Summer of Cal/Nev – Day 16
It was up at the crack of dawn today as I wanted to get an early start and catch a couple of the casinos while it was still under 100 degrees. Holiday Inn Express offers a complimentary breakfast and they haven’t changed the menu in the three years that I’ve been patronizing them. You get your choice of scrambled eggs or small cheese omelets, sausage or bacon, and a sweet roll. There’s also a choice of cereals, breads for toast, and fruits. In the small fridge they also have a selection of yogurts (I avoid those); coffee, orange or apple juice, and milk for the beverages. In all, it’s a nice breakfast.
For someone who’s driven across the country, covered over 28 states and two provinces in Canada, and gotten back home safe and sound, you’d think I’d be a really good planner—well, that simply isn’t the case. When I looked up the rest of the casinos in the area, I found that one of them is in the same area as the Spotlight 29 casino…so it was backtracking to find the Augustine Casino in Coachella. Unlike Fantasy Springs and Spotlight, which are right off Interstate 10, Augustine is far off the beatin’ track set off in a back corner of downtown Coachella, a blue-collar town of small houses and farms.
I finally found it and at first I thought I was wrong because it looks like a typical wholesale warehouse you’d see off the freeway (I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what it was before being converted to a casino)
The Augustine Casino in Coachella
The cafe in the Augustine Casino
There are a lot of machines crammed into this place, so it was a chore to get down some of the isles. Only about 20 percent of the 800 machines were video poker, which had very poor pay schedules with the exception of one bank, which on one side was dollar 9/6 Jacks with a progressive royal, and on the other side were quarter 9/7/5 double bonus, also with a progressive royal. Go figure! I signed up for their slot club called the Vista. As a new member, they gave me $5 free play plus two deck of cards (why two?). I played my free play and hit a bonus on some kind of a Princess machine and won $10. There are two places to eat, a café and a bar and grill, which wasn’t open yet. Though there are machines at the bars, it’s important to remember that California does not allow free alcoholic drinks, so no comps here.
I left Augustine and headed back, this time past Palm Springs and past the Windmill farms.
One of the windmill farms...not a good pic...driving 70 MPH taking pics...not a good idea
The picture does not do justice as to just how large the windmill farms are here. There are thousands of them across two or three valleys and up on mountain sides. They’re sort of their own dynamic tourist attraction. The valleys where they are constructed sit between two mountain ranges, which direct the wind right down into the valley. As I drove, you could really feel the wind whipping the car around—pretty cool.
I finally arrived at the next casino, the largest of all for this region, the Morongo Hotel and Casino. This place is as big as any of the larger casinos in Vegas. It has all the bells and whistles: seven or eight eateries, a spa, hotel suites, and everything else you’d expect at a major resort. They also built a world class bowling alley just down the block from the hotel. I suppose getting people to drive thirty minutes to a bowling alley didn’t work out so well, as it was closed and boarded up.
The Morongo Hotel and Casino
The best I could do at the inside of the Morongo
The hotel is in Cabazon County. It has over 2500 slot machines and 85 table games. And the place was PACKED. I would guess that about 60 percent of the people were Asian, so they must also have quite a bussing program. The video poker everywhere, even in the high limit room, was terrible. The best I could find was 9/5 Jacks or Better in the $25 denomination (yes…twenty-five dollar). For those of you who wonder why I continually report on the video poker, it’s because it’s the main game I play, and it’s the only game that the casino’s hold is in view of the customer. Whereas, slot machines holds are only known by the casino manager. It’s also considered a given that the philosophy of the casino about how “loose” their machines can be seen through video poker. If they offer decent games in video poker, you can surmise the slots are good as well; however, if the video poker sucks, then it’s a safe bet their slots are tight too.
I signed up for their slot club, which they call Winner’s Club M. Now, they did offer something a little unique. You had your choice of either $10 in free play, or $10 in food credit. I chose the free play, but I thought that was a nice choice. I walked around the entire casino, which is no small trek, and finally sat down at a Red Riding Hood machine—and lost the free play. Oh well. I managed one picture of the inside, but when I tried to take another, I heard a “sir!” behind me. I signaled okay and put the camera away…damn.
East of the casino about a mile is a little tourist stop with motorized life-sized dinosaurs. Of course, I had to take a pic for you. There was an area that was fenced off with a much larger collection, but I was never into dinosaurs—unless Steven Spielberg had something to do with it.
Hanging out about a half hour outside of Palm Springs...people having a picnic under the belly
Gotta have a pic of a T-Rex
My next casino sent me into the city of Palm Springs right down Main Street. For those of you who weren’t sure about the name, Palm Springs is absolutely all about the palm trees. They are simply E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E! As far as you can see, the valley is covered with them. Homes all have from two to six of them in their front yards. They line all streets and the medians. The city itself is beautiful. They don’t allow buildings more than four stories tall, so block after block are crammed with restaurants, bars, shops, and other interesting stores. I really wanted to just park and walk, but at 118 degrees, that wasn’t going to happen.
The Spa Resort Casino has the luck of being located right in the middle of downtown Palm Springs. Unfortunately, there was no covered parking so I knew I wasn’t going to spend too long inside the casino. The Spa Resort is also owned by the Aqua Caliente Indian Tribe, so they share the same Paradise Reward Club.
The Spa Resort in downtown Palm Springs
The Spa Resort Mascot--hmm
The casino was very busy and there was a noticeable difference in the clientele here. There were fewer men in jeans and shorts and the women seemed to be in that “Palm Springs” culture. There was a slot tournament going on while I was there and was able to catch a pic of their mascot (the poor guy who has to wear that). Like the other casinos in the area, the video poker was poor. I did decide to try a twenty in another Princess machine (I should start learning the actual names, I suppose). I caught a bonus of ten free spins and won 72-cents—really 72-cents. However, the pain of that went away when I caught a whole screen of sand time keepers for $30 (I was playing for 25-cents a spin). I cashed out so I could at least go back to my hotel with a winning day under my belt.
Downtown Palm Springs
Tried to get a pic of the palm trees in Palm Springs
I headed back to my hotel because it was passing 120 degrees and I needed to get a couple of errands done. I passed the Palm Springs Aerospace Museum and thought I’d like to take a look around and I will next time I’m in town. I only live two and half hours from Palm Springs—I have no idea why I haven’t spent more time here. It really is a great place to visit—just not in the summer!
The front of the Palm Springs Aerospace Museum
I stopped at a Target to replenish some toiletries and then a Dollar Tree to buy some laundry detergent and some clips (for the room curtains). The Holiday Inn Expresses have laundry rooms (two bucks to wash and two bucks to dry—hmm), so this is a perfect chance to get my laundry done, which is what I did as soon as I got back. I picked up a sub at the Subway for dinner as I plan on another night of early to bed and then early to rise, as it’s back to Vegas tomorrow where they are expecting their hottest day of the year—my timing—impeccable.
More tomorrow
It was up at the crack of dawn today as I wanted to get an early start and catch a couple of the casinos while it was still under 100 degrees. Holiday Inn Express offers a complimentary breakfast and they haven’t changed the menu in the three years that I’ve been patronizing them. You get your choice of scrambled eggs or small cheese omelets, sausage or bacon, and a sweet roll. There’s also a choice of cereals, breads for toast, and fruits. In the small fridge they also have a selection of yogurts (I avoid those); coffee, orange or apple juice, and milk for the beverages. In all, it’s a nice breakfast.
For someone who’s driven across the country, covered over 28 states and two provinces in Canada, and gotten back home safe and sound, you’d think I’d be a really good planner—well, that simply isn’t the case. When I looked up the rest of the casinos in the area, I found that one of them is in the same area as the Spotlight 29 casino…so it was backtracking to find the Augustine Casino in Coachella. Unlike Fantasy Springs and Spotlight, which are right off Interstate 10, Augustine is far off the beatin’ track set off in a back corner of downtown Coachella, a blue-collar town of small houses and farms.
I finally found it and at first I thought I was wrong because it looks like a typical wholesale warehouse you’d see off the freeway (I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what it was before being converted to a casino)
The Augustine Casino in Coachella
The cafe in the Augustine Casino
There are a lot of machines crammed into this place, so it was a chore to get down some of the isles. Only about 20 percent of the 800 machines were video poker, which had very poor pay schedules with the exception of one bank, which on one side was dollar 9/6 Jacks with a progressive royal, and on the other side were quarter 9/7/5 double bonus, also with a progressive royal. Go figure! I signed up for their slot club called the Vista. As a new member, they gave me $5 free play plus two deck of cards (why two?). I played my free play and hit a bonus on some kind of a Princess machine and won $10. There are two places to eat, a café and a bar and grill, which wasn’t open yet. Though there are machines at the bars, it’s important to remember that California does not allow free alcoholic drinks, so no comps here.
I left Augustine and headed back, this time past Palm Springs and past the Windmill farms.
One of the windmill farms...not a good pic...driving 70 MPH taking pics...not a good idea
The picture does not do justice as to just how large the windmill farms are here. There are thousands of them across two or three valleys and up on mountain sides. They’re sort of their own dynamic tourist attraction. The valleys where they are constructed sit between two mountain ranges, which direct the wind right down into the valley. As I drove, you could really feel the wind whipping the car around—pretty cool.
I finally arrived at the next casino, the largest of all for this region, the Morongo Hotel and Casino. This place is as big as any of the larger casinos in Vegas. It has all the bells and whistles: seven or eight eateries, a spa, hotel suites, and everything else you’d expect at a major resort. They also built a world class bowling alley just down the block from the hotel. I suppose getting people to drive thirty minutes to a bowling alley didn’t work out so well, as it was closed and boarded up.
The Morongo Hotel and Casino
The best I could do at the inside of the Morongo
The hotel is in Cabazon County. It has over 2500 slot machines and 85 table games. And the place was PACKED. I would guess that about 60 percent of the people were Asian, so they must also have quite a bussing program. The video poker everywhere, even in the high limit room, was terrible. The best I could find was 9/5 Jacks or Better in the $25 denomination (yes…twenty-five dollar). For those of you who wonder why I continually report on the video poker, it’s because it’s the main game I play, and it’s the only game that the casino’s hold is in view of the customer. Whereas, slot machines holds are only known by the casino manager. It’s also considered a given that the philosophy of the casino about how “loose” their machines can be seen through video poker. If they offer decent games in video poker, you can surmise the slots are good as well; however, if the video poker sucks, then it’s a safe bet their slots are tight too.
I signed up for their slot club, which they call Winner’s Club M. Now, they did offer something a little unique. You had your choice of either $10 in free play, or $10 in food credit. I chose the free play, but I thought that was a nice choice. I walked around the entire casino, which is no small trek, and finally sat down at a Red Riding Hood machine—and lost the free play. Oh well. I managed one picture of the inside, but when I tried to take another, I heard a “sir!” behind me. I signaled okay and put the camera away…damn.
East of the casino about a mile is a little tourist stop with motorized life-sized dinosaurs. Of course, I had to take a pic for you. There was an area that was fenced off with a much larger collection, but I was never into dinosaurs—unless Steven Spielberg had something to do with it.
Hanging out about a half hour outside of Palm Springs...people having a picnic under the belly
Gotta have a pic of a T-Rex
My next casino sent me into the city of Palm Springs right down Main Street. For those of you who weren’t sure about the name, Palm Springs is absolutely all about the palm trees. They are simply E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E! As far as you can see, the valley is covered with them. Homes all have from two to six of them in their front yards. They line all streets and the medians. The city itself is beautiful. They don’t allow buildings more than four stories tall, so block after block are crammed with restaurants, bars, shops, and other interesting stores. I really wanted to just park and walk, but at 118 degrees, that wasn’t going to happen.
The Spa Resort Casino has the luck of being located right in the middle of downtown Palm Springs. Unfortunately, there was no covered parking so I knew I wasn’t going to spend too long inside the casino. The Spa Resort is also owned by the Aqua Caliente Indian Tribe, so they share the same Paradise Reward Club.
The Spa Resort in downtown Palm Springs
The Spa Resort Mascot--hmm
The casino was very busy and there was a noticeable difference in the clientele here. There were fewer men in jeans and shorts and the women seemed to be in that “Palm Springs” culture. There was a slot tournament going on while I was there and was able to catch a pic of their mascot (the poor guy who has to wear that). Like the other casinos in the area, the video poker was poor. I did decide to try a twenty in another Princess machine (I should start learning the actual names, I suppose). I caught a bonus of ten free spins and won 72-cents—really 72-cents. However, the pain of that went away when I caught a whole screen of sand time keepers for $30 (I was playing for 25-cents a spin). I cashed out so I could at least go back to my hotel with a winning day under my belt.
Downtown Palm Springs
Tried to get a pic of the palm trees in Palm Springs
I headed back to my hotel because it was passing 120 degrees and I needed to get a couple of errands done. I passed the Palm Springs Aerospace Museum and thought I’d like to take a look around and I will next time I’m in town. I only live two and half hours from Palm Springs—I have no idea why I haven’t spent more time here. It really is a great place to visit—just not in the summer!
The front of the Palm Springs Aerospace Museum
I stopped at a Target to replenish some toiletries and then a Dollar Tree to buy some laundry detergent and some clips (for the room curtains). The Holiday Inn Expresses have laundry rooms (two bucks to wash and two bucks to dry—hmm), so this is a perfect chance to get my laundry done, which is what I did as soon as I got back. I picked up a sub at the Subway for dinner as I plan on another night of early to bed and then early to rise, as it’s back to Vegas tomorrow where they are expecting their hottest day of the year—my timing—impeccable.
More tomorrow
