Day 21
Tuesday July 18, 2006

Well after getting up and getting motivated it was time to finish packing up for the trip home. I can’t say I’m looking forward to it! I also can’t believe that 3 weeks has gone by and it’s over.

After checking out of the hotel I gassed up the car one final time and headed out to the airport. Instead of lugging my luggage to Alamo I went to the airport and parked in the short-term lot. This was easier and I was also able to see that the security lines weren’t long. Checking in was pretty smooth but still to this day people seem clueless and lose their minds at the airline check-in.

Returning the car went very fast and there were no issues. I jumped on the shuttle and made my way to the airport. It was actually nice not having to lug my bags onto the shuttle.

The lines at security were short with no issues other than some dick asking 100 questions about what he can keep in his pockets and what he can’t. Note to this asshole: Just empty your pockets so we can move along.

My flight was supposed to be at 2:25pm and the first leg will take me to Philadelphia on flight 30. I found out before I came out here that this was changed to flight 98 at 11:00am. I was NOT happy when I found this out since I hate having to be up and out first thing in the morning on my last day in town. I grabbed an overpriced Cinnabon in the airport terminal to eat on the plane. The flight was uneventful and I slept almost the entire time.

We arrived in Philly on time and I had to lay over 2 hours before getting on flight 3602 back up to Newburgh.

Since I had plenty of time and hadn’t eaten anything all day I grabbed something to eat at the food court. What did I get? Of course a Philly cheese steak. It was pretty good and not too overpriced at $8.

While I was eating I saw a bunch of black clouds and lightning come rolling in. Then thunderstorms came through the area and delayed everything. The new departure time is going to be at 10pm and we have a new gate. Now I’m even more aggravated they changed my flight because I wasn’t supposed to leave here until 10pm as it was, but now there is a 4-hour wait time between flights instead of less than 1. This storm pretty much crippled the northeast’s air traffic. My flight was now delayed until 11:40pm. Then it was delayed until 12:10am. This was really painful for me because I was only a 2 hour and 20 minute drive from home and here I was at the airport for over 5 hours at this point.

I was worried that my flight was going to be cancelled at this point and I left the terminal and went over to the Avis lot to see about renting a car to drive home. All they had for a one way rental was a mini van and it was $175. I told the guy I didn’t pay that much for my flight and he could keep it. I took the shuttle back to the airport and decided to wait for my flight. I had to go through security but there was no one there and I got right through.

We finally did take off at around 12:15am. The flight was smooth except for 2 pockets of turbulence. There was one guy that was snoring so loud and he must have been so tired that when we hit some pretty bad bumps he never woke up. The flight was only 40 minutes and we landed in Newburgh at about 1am. Baggage claim went fast like it usually does here at this airport. In a few minutes I was on my way back to the plant to get my car and head home. I pulled into the driveway at about 2am (over 4 hours after than I should have) and another trip came to an end.

Total win/loss for the day $0
Total comps for the day $0

Final Thoughts

• This was my longest trip ever
• It was convenient flying from the local airport
• It was strange seeing a vacant lot where Westward Ho used to be
• Red Rock is a very nice hotel. It’s on my list of favorites now!
• It was cool to get $50 in free play when someone hit the Jumbo Jackpot
• One night and two night hotel stays really suck
• I like having access to the Diamond Lounges at the Harrah’s properties
• Having a diamond card at Harrah*s properties has it benefits
• The food credit promotion at the Harrah’s properties was very good until it ended
• It was really cool hitting a royal flush on free play at Fiesta Henderson
• I’m not happy MGM is getting rid of the One Club at the old Mandalay Properties
• The Pinball Hall of Fame is really cool
• Caesars Palace was a zoo
• Getting free play when someone hits a daily jumbo jackpot is a nice perk
• Showing your diamond card at Harrah’s valets makes a big difference in waiting
• The Plaza no longer smells like piss
• I was surprised at the food quality and good prices at El Co
• Craps was surprisingly good to me this trip
• The Augustus Tower at Caesars Palace is way too far away from everything
• It was nice not having to move every 3rd day this trip
• It was quite different spending most of my trip on the strip
• I didn’t hit nearly as many local casinos as I usually do
• I didn’t play as many promotions as I usually do
• The construction at Fiesta Henderson sucks
• This was the first time weather has had such an effect on my flights
• I got spoiled staying in higher end hotels this trip
• I played almost 77,000 hands of Video Poker and hit 2 royals
• I was at almost 80,000 hands since my last royal
• I only went to the Cannery one time this trip – a record low for me!
• This win brings my record to 18-11-1
• My next trip will be in October