Report #1 from Las Vegas

World Series of Poker here we come! We left Northern CA for Las vegas around 8:00am. We drove down I-5, cutting over to 58 at Bakersfield. I was really dreading the drive, I have about a four hour limit for riding in the car comfortably. Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad - until that last hour.

Doni recommended a audio book, 'Middlesex,' which is an epic on 12 CDs. That certainly helped pass the time as we drove by sage brush, mile after mile. Have I mentioned how much I hate the dessert?

Arriving in Las Vegas round 4;30, we went straight to the Rio Casino so Jeff could register for the World Series of Poker (WSOP). The hotel had a covered red carpet with cool misters leading from the parking area to the entrance to (WSOP). With the tempature 109, the misters were much appreciated.

We dropped Jeff off so he could get in before 5:00pm to register. As it turned out, there was no hurry as the registration area was opened 24 hours a day. I sat with Bailey, my service dog, out in the hallway waiting for Jeff to complete his business. Bailey is always a conversation starter and I met a woman who owns a "poker business" in Florida. She runs poker tournaments and takes the top seven winners to the (WSOP every year. She told me she lives in Las Vegas for the two months of the tournament each year. She gave me two pieces of advice:

1. Nothing in Las Vegas closes as 5:00pm, and

2. Check out Bluff magazine for coverage of the events. ESPN will televise the main event and selected tournaments.

We left the very crowded, circus like atmosphere of the poker pavilion to go check into the 2 bedroom timeshare condo we rented. For the next week we have our 'home base' with a kitchen, living room, dinning room, laundry, and three flat screen TVS. Ya gotta love those Internet deals where you can rent a condo for less than a hotel room.

Jeff is entered into 'event 54' which starts tomorrow (Monday) at noon. Turns out it was a good thing he did register early as the event later closed out.