Summer of Cal/Nev – Day 56
If you read yesterday’s report you know that I woke up at 1:30 AM and couldn’t get back to sleep. Well, I finished the report, took a call from Terry of Denver who knew I was up having read the report. He and Louise safely back home and he was back to work. I then put on the local news at 5:30 AM, which comes from nearby Chico, CA; and was being reported by two guys—they put me dead asleep.
I woke up and snapped over to look at the clock and it was 7. I was supposed to meet Terry (Chico—yes, sorry—two Terrys) at 7. I called and apologized and jumped in the shower and managed to get to his factory about 45 minutes later. Terry and his brothers took over the Perfect Plank Lumber Company after their father passed away and have been very successful. I was promised “the five minute tour” as I was told about and shown the process that goes into the manufacturing of butcher block quality woods for counter tops, walls, bars, and just about anything you can come up with. Terry took me through the process from the raw materials all the way through the completed products. It was an interesting and educational tour. When I was about to leave, he presented me with an actual butcher’s block cutting board that was made there to be added to my swag for the trip. If you’re interested, visit their web page:
www.perfectplank.com.
The manufacturing plant
Terry and I in his office at Perfect Plank
Storage of the raw materials
Just one of the machines that include cutters, sanders, glue presses...huge machines.
A parting gift from Terry...swag to complete my trip. Nice!
Today was going to be a long, driving day as the plan is to visit four casinos that are all in the area; however, when I say in the area, I’m talking about them being within one to two hours drive apart from each other. One of the reasons I cut down the California casinos’ visits is because they are all simply too far apart from each other and my visits tend to only be about 20 minutes in the casino and then on to the next one. In most the areas in Nevada, the casinos tend to be bunched together, but here, they is usually the only one within one to two hundred miles of the next one. I do plan to at least get in as many as I can.
My first stop was an Indian casino called Thunder Valley, which is east of Sacramento and about 40 miles north of Folsom. This casino is huge. I would compare it to the Green Valley Ranch. It’s strange to be driving though farm lands with miles and miles of nothing but fields of crops and then suddenly in the horizon sits this grand building seemingly in the middle of nowhere. When you’re inside, everything is modern and new and fresh.
There were acres and acres of sunflower crops
Thunder Valley Casino
I signed up for their slot club that came with the usual $5 free play. I sat down at a Game King and began making my bets when I saw that the pay scheme is completely different from any other I’ve seen. You’re paid double if you don’t hit any of your six numbers, but you’re only paid 2 to 1 if you hit three instead of the usual 3 to 1. I did manage a 5 for 6 and cashed out $7.50. As I was walking around, I saw a bank of machines that said Optimum Pay. Up to 99%. A closer look revealed that Jacks were 7/5 (horrible) and every other game just as bad except the Bonus Poker which was 8/5 but all quads pay 175. I don’t know what the pay back percentage is on this game as I’ve only seen the variation of all quads paying 150, so I would assume this is close to 99%. Either way, it’s misleading advertizing.
The only VP game in the joint worth playing and ONLY Bonus Poker
A little further and I saw that their big promotion was a rip off of sorts from the TV show Deal or No Deal. Finally, I came across a new machine I had never seen before. It’s based on the original Pink Panther movie and the screen goes all the way to the top. I should have gotten a picture of it. I did play it for $20 and managed to get it up to $35 and finally cashed out with my original $20, but I mention this because it seems to be a good game to play. So, keep your eye out for it. As with all the Indian casinos, the VP schedules are bad so I won’t mention it again unless I see something different.
Thunder Valley's latest promotion
My next stop is about an hour and 45 minutes away to a very nice casino called Cache Creek. This one is set to the southwest of Thunder Valley north of Sacramento. Again, a lot of farm land roads and long stretches of crops to get to it. This, like the Valley Casino is very nice and beautifully done.
Cache Creek Casino
Cache Creek is a large, full purpose casino and hotel
The registration area of the Cache Creek Hotel
Restaurants at Cache Creek serve their own wine. These grapes were growing in the front of the casino
It was noon and I hadn’t had any breakfast, so I was now getting pretty hungry. As I waiting in line to get a slot club card (the place was very busy), I read the list on the wall of the many places to get something to eat. I got my card and found that they don’t give you free play. However, they do give you $25 in food credit good and any of the restaurants. What perfect timing. You don’t have to play anything, just get a card and get the $25 food credit. I went to the café and enjoyed a ham and cheese sandwich with a coconut crusted shrimp appetizer.
I was about to leave but I passed a Family Guy machine that was available. I flashed back on Noahcat and her big money score on this machine, so I sat down and ventured in with $20. After about ten spins I hit the Lois bonus and worked my way up to 25 spins and had over $40 when it was over. I cashed out. I’m now up $27.50 for today.
Ahead of me next was the small casino called Colusa. This is about two hours north on Interstate 5 and then a half hour east. Thank goodness for Siri and my iphone GPS as there would be NO way I could find this really-out-of-the way casino. It’s the smallest of the four I looked at. I signed up for the club which offered $25 in free play plus a free buffet. I told the clerk I had just eaten and would forego the buffet, but he said I could have another $5 in free pay instead. I took the $30 and played Keno again but this time I played at 15-cents a card. Unfortunately, I had a bad round and cashed out only $10.00…now up to $37.50 for the day.
Colusa Casino
Inside Colusa Casino
Just had to stop at what I believe is Colusa High School...how cool is that?
It was back to Interstate 5 and another hour and a half drive north to the Rolling Hills casino, which is just off the freeway. This casino being right off the freeway didn’t seem to cater to locals so much and the atmosphere just didn’t feel right to me. I did sign up and got another $10 in free play. However, with Keno beginning to be sluggish, I played the dice video game. I caught a couple of nice hits and then a bonus which end up netting me $40. So my wins for the day are $77.50. Aside from the $20 I put in the Family Guy machine, I didn’t spend a dime of my own money. Add to that, all the casinos offered free soft drinks and coffee. So though it might have been a lot of driving for such small visits, I came out quite well with over $70 in cash and an excellent lunch.
Rolling Hills Casino and Lodge
It was now 4:30 and I needed to get back to my hotel at Feather Falls in Oroville as I’m meeting up once again with Terry as we’re going out to dinner. I didn’t get back to the hotel until 6 PM, but that was okay as he was busy with some business with the Elk Club, which he is a member. We sat in the brewery and had a beer and played some video poker. I started out with DDB and then switched to DB and finally to Keno. Nothing was really working for me, but I said, I would stop at a $50 loss so that the day would still end up on a plus, which is exactly what happened.
Terry drove me into downtown Oroville to a small Chinese restaurant where we had a terrific dinner with plenty left over to take home to his daughter. Terry had been an amazing host. He picked up the tab for the hotel, the two dinners, gave me a tour of his business and even maps for my casino run today. Thank you!
I whine about the drive but don’t misunderstand. I really enjoy it. I like seeing new things. I like looking at the many different kinds of crops. Today alone, I saw fields of sunflowers, corn, walnuts, olives, grapes, peaches, watermelons…it was wonderful. I enjoy driving when you can see new and different things. Yes, the fatigue of the actual driving can be rough, but the sights more than make up for it.
More tomorrow
If you read yesterday’s report you know that I woke up at 1:30 AM and couldn’t get back to sleep. Well, I finished the report, took a call from Terry of Denver who knew I was up having read the report. He and Louise safely back home and he was back to work. I then put on the local news at 5:30 AM, which comes from nearby Chico, CA; and was being reported by two guys—they put me dead asleep.
I woke up and snapped over to look at the clock and it was 7. I was supposed to meet Terry (Chico—yes, sorry—two Terrys) at 7. I called and apologized and jumped in the shower and managed to get to his factory about 45 minutes later. Terry and his brothers took over the Perfect Plank Lumber Company after their father passed away and have been very successful. I was promised “the five minute tour” as I was told about and shown the process that goes into the manufacturing of butcher block quality woods for counter tops, walls, bars, and just about anything you can come up with. Terry took me through the process from the raw materials all the way through the completed products. It was an interesting and educational tour. When I was about to leave, he presented me with an actual butcher’s block cutting board that was made there to be added to my swag for the trip. If you’re interested, visit their web page:
www.perfectplank.com.
The manufacturing plant
Terry and I in his office at Perfect Plank
Storage of the raw materials
Just one of the machines that include cutters, sanders, glue presses...huge machines.
A parting gift from Terry...swag to complete my trip. Nice!
Today was going to be a long, driving day as the plan is to visit four casinos that are all in the area; however, when I say in the area, I’m talking about them being within one to two hours drive apart from each other. One of the reasons I cut down the California casinos’ visits is because they are all simply too far apart from each other and my visits tend to only be about 20 minutes in the casino and then on to the next one. In most the areas in Nevada, the casinos tend to be bunched together, but here, they is usually the only one within one to two hundred miles of the next one. I do plan to at least get in as many as I can.
My first stop was an Indian casino called Thunder Valley, which is east of Sacramento and about 40 miles north of Folsom. This casino is huge. I would compare it to the Green Valley Ranch. It’s strange to be driving though farm lands with miles and miles of nothing but fields of crops and then suddenly in the horizon sits this grand building seemingly in the middle of nowhere. When you’re inside, everything is modern and new and fresh.
There were acres and acres of sunflower crops
Thunder Valley Casino
I signed up for their slot club that came with the usual $5 free play. I sat down at a Game King and began making my bets when I saw that the pay scheme is completely different from any other I’ve seen. You’re paid double if you don’t hit any of your six numbers, but you’re only paid 2 to 1 if you hit three instead of the usual 3 to 1. I did manage a 5 for 6 and cashed out $7.50. As I was walking around, I saw a bank of machines that said Optimum Pay. Up to 99%. A closer look revealed that Jacks were 7/5 (horrible) and every other game just as bad except the Bonus Poker which was 8/5 but all quads pay 175. I don’t know what the pay back percentage is on this game as I’ve only seen the variation of all quads paying 150, so I would assume this is close to 99%. Either way, it’s misleading advertizing.
The only VP game in the joint worth playing and ONLY Bonus Poker
A little further and I saw that their big promotion was a rip off of sorts from the TV show Deal or No Deal. Finally, I came across a new machine I had never seen before. It’s based on the original Pink Panther movie and the screen goes all the way to the top. I should have gotten a picture of it. I did play it for $20 and managed to get it up to $35 and finally cashed out with my original $20, but I mention this because it seems to be a good game to play. So, keep your eye out for it. As with all the Indian casinos, the VP schedules are bad so I won’t mention it again unless I see something different.
Thunder Valley's latest promotion
My next stop is about an hour and 45 minutes away to a very nice casino called Cache Creek. This one is set to the southwest of Thunder Valley north of Sacramento. Again, a lot of farm land roads and long stretches of crops to get to it. This, like the Valley Casino is very nice and beautifully done.
Cache Creek Casino
Cache Creek is a large, full purpose casino and hotel
The registration area of the Cache Creek Hotel
Restaurants at Cache Creek serve their own wine. These grapes were growing in the front of the casino
It was noon and I hadn’t had any breakfast, so I was now getting pretty hungry. As I waiting in line to get a slot club card (the place was very busy), I read the list on the wall of the many places to get something to eat. I got my card and found that they don’t give you free play. However, they do give you $25 in food credit good and any of the restaurants. What perfect timing. You don’t have to play anything, just get a card and get the $25 food credit. I went to the café and enjoyed a ham and cheese sandwich with a coconut crusted shrimp appetizer.
I was about to leave but I passed a Family Guy machine that was available. I flashed back on Noahcat and her big money score on this machine, so I sat down and ventured in with $20. After about ten spins I hit the Lois bonus and worked my way up to 25 spins and had over $40 when it was over. I cashed out. I’m now up $27.50 for today.
Ahead of me next was the small casino called Colusa. This is about two hours north on Interstate 5 and then a half hour east. Thank goodness for Siri and my iphone GPS as there would be NO way I could find this really-out-of-the way casino. It’s the smallest of the four I looked at. I signed up for the club which offered $25 in free play plus a free buffet. I told the clerk I had just eaten and would forego the buffet, but he said I could have another $5 in free pay instead. I took the $30 and played Keno again but this time I played at 15-cents a card. Unfortunately, I had a bad round and cashed out only $10.00…now up to $37.50 for the day.
Colusa Casino
Inside Colusa Casino
Just had to stop at what I believe is Colusa High School...how cool is that?
It was back to Interstate 5 and another hour and a half drive north to the Rolling Hills casino, which is just off the freeway. This casino being right off the freeway didn’t seem to cater to locals so much and the atmosphere just didn’t feel right to me. I did sign up and got another $10 in free play. However, with Keno beginning to be sluggish, I played the dice video game. I caught a couple of nice hits and then a bonus which end up netting me $40. So my wins for the day are $77.50. Aside from the $20 I put in the Family Guy machine, I didn’t spend a dime of my own money. Add to that, all the casinos offered free soft drinks and coffee. So though it might have been a lot of driving for such small visits, I came out quite well with over $70 in cash and an excellent lunch.
Rolling Hills Casino and Lodge
It was now 4:30 and I needed to get back to my hotel at Feather Falls in Oroville as I’m meeting up once again with Terry as we’re going out to dinner. I didn’t get back to the hotel until 6 PM, but that was okay as he was busy with some business with the Elk Club, which he is a member. We sat in the brewery and had a beer and played some video poker. I started out with DDB and then switched to DB and finally to Keno. Nothing was really working for me, but I said, I would stop at a $50 loss so that the day would still end up on a plus, which is exactly what happened.
Terry drove me into downtown Oroville to a small Chinese restaurant where we had a terrific dinner with plenty left over to take home to his daughter. Terry had been an amazing host. He picked up the tab for the hotel, the two dinners, gave me a tour of his business and even maps for my casino run today. Thank you!
I whine about the drive but don’t misunderstand. I really enjoy it. I like seeing new things. I like looking at the many different kinds of crops. Today alone, I saw fields of sunflowers, corn, walnuts, olives, grapes, peaches, watermelons…it was wonderful. I enjoy driving when you can see new and different things. Yes, the fatigue of the actual driving can be rough, but the sights more than make up for it.
More tomorrow
