had two fish named after the characters: Stratford and Holden. I used to carry a worn copy of the book in my backpack at all times until I found out Mark Chapman carried it around before he shot John Lennon and then I decided I didn't want to seem like a crazy killer. Anyway, I digress. Book club is always fun because we discuss the book for a short time, then we drink wine and talk shit for the rest of the night. 

Inspired by Kerouac, a group of book club girls headed out on the open road on Saturday to discover our own version of Beatnik freedom and wild abandon. We set out for Wendover, driving 90 miles west through the desert of Utah, eventually crossing the border into Nevada.  Loyal readers will remember my spontaneous trip to Wendover in February, which resulted in a $.39 profit. That's right, 39 cents straight from the penny slots. Obviously I'm not really a gambler. I don't take risks, I don't have any money. So this trip included some new Wendover sights, including an overnight stay at Montego Bay.

I tried to get all of us in the picture, but that didn't really work. Metra and Joshi are in the back and Lesley had taken the wheel. Mabe's behind me.

And there's Maberly

Last time I drove to Wendover, it was the dead of night in winter. So this time I tried to take a few pictures on the way while speeding along the freeway.

The Tree of Life

Bonneville Salt Flats

The State Line cowboy welcomes you

We decided to make a liquor store run to stock up on beer and other provisions. Mabe went straight for the whiskey.

Once we got back to the hotel, we had to create a makeshift cooler for all of the beer. Note: sinks and garbage cans work well.

After thinking outside of the box with the sink cooler, we decided we also needed a cooler to take to the pool. We took a quick inventory and Lesley remembered she had a bag with a plastic liner.

Next we were off to the pool!

This perv kept staring at us for like 10 minutes straight. He came over to the hot tub and wanted to get in because it was "in the sun." No one really acknowledged him and he continued to stare, especially at Mabe. Luckily he got out soon, but the staring continued. He asked for a cigarette from Mabe and choked himself trying to smoke it. He was obviously a non-smoker trying to impress her. He was super creepy and looked like Jeffrey Dahmer's creepier twin. 

The ladies ready to hit the casino floor

No idea what Mabe is doing...but the lighting kind of makes it look like amateur porn

I never order sweet drinks, but I was living on the edge in Nevada so I ordered a daiquiri. Les got one too!

Joshi enjoyed the bread

My incredibly healthy meal of steak and eggs, with daiquiri

There was some more drinking involved

We took the shuttle from the Rainbow back to the Nugget. The driver wouldn't let us stand up so we had to sit on each other's laps. So much safer than standing. 

Mabe had a thing for the astroturf

Metra knew about a game room in the bottom of the Nugget with shuffleboard! I hadn't played shuffleboard since I lived in Chicago. My team won!

We headed back to our room around 3 am and crashed. At least three of did, Joshi and Mabe decided to go back out until 6:30. We woke up bleary eyed, but happy a few hours later and packed up our stuff. The drive back to Salt Lake was uneventful and we were back to reality. I guess that must have been how Kerouac felt when he had to return to New York after all of his adventures in Denver, San Francisco and Mexico. Ok, maybe our trip wasn't quite as historic or rebellious, but we still made some offbeat memories from our time on the road.