Hopped the Bus

I expressed a desire two months ago to take the bus just across the Nevada border to Wendover for a night of adventure, and last weekend, the BRC followed through and took the trip. We met the bus in Ogden at 4:40 pm or so. Sadly, the bus was not this empty for long:

Shortly thereafter, I realized that I did not get the memo: you can drink on the bus (at least on the way there)! I guess there's another bus to Wendover that does not offer this perk. Passengers were climbing on board with six packs of Bud Light and plastic bags full of Old Milwaukee's Best. Here's me with my consolation bottle of water:

After 3 more pickups, we turned to the west on I-80. The crowd was younger that I expected, which is to say about 40-50 instead of 60-70. The seniors probably take the day buses. The trip came complete with an 85-year-old female chaperone who served drinks and led us in games, such as Bingo. MacKenzie and I were both successful in Bingo, winning a combined two of the five games. The prize for each game was $2, but we had to share our winnings with other passengers, so we got $1 each. This fact did not dampen our enthusiasm:
















Then it was on to the free buffet. It was merely OK, but I guess people choose buffets for quantity, not quality. There was a good dessert selection, though. Here's MacKenzie after she let her belt out a few notches:

The big question we asked ourselves on the way to the Wendover Nugget was, "What the heck are we going to do for six hours, until the bus heads home at 2 am?" So after lingering at the buffet for awhile, we walked around the casino to get the lay of the land, and figure out where to use our free alcoholic drink, free coffee drink, and free $5 coupons. We then went to the gift shop, which sold a variety of items, including snacks, giant bottles of alcohol, Nevada souvenirs, and this, which I guess you can give to a friend who suffers severe gambling losses:



We also visited the casino across the street. It was quite neon. Then I stuck my Bingo dollar in the slot machines, where it lasted a good hour. Woo-hoo!















We also sat in the sports book area, where we explored the vagaries of betting on sports and listened to the band, while occasionally being accosted by a drunk woman ordering us to go dance (we refused). Unfortunately, we forgot about the billiards bar, which was downstairs, and would have been a jolly good time.

After riding the bus back into Utah, we stopped at an Ogden Denny's at 5 am. As one might expect from that establishment in that city, it was trashy and awkward, as the waitresses loudly fought with each other. Our waitress was also unable to figure out how to enter my $5 coupon into the register, so the whole purpose of our dining there was defeated. The manager later offered me $10 off my next visit, but I don't believe that I will be using that discount, as I hope never to re-enter that particular restaurant.

After that, it was home to bed.