Summer of Cal/Nev – Day 55
It’s time to leave Nevada for the final time this trip (not saying I won’t be back later in the year—that’s a whole other story). I packed up my things and went down to check out of the hotel. I asked the very nice clerk if Mike McKeen, the host I talked with yesterday, was available. She said that he was off today. I asked her if she’d give me the name of the General Manager and when she inquired if everything was okay, I told her I would like to write a complaint about Mike. She left the desk and came back with a business card with the address and name of both the General Manager and the Host Supervisor. Assuming I don’t hear from Mike in the next day or so (and I’d be surprised if I did), I’ll write a formal complaint. A host should simply not blow off a customer considering taking care of the customer is the very description of the job.
I set Siri to take me to Oroville, CA; my next stop along the route. I stopped along the way to get some gas and a small breakfast (an egg burrito and coffee from McDonalds. I asked for a sweetener for the coffee and no cream, I got a coffee with cream no sweetener—ugh!). After a few miles I noticed a sign saying that the Boomtown Casino was on the right in a few miles. I’m trying to think if I covered this one in my Hit ‘em All Nevada report and I don’t believe I did. So, as I go through this trip, I’m finding many casinos that I somehow have missed a couple of years ago. The Slot World and Jackpot Crossing casinos we visited a couple of days ago would have been understandable as I would classify them as slot houses, not full casinos which was my criteria, but I now see that I missed both this one and the Topaz Lodge Casino at the other side of the Nevada/California border—makes me wonder—how many more may I have missed?
Boomtown (another name like Nugget that seems to be shared by more than one casino) is a moderate sized hotel and casino. They’re advertising the big show coming up there, The Once Lead Singer of the group Boston (dang, I’ll have to miss that one). It was a nice, clean place and I signed up for their slot club, which came with $5 in free play. I used it on nickel Keno, won enough to cash out $5 profit and headed back down the highway.
Boomtown Casino just west of Sparks, NV
Just a few miles further down Interstate 80, I came across another casino called The Gold Ranch. Of course, I pulled into the parking lot to have a look-see. This was a very small casino (no table games) of slots and a café. They do have their own slot club and as I waited in line to get a card, I overheard the clerk talking with the customer in front of me about the Powerball jackpot. I heard her say that they sell tickets. This intrigued me because I know that Nevada doesn’t sell Lottery tickets (an ironic law if ever there was one). As she was getting the information for my slot card, I asked her if I could buy a lottery ticket—she said she can’t sell me one—but—I just heard you say—she smiled and said that they also own the small building in the back of their parking lot—they sell the Lottery tickets. It turns out I was standing about 100 feet from the Nevada/California state line (again—no signs) and that this casino set up a building just over the line to sell lottery tickets, the closest place to buy them in this part of Nevada. I thanked her when she handed me my slot card loaded with $5 in free play and I, once again, played my usual numbers and this time hit a couple of 5 for 6 numbers and left with a $10 profit.
Gold Ranch Casino on the north western border of Cal/Nev
I cashed in my ticket and with my $10 profit in my hand walked out the back door, across the parking lot and to the Lottery building. Outside was a news crew car and there was a steady stream of people walking in and out of the building. I joined in and got to the back of the line as the newscast began and the correspondent began his broadcast. If you happen to have been watching the KOWN noon newscast you might have seen me giving a thumbs up (no one will ever accuse me of being clever under pressure). I bought three quick picks with some of my casino profits (the first Lottery numbers I’ve purchased in about five or six years). If I win the projected $500 million, I plan to buy the LVA and demand that Anthony Curtis (founder and owner) be nicer to his members.
This little lottery office sits just within the California border in the back parking lot of the Gold Ranch casino
Line for Lottery tickets as the news reports
I crossed over into California, which can be confusing because you soon are going to be driving into the Tahoe Forest and into Nevada County (both in California—go figure). It turns out that Interstate 80 goes around the other side of the mountains that contain Lake Tahoe, but the California side, so there are roads that would take me right back up to the lake. I soon made my first major turn onto California West 20. I was taken aback as I began this portion of the journey because this was one VERY beautiful stretch of road. For as far as the eye can see there is nothing but tall trees lining the small two lane highway. The trees were so thick and tall that my satellite radio would come in and out as the signal couldn’t get through. It was, without question, one of the prettiest drives of the trip.
The beginning of West 80...soon the trees become taller and thicker. About 15 miles of this.
After about 30 miles I came out of the forest and began the slow descent down the mountains and into Butte County. This is in utter contrast to the forest I had just left. I’m already down to almost sea level and I am now driving past acres and acres of farm lands and ranches. Siri sent me on a couple of poorly maintained farming roads used mostly by tractors, not commuting cars—but she got me to my destination all the same, Oroville, CA.
A few readers and friends all asked the same question after going over my itinerary, “Where?” Oroville is the county seat of Butte County and has a population of just over 15,000. It’s mostly farms and ranches but there is also a bustling town with all the usual small city businesses. It’s becoming more popular because as Chico (nearby larger city) grows, Oroville’s property is much cheaper and housing here for the past few years is booming.
Why did I choose to stay here for a two of days? Well, a couple of reasons actually. Within an hour and a half drive in either direction, there are eight Indian casinos. Secondly, I was offered a place to stay by reader (and now friend) Terry, who owns a lumber company here and has set me up both nights here in the Feather Falls Casino. When I arrived at the casino, I gave him a call to let him know that I had here and he said he’d meet me in a little while, so I went to the slot club to get my slot card.
Feather Falls Casino
The clerk handed me my card and once again let me know it had $5 free play (what is it with always the $5—who chose that to be the universal number?) I found a machine with nickel Four Card Keno on it and played my usual set of numbers (in Four Card, I have a block of nine numbers that over-cover with the four bets). The machines here have your typical short pay schedules (8/5 jacks; 7/5 or 6/5 Bonus—best play here is 9/6 Double) and Keno was no different 68 (instead of 75 for 5 of 6; 1500 instead of 1660 for 6 of 6). I played and was happy to watch as 7 of my 9 numbers hit. I looked over at the wins and was shocked to see that ALL four cards had 5 of 6 numbers. I believe there might have only been one or two combinations that would have given that result, so even covering that many still didn’t get a 6 for 6; however, I was still happy to cash out a $15 profit.
I went into the brewery in the casino and ordered their Thunder Ale as I waited for Terry to arrive. This was one very good beer—perhaps one of the best I’ve tasted. Terry arrived and it turns out that we had met before when he recognized me when I was playing at Rincon Casino in San Diego. I do remember the meeting, but not much else (old man syndrome) but he reminded me and we continued the conversation comparing gambling stories and theories and personal anecdotes. We walked over to the lodge where I’d be staying. The room was excellent with a refrigerator and coffee maker and comfy mattress, and free Wi-Fi (what more can you ask?).
My room at Feather Falls Lodge
Terry then took me on a tour of Oroville. Our first stop was the Gold Country Casino. This place, like many Indian casinos when they first opened was just a structural tent in its infancy, however, after a few years (and lots of profit—considering their VP schedules of 6/5 Jacks) they built a huge building. The casino has all the expected amenities including a buffet, a café (Terry says it’s a good one), and small lounge with a stage, and plenty of machines. There are mostly penny video games here (some of the classics like Fortune Cookie) and a few VP machines, but as mentioned the 6/5 Jacks and the 7/5 Bonus with 1-1 for two pair, makes this casino one of the worst places to play VP in my entire trip. I did my usual $5 keno bet and managed a 5 of 6 hit (interestingly, the keno schedule was close to full pay) and walked out with a profit after cashing my ticket for $5.05 along with the free soft drink. By the way, I did sign up for their slot card, but the only free play offered is based on how many points you put on your card and then you have return within 7 days to collect it—in other words: worthless.
This was the original Gold Country casino
This is the Gold Country Casino today
We then drove to the Oroville Dam, which is the largest earth filled dam in the country and is main contributor to water in Southern California (much to the chagrin of the residents). The resulting lake was supposed to be built up as a major recreation attraction, but the state never followed up on this promise. As Terry drove me over the top of the dam (we were the only people on the road and the lake had only one boat on it), I was really impressed with the size of it and the sheer engineering skill that it took to construct it.
Lake Oroville
The view of Oroville and on from the top of the Dam
We then drove into town and Terry filled me in on some the history, culture, and economic climate of the town. We soon stopped in front of his lumber company, which I will be touring tomorrow, so I’ll go more into that later. We headed back to the casino and after unpacking my things, we had dinner in the brewery restaurant. The food and service was excellent and Terry paid with his points—very nice. I’m feeling a little spoiled here, both room and food taken care of—LVA members—nicest people anywhere.
It’s been a long day and I’m ready to call it a night, so Terry went over to gamble a little more and I headed to my room. I fell asleep at 10 PM (actually late for me) and woke up at 1:30. I tried and tried to get back to sleep and it just wasn’t going to happen, so I finally gave up and began putting this report together and as I look at the clock on my laptop, it’s 3:30 AM as I write this. This happens to me occasionally where a little insomnia creeps into my life, but it soon passes so everything should be just fine.
More tomorrow.
It’s time to leave Nevada for the final time this trip (not saying I won’t be back later in the year—that’s a whole other story). I packed up my things and went down to check out of the hotel. I asked the very nice clerk if Mike McKeen, the host I talked with yesterday, was available. She said that he was off today. I asked her if she’d give me the name of the General Manager and when she inquired if everything was okay, I told her I would like to write a complaint about Mike. She left the desk and came back with a business card with the address and name of both the General Manager and the Host Supervisor. Assuming I don’t hear from Mike in the next day or so (and I’d be surprised if I did), I’ll write a formal complaint. A host should simply not blow off a customer considering taking care of the customer is the very description of the job.
I set Siri to take me to Oroville, CA; my next stop along the route. I stopped along the way to get some gas and a small breakfast (an egg burrito and coffee from McDonalds. I asked for a sweetener for the coffee and no cream, I got a coffee with cream no sweetener—ugh!). After a few miles I noticed a sign saying that the Boomtown Casino was on the right in a few miles. I’m trying to think if I covered this one in my Hit ‘em All Nevada report and I don’t believe I did. So, as I go through this trip, I’m finding many casinos that I somehow have missed a couple of years ago. The Slot World and Jackpot Crossing casinos we visited a couple of days ago would have been understandable as I would classify them as slot houses, not full casinos which was my criteria, but I now see that I missed both this one and the Topaz Lodge Casino at the other side of the Nevada/California border—makes me wonder—how many more may I have missed?
Boomtown (another name like Nugget that seems to be shared by more than one casino) is a moderate sized hotel and casino. They’re advertising the big show coming up there, The Once Lead Singer of the group Boston (dang, I’ll have to miss that one). It was a nice, clean place and I signed up for their slot club, which came with $5 in free play. I used it on nickel Keno, won enough to cash out $5 profit and headed back down the highway.
Boomtown Casino just west of Sparks, NV
Just a few miles further down Interstate 80, I came across another casino called The Gold Ranch. Of course, I pulled into the parking lot to have a look-see. This was a very small casino (no table games) of slots and a café. They do have their own slot club and as I waited in line to get a card, I overheard the clerk talking with the customer in front of me about the Powerball jackpot. I heard her say that they sell tickets. This intrigued me because I know that Nevada doesn’t sell Lottery tickets (an ironic law if ever there was one). As she was getting the information for my slot card, I asked her if I could buy a lottery ticket—she said she can’t sell me one—but—I just heard you say—she smiled and said that they also own the small building in the back of their parking lot—they sell the Lottery tickets. It turns out I was standing about 100 feet from the Nevada/California state line (again—no signs) and that this casino set up a building just over the line to sell lottery tickets, the closest place to buy them in this part of Nevada. I thanked her when she handed me my slot card loaded with $5 in free play and I, once again, played my usual numbers and this time hit a couple of 5 for 6 numbers and left with a $10 profit.
Gold Ranch Casino on the north western border of Cal/Nev
I cashed in my ticket and with my $10 profit in my hand walked out the back door, across the parking lot and to the Lottery building. Outside was a news crew car and there was a steady stream of people walking in and out of the building. I joined in and got to the back of the line as the newscast began and the correspondent began his broadcast. If you happen to have been watching the KOWN noon newscast you might have seen me giving a thumbs up (no one will ever accuse me of being clever under pressure). I bought three quick picks with some of my casino profits (the first Lottery numbers I’ve purchased in about five or six years). If I win the projected $500 million, I plan to buy the LVA and demand that Anthony Curtis (founder and owner) be nicer to his members.
This little lottery office sits just within the California border in the back parking lot of the Gold Ranch casino
Line for Lottery tickets as the news reports
I crossed over into California, which can be confusing because you soon are going to be driving into the Tahoe Forest and into Nevada County (both in California—go figure). It turns out that Interstate 80 goes around the other side of the mountains that contain Lake Tahoe, but the California side, so there are roads that would take me right back up to the lake. I soon made my first major turn onto California West 20. I was taken aback as I began this portion of the journey because this was one VERY beautiful stretch of road. For as far as the eye can see there is nothing but tall trees lining the small two lane highway. The trees were so thick and tall that my satellite radio would come in and out as the signal couldn’t get through. It was, without question, one of the prettiest drives of the trip.
The beginning of West 80...soon the trees become taller and thicker. About 15 miles of this.
After about 30 miles I came out of the forest and began the slow descent down the mountains and into Butte County. This is in utter contrast to the forest I had just left. I’m already down to almost sea level and I am now driving past acres and acres of farm lands and ranches. Siri sent me on a couple of poorly maintained farming roads used mostly by tractors, not commuting cars—but she got me to my destination all the same, Oroville, CA.
A few readers and friends all asked the same question after going over my itinerary, “Where?” Oroville is the county seat of Butte County and has a population of just over 15,000. It’s mostly farms and ranches but there is also a bustling town with all the usual small city businesses. It’s becoming more popular because as Chico (nearby larger city) grows, Oroville’s property is much cheaper and housing here for the past few years is booming.
Why did I choose to stay here for a two of days? Well, a couple of reasons actually. Within an hour and a half drive in either direction, there are eight Indian casinos. Secondly, I was offered a place to stay by reader (and now friend) Terry, who owns a lumber company here and has set me up both nights here in the Feather Falls Casino. When I arrived at the casino, I gave him a call to let him know that I had here and he said he’d meet me in a little while, so I went to the slot club to get my slot card.
Feather Falls Casino
The clerk handed me my card and once again let me know it had $5 free play (what is it with always the $5—who chose that to be the universal number?) I found a machine with nickel Four Card Keno on it and played my usual set of numbers (in Four Card, I have a block of nine numbers that over-cover with the four bets). The machines here have your typical short pay schedules (8/5 jacks; 7/5 or 6/5 Bonus—best play here is 9/6 Double) and Keno was no different 68 (instead of 75 for 5 of 6; 1500 instead of 1660 for 6 of 6). I played and was happy to watch as 7 of my 9 numbers hit. I looked over at the wins and was shocked to see that ALL four cards had 5 of 6 numbers. I believe there might have only been one or two combinations that would have given that result, so even covering that many still didn’t get a 6 for 6; however, I was still happy to cash out a $15 profit.
I went into the brewery in the casino and ordered their Thunder Ale as I waited for Terry to arrive. This was one very good beer—perhaps one of the best I’ve tasted. Terry arrived and it turns out that we had met before when he recognized me when I was playing at Rincon Casino in San Diego. I do remember the meeting, but not much else (old man syndrome) but he reminded me and we continued the conversation comparing gambling stories and theories and personal anecdotes. We walked over to the lodge where I’d be staying. The room was excellent with a refrigerator and coffee maker and comfy mattress, and free Wi-Fi (what more can you ask?).
My room at Feather Falls Lodge
Terry then took me on a tour of Oroville. Our first stop was the Gold Country Casino. This place, like many Indian casinos when they first opened was just a structural tent in its infancy, however, after a few years (and lots of profit—considering their VP schedules of 6/5 Jacks) they built a huge building. The casino has all the expected amenities including a buffet, a café (Terry says it’s a good one), and small lounge with a stage, and plenty of machines. There are mostly penny video games here (some of the classics like Fortune Cookie) and a few VP machines, but as mentioned the 6/5 Jacks and the 7/5 Bonus with 1-1 for two pair, makes this casino one of the worst places to play VP in my entire trip. I did my usual $5 keno bet and managed a 5 of 6 hit (interestingly, the keno schedule was close to full pay) and walked out with a profit after cashing my ticket for $5.05 along with the free soft drink. By the way, I did sign up for their slot card, but the only free play offered is based on how many points you put on your card and then you have return within 7 days to collect it—in other words: worthless.
This was the original Gold Country casino
This is the Gold Country Casino today
We then drove to the Oroville Dam, which is the largest earth filled dam in the country and is main contributor to water in Southern California (much to the chagrin of the residents). The resulting lake was supposed to be built up as a major recreation attraction, but the state never followed up on this promise. As Terry drove me over the top of the dam (we were the only people on the road and the lake had only one boat on it), I was really impressed with the size of it and the sheer engineering skill that it took to construct it.
Lake Oroville
The view of Oroville and on from the top of the Dam
We then drove into town and Terry filled me in on some the history, culture, and economic climate of the town. We soon stopped in front of his lumber company, which I will be touring tomorrow, so I’ll go more into that later. We headed back to the casino and after unpacking my things, we had dinner in the brewery restaurant. The food and service was excellent and Terry paid with his points—very nice. I’m feeling a little spoiled here, both room and food taken care of—LVA members—nicest people anywhere.
It’s been a long day and I’m ready to call it a night, so Terry went over to gamble a little more and I headed to my room. I fell asleep at 10 PM (actually late for me) and woke up at 1:30. I tried and tried to get back to sleep and it just wasn’t going to happen, so I finally gave up and began putting this report together and as I look at the clock on my laptop, it’s 3:30 AM as I write this. This happens to me occasionally where a little insomnia creeps into my life, but it soon passes so everything should be just fine.
More tomorrow.
