That Wild Hair Got The Best Of Us!

Fourth of July Weekend. Its a time for friends, food and fun. And fireworks. And whatever else you can cram into 3 days. Hubby and I tried desperately to plan a little trip with all the friends to get ourselves out of town for the weekend. But with the short notice and the cost of traveling - one by one they all bailed. Even an email with a guilt-trip didn't change anyone's mind. So we slowly came to terms with the fact that we'd be staying in Burbank for our ultra exciting 3-day weekend.

However, on Thursday evening, my brother and I came to realize that you only have to be 18 to gamble at the Indian Casinos in California. He is 5 months away from turning 21 and has been left out of some of the grown-up activities because of this. So, as my sister-in-law would say, we "got a wild hair up our butts" and decided to drive out to Temecula that night and partake in some fun at the casinos. We made a reservation at a close-by Motel 6, not really knowing anything about the area, and once the husband got home from work, we recruited one more friend and the 4 of us headed out to the desert.

Of course the initial planning and the first 20 minutes of the drive are most exciting. Like "I can't believe we're doing this tonight!" excitement. We made good time and were at Pechanga Resort and Casino by 12:30am. We strutted up to the doors, ready to make our entrance when we see security guards outside checking IDs. No problem - since we are all over 18, right? Well, little did we know that after 11pm, the age limit changes to 21! So now brother can't even get in. Utter disappointment! It was going to be his first time gambling! We just drove 2 hours! It didn't say ANYTHING about that on their website! How could they do this to us?

So we retreated. And almost gave up. But, NO! We did not drive all this way just to go sleep in a crummy, smelly Motel 6! So with the help of Google Text, I made a few more calls to other casinos in the area. And we found ONE that was 18 and over all night long. It was an extra 1/2 hour away, but we decided that it would be totally worth it! So we drove out in the middle of nowhere (literally in the boonies, behind an orange orchard) and found Pauma Casino. And it was...ghetto. To say the least.

But hey, we got to gamble and had some decent luck so we weren't complaining. Sure, there was no glitz or glamour whatsoever. And we smelled like ashtrays within 5 minutes of being there, but we also had a great time. We've been paying for it all weekend since it made us so tired. But if nothing else, it was one of those little adventures you just have to have once in awhile.

The rest of the weekend was spent recuperating - went to see Hancock, grilled up some turkey burgs and hot dogs, watched a few fireworks from our patio, and played the new Guitar Hero. I even took a 2 hour nap today and still can't wait to go to bed. It sure isn't as easy as it used to be to stay out all night and still be OK by Monday morning...