Road trip . . . ending with the Silver Strike tournament June 25-27

Well, 48 hours (two work days) until my next trip to Las Vegas. The Silver Strike tournament at the QQQQ is this weekend.

BFF and I looked at the airfares and Las Vegas car rental rates and decided that it would be less expensive for us to rent a car and drive from the SF Bay Area.

I got a good rate on a car from Enterprise and we're starting out Wednesday evening (after work for me).

We will drive to Barstow, and stay at a Days Inn (my normal stop when I drive). In the morning, we will continue on I-40 through Needles to Laughlin, where they're holding a liquor promotion.

We will return Sunday night after traffic dies down, since I'm scheduled to be back in the office on Monday.

BFF and I don't drink hard liquor as a habit, but this takes care of liquor presents at Christmas. This week's bottle is Seagram's 7. My "Seven and Seven" days are long past me. The promotion is get one bottle and earn 150TC to get a second bottle.

Then, from there, on to Las Vegas. I may stop in Searchlight to see ex-FGF Iris, but since most of my GFs are turning out to be ex-FGFs, who knows?

I am staying at Cosmopolitan on my Sterling comp night, and BFF is staying at Gold Coast.

Our meal itinerary is as follows:

Thursday dinner - Scarpetta (Cosmopolitan) with two Silver Strike friends
Friday Breakfast - Wicked Spoon (Cosmopolitan) with BFF, using my Gold "once a day" benefit.
UPDATED - Friday lunch - Nabe with @eliza
Friday dinner - Zuma (Cosmopolitan) with local friend Jason
Saturday breakfast - Magnolia's (QQQQ)
Saturday lunch - open
Saturday dinner - BFF and I are eating at Bazaar Meats (Sahara) for an early birthday celebration for him
Sunday breakfast - TBD possibly Saginaw's or Jerry's Nugget
Sunday lunch - open
Sunday dinner - Maybe Silverton or Jerry's Nugget. We're heading out after dinner (hopefully the traffic will have died down)

On my trip to-do list:

Liquor promotion at Harrahs Laughlin
Wynn card match
Silver Strike tournament - Saturday/Sunday
Silver Strike trading session- Saturday afternoon
$300 Silver Strike redemption- Saturday at 5PM
travel to Pahrump to pick up "missing" pins from the Chicken Ranch
Plaza colorized blue cap
El Cortez blue caps

On my secondary to-do list
Visit ex-FGF Iris at the Beef Jerky Store in Searchlight
Resorts World opening
Hunger Games exhibition (MGM Grand)
I Helped Save Sigma Derby hat/t-shirt promotion at the D - Since I can get rolled quarters at the Riverside in Laughlin, I might gather $60/$120 and get shirts/Hats from the D

This is currently designated as a "non-gambling" trip. Thursday night is my Sterling comp night at Cosmopolitan At QQQQ the room was part of the Tournament entry fee, and QQQQ doesn't charge resort fees.

I am bringing 50 lb. of Silver Strikes, among that I am bringing 66 clad QQQQ strikes, and I hope to trade for the red/blue/yellow cap strikes that are at this event, which will save me from playing for them. I will wander on over to Plaza and El Cortez in the wee hours of the morning, but if I'm lucky, I will be able to trade for them.

After breakfast Friday morning I have scheduled at trip to the Chicken Ranch in Pahrump. I recently ordered 4 pins, but was only shipped one. I told them that i would be down to pick them up next trip. I may go Thursday night after dinner, since the Chicken Ranch doesn't "close". That would take stress off of getting back for lunch on Friday.

The Hunger Games exhibition at MGM Grand is also an option, but ONLY if valet is open, or the monorail entrance is open.

Hope to have lots of food porn and Silver Strike porn.

 

Following along. I love your Silver Strike TRs!

 

Just added to the itinerary, lunch with @eliza , a makeup at Nabe (AYCE hot Pot and sushi)

 

I'm excited to read all about your Silver Strike adventures! I'm new to collecting them but absolutely love playing any time we're downtown. If I could have stayed longer this trip to make the tournament I would have. Ah well, always next year!

Here's hoping you meet all of your goals!

 

Normally, there are tournaments in January and June. The January tournament is the weekend between the Football division Championships and the Super Bowl. Hope to see you there!!!

 

Aren't you taking the Juiced?

Have a great trip, @DaiLun!

RICHARD

 

I'm downtown Fri night-Sun. Would love to meet up to learn about Silver Strikes.

 

Good luck and safe travels. Looking forward to catching up over lunch in just a few days!

 

Come to the 2nd floor of the Four Queens on Saturday. That is where the tournament will be held and also the trading session.

Also, the Silver Strike machines at the QQQQ (11), Plaza (2) and El Cortez (1) should be quite busy. I'm trying to figure out when I would get in some time. I think I'll wait and see what I end up with after the trading session.

 

I’m afraid to ask what an ex-FGF is.

 

FGF = Fantasy Girl Friend

 

, TIL, I always thought it was (potential) Future Girl Friend,
like the joke where you ask a lady if she wants to be your future ex-wife...

 

I've used that line before!!!

 

So good to know, thanks! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for January dates. I love that time of year in Vegas!

 

Well, a quick update. Left San Jose yesterday by 6:15PM.

We went early to the local Enterprise, who didn't have a car ready for us, but we were offered a Buick SUV for $500 for the week. We politely declined and drove around to run some errands before returning at 5:20PM.

We had to wait because there was only one employee handling pickups/dropoffs. I was starting to get a little "testy", but was pacified when we got a We got a RAV4, when I had reserved an Economy car (Mitsubishi Eclipse or equivalent).

Traffic was, for the most part, pretty light getting to I-5 South. We got to the Arby's in Last Hills/Wasco at about 9:15 PM. I ordered Greek Gyros and BFF ordered a Beef and Cheddar.

They had finished the bypass around Boron. I remember having to stop at the intersection of CA-58 and CA-395 near Boron, but the new 2 lane divided road takes you around that intersection.

We got to the hotel at about 12:20AM, checked in and we both got some rest.

I woke at 6:30AM, the first time I had slept through the night since I could remember.

Continental Breakfast wasn't being served, and we decided to get on the road, I-40 to Needles.

The first stop was Ludlow, 52 miles from Barstow. I guess a lot of people decided to stop there, because the line at the restaurant was long. BFF suggested that we mosey on down the road and see what other stops there might be.




Well, not much. The next stop was 91 miles away in Needles.
It was 9:30AM, and we didn't want to end up in Laughlin too early, so we stopped and ate at the Wagon Wheel restaurant.





I had CBH (Corned Beef Hash and Eggs), BFF had eggs and sausage. $40 incl. tip, and we were On our way to Harrahs Laughlin

Back in the car and on our way to Laughlin. The promotion was get a bottle of liquor, and earn 150TC and earn another bottle. This Thursday's offering was Seagrams 7
Here's some of the slot porn that got me $200 up and two bottles.




I went to the gift shop and bought presents, and a candle for ex-FGF Iris. We filled up on gas and headed to Las Vegas

I visited Iris at the Beef Jerky store in Searchlight and she liked the candle. I bought three bottles of olives and some honey sticks.

That finished, We continued on to Las Vegas. I dropped BFF off a Gold Coast and continued on to the Wynn to get my tier match. The line was lllloooonnnnggg. About 35 people, but the Wynn has this "down" and the wait was only about 30-45 minutes.

Wynn match completed, I went on to Cosmopolitan and was "lucky" enough to get a Terrace Suite in the Chelsea Tower.
On may way back to Cosmopolitan, I took this picture


Checked in at Cosmopolitan. This room is remarkable . . . .



The bathroom

Jetted tub and double sinks

OK, a note about the television at Cosmopolitan.

They have Netflix (you must have your account to use), YouTube, Pandora, and Showtime


OK, All caught up. Gotta go downtown to pick up my two dinner guests, which have never been to Cosmopolitan, for dinner at Scarpetta. Also stop by the Identity Desk to set up tomorrow's breakfast

 

following.....

 

Have a great trip! I’ll be following along. Good luck to you and BFF this weekend!

 

Have a great trip.

 

Dinner last night at Scapetta's (Cosmopolitan), was excellent. My guests come to Las Vegas but had never spent much time in the Cosmopolitan, so I acted as "tour guide".

Up to the "Restaurant floor", as Cosmopolitan likes to call it.
The menu
https://assets.ctfassets.net/sahy2rpqbnsp/4fIVuNEAfWXZK3GOhoxdBI/bd2832eba98f4b71be97e43b8d1cce2b/scarpetta-menu-5.24.21.pdf

Bread to start

We ordered Antipasti (proscuitto, sopressata picante, cured duck, marinated vegetables, poppy grissini, artisan cheeses) to start.

I ordered a plate of Spaghetti to share. This was a Scarpetta speciality, made daily.

My friend and I ordered filet of beef (grilled beef tenderloin, swiss chard, barolo). His was medium, mine was medium rare.

a perfect medium rare

His wife ordered pork chops (cherry peppers “argo dolce”, parmesan fingerling potatoes, toasted fennel pork jus
)

For dessert, I ordered Tiramisu,

and they ordered Chocolate cake.

I dropped them off back at the Golden Nugget and proceeded to Pahrump to pick up my pins.

I returned home and went to sleep. Tomorrow is another day . . . .

 

Well, getting caught up from yesterday, Friday morning

Woke up at 7AM. The plan was today to eat breakfast at Wicked Spoon, then go over to Resorts World, and then drop BFF off, and then move to QQQQ and meet @eliza for lunch.

Well, Las Vegas is back. The crowds, the idiots walking on the street, the idiots driving on NOTE: BOGO through Identity gets to use the priority line.

The lines at the Wicked Spoon are the standard line, and the one for people who made reservations. People using Identity BOGO are allowed to use the reservations line.

You are allowed to pay the tip when you pay for the buffet, which saves the awkward "leaving the tip when you leave kind of thing"

BFF took the pictures, since I neglected to bring my camera.






Breakfast finished, it was on to Resorts world.

Got there at about 9:15AM Got in line to register. In this case, maybe pre-registration wasn't the best idea, since the boothling couldn't complete my registration and sent me over to the registration counter.

Pictures from Resorts World

The Sportsbook, kinda small, or maybe I didn't see it all.

It seems kinda "empty", like Cosmopolitan when it first opened.

The line for Player's Club registration

This is the "Asian Street Food" section. One Of the walls is filled with restaurants. Many places that I'd like to eat.



BFF remarked about one of the menu items "If I want to eat Texas BBQ, I don't think that I'd try Gochujang (Jorean) BBQ."



A portion of the casino floor

Miley Cyrus is the 4th of July Entertainment

Looking around the rest of the facility, there was a HUGE sphere sitting in one of the corners

This picture gives it a little better perspective on it's size

Anyway, this is what it is.

So, it lights up.
Next. pictures of the conference room area.



A maze of empty space

BFF mentioned that one of the aims of Resorts World was to make if open and airy, with a lot of natural light.

We walked long the wall opposite Asian Street Food (the casino is in the center)


Sat down at a slot machine and gave RW some play. Here is some very minor slot porn

Art from a Korean artist


I looked at my watch . . . 10:30!!!! Checkout time was 11, and lunch with @eliza was a meetup at 12:30, and I hadn't packed yet. I called Cosmo to get a late checkout of noon.
We walked outside to pick up the car. The valets use the same garage as self parking, which is quite a walk from the casino.

I dropped BFF off at Gold Coast, and continued on to check out of Cosmopolitan. Got to QQQQ is (what should have been) plenty of time to meet @eliza , but believe it or not, QQQQ is "full" this weekend

Went over to Resorts World. Valet parking was no charge at this time.
I didn't find much of the criticism warranted about Resorts World., but then again, BFF and I spend So Much time in Las Vegas that a few stores not being open is kind of meaningless to us. Here are pictures from Resorts World.
Following that, it was time to check out of Cosmopolitan and head down to QQQQ for lunch with @eliza.