"When I say I don't know where tomorrow will take me, this time I really mean it. This is going to be an interesting weekend."

That's how my journal ended yesterday. I had no idea just how interesting it was going to get.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we? I arrived back at Hoover Dam just after twelve, and fortunately, the tour had not yet sold out like it did the day before. I paid my $25 and got my Hard Hat Tour ticket. Entry time: 2 PM. Two hours to kill. Hmmm...

I walked across the road.. er.. Dam.. er.. the Dam road to a restaurant to get something to eat cause I was.. well.. damn hungry. As I sit there munching on my two dollar cheeseburger, I learn a little bit about what went into building the Dam via an overhead television playing a videotape that's conveniently available to buy in the adjacent gift shop.

After lunch, I walk over to the gift shop and do a little browsing. I decide to walk outside and enjoy the scenery for a while. I find a pretty spot alongside Lake Mead and watch the boats out on the water. (Did you know Lake Mead is the nation's largest man-made lake?) Eventually, it's quarter till two. Time to head back to the main building.

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All together, there's sixteen people on a Hard Hat tour, mainly for two reasons. One, it's a lot more personal (a normal tour can have up to sixty people), and two, we go into a few places that are a bit more cramped.

Our Dam tour guide is Greg, a very lively and upbeat guy with a hint of Bruce Willis to his looks, who informs us that we can take all the damn.. er.. Dam pictures we want. In the span of the next hour, we end up walking inside the Dam itself, down to the lower level, inside one of the vents in the wall of the Dam.. we saw, up close and personal, the water-powered generators that create the electricity, we walked through countless tunnels... you get the idea. We were all over this thing.

Around 3:30, I drive into Vegas. I still haven't seen too much of it yet. Actually, I've really only seen four hotels. Circus Circus, the Riviera, the Stratosphere, and the Hilton. All of these are at the north end of the Strip (a.k.a. Las Vegas Blvd).

As I drive down the Strip, I see Circus Circus off to my right. Since I'm supposed to be checking in there on Monday anyhow, I decide to touch base and see if they can help me figure out my dilemma of where to stay until then.

After explaining the situation to one of the check-in clerks, he asks if I had tried the referral service. I hadn't heard about it, so he hands me a phone and calls it up. Well, to make a long story short (too late!), the operator found and booked a room for me here at the Riviera (directly across the street from Circus Circus) for $39! She explained how lucky I was. If I had been here last Saturday, I wouldn't have been able to get a room anywhere.

After settling in and relaxing for a bit while waiting for the sun to set, I head out onto the street and walk towards the Las Vegas Hilton. In the last year or so, the Hilton opened up what I think to be one of the best attractions I've ever seen. It cost millions upon millions of dollars (around $40 mill, I believe) to build. It's Star Trek: The Experience. If you're a Trekkie.. if you're not a Trekkie... it's worth the $14 admission fee either way. Now, I know I usually go into great detail about what I see and do on my trip, but I think this once, I'll leave it up to your imagination (and their website). I will say this, though. It'd make Gene Roddenberry so proud, he'd cry.

Still feeling a little bit financially unsatisfied from yesterday, I decided to try my luck at the Hilton casino. Video has become a part of quite a few slot machines now, combining the regular slots with various overhead video displays. One in particular caught my attention. Piggy Bankin', and it had little pigs all over it. Sounds hokey, I know, but I thought I'd give it a try.

Well... $10 down the drain. Then $15. $20. $30. Eventually, I had spent $37. I had roughly two or three pulls left before I decided I was going to quit. (I was getting hungry anyhow) Then.. BAM! I hit the jackpot! Well.. the jackpot for that particular slot machine, anyhow. Three hundred fifty big ones. Woohoo!!

Everyone nearby starting cheering for me. It was great! I kept laughing to myself, thinking, "I can't wait to get back and write about this. It's too perfect!"

While waiting for my money to come, I hear a commotion over my shoulder. Turning around, I spot a small group of drop dead gorgeous women. Of course, I check 'em out...

One of the girls mentions to another girl (whose wearing a red vail), "Hey! He won the jackpot!", and she's pointing at me. "He's gotta have a lifesaver!" This is when I raise an inquisitive eyebrow.

The girl with the vail walks over and, in a very happy, probably altered state of liquored consciousness, explains to me that she's getting married tomorrow and that since I won the jackpot, I have to have a lifesaver. This is when she points to her leg.

Tied around her ankle on an elastic string are ten or twelve lifesavers. I then realize she wants me to bite a lifesaver off from her leg. I'm not quite sure how red I got, but they all started laughing, and then it turned to an uproarious cheer when I shrugged and said, "Sure. Why the hell not?" So I did. It's was good, too. Orange!

She leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek (Damn!), said congrats, and they all walked off down the hall, still laughing and chattering away.

I knew this weekend would be interesting, but I had no idea. Man... welcome to Vegas, baby!

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***NEWSFLASH***

It's now 4:39 AM, Sunday morning. After I uploaded tonight's daily journal and played around on the computer for a little bit, I went downstairs to get something to eat.

With my new found riches burning in my pocket (the $350 I had won earlier), I decided to go out and take my chances again for a little bit before I called it a night.

I walked over to the Circus Circus casino and ended up losing 38 dollars on a slot machine that's $1 a shot.

Once again, just before I was going to call it quits with two pulls left, I hit the slot machine's jackpot. This time, I won one thousand dollars!!!!!! YEEEEEEEHAW!!!!!!

I just had to share the news with you all. It amazes me. Friday night, I was in a state of panic, nervousness and frustration. Low funds, no idea where I was going to stay Saturday and Sunday (I figured I'd be in a Motel 6 outside of Vegas)... things just weren't looking good and I wasn't feeling all too good either. Then, just exactly when I needed it, a miracle happened.

Twice.

Is that awesome or what?

See you on the road...

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