So, I can't tell you much then! After the Death Valley half marathon we got in the rental car as quick as we could and hightailed it out of Furnace Creek. We had planned to have some breakfast before we left but we got back to the hotel at 10:30 so, obviously, the restaurant was closed. In a way, we were glad, and actually I think we all knew it would be closed. Instead, we feasted on energy bars and hemp protein-based drinks. Yum! About halfway we stopped at a service station, and getting out made us all realise the value of stretching. As any good athlete knows, stretching after a hard effort is a must. It relieves the tension in the muscles, releases lactic acid and readies you for the next session. Only a fool would just leap into a car and drive for a couple of hours with no fluid. So, we fools crawled out of the car and waddled to the shop. There, we could buy all forms of sugary fats but more importantly, water. I bought a bag of what I thought was mixed nuts and was quite pleased with myself until I started eating them and realised they were mixed with chocolate chips! America, land of the free (free to add sugar and fat to everything) Back on the road feeling more refreshed we traveled on to our hotel in Las Vegas where we planned a big night out before traveling back to San Francisco in the morning. We arrived and left the car with the valet boys, $5. A minute later I realised I'd left my phone in the car. Ask reception. $2. Get the car back from the valet boys. $5. A $12 error, this was going to be an expensive night. Regardless, I enjoyed a long soak in a bath and eased some of my aches, then we were ready to go.
Nick was aching to gamble, so we accompanied him to the craps table. "Craps" is that thing they show on films where the "high roller" chucks the dice down a long table and they bounce of the end. I've never understood it but it always looks like the sort of intense, high activity gambling I would do if I ever gambled. But obviously, as a control freak who wants every step of his life planned ahead of time, there is no way I'd ever gamble. Nick though, was well up for it and got $200 worth of chips. Roger and I stood back and watched. A gorgeous young girl sasheyed over and asked us if we wanted a drink. I recoiled, Roger politely declined, and Nick ordered a Bud. I learned later that this is free as long as you are playing the table. Nick put a couple of chips down on a number with confidence. He'd explained the rules to us earlier. "No. On the 6" said a proper high roller next to him. Nick moved it to the 6. High roller threw the dice; they bounced of the end. Nick looked excited. High roller said nothing while the croupier shoveled chips around with his stick. Nick ended up with more. High roller issued Nick with his next set of instructions; Nick obeyed. Chuck dice, bounce, shovel. More chips. More Bud. This gambling business was beginning to look interesting. After a few minutes, Nick thanked the High roller (who was apparently laying down thousands!) and came away with a big smile on his face and a big fistful of chips. I was impressed, and wondered about taking up gambling and one or two other vices, but then came a shout: "Just a moment" said one of the croupier guys. "Oh no," I thought. "this is where we get buried in the desert" but in fact they just swapped the chips for different chips. What they do is take away the small denomination ones and swap them for bigger denomination ones, so obviously next time you play, you play bigger. Not Nick, though. Despite telling us that he normally followed any success on the tables with a couple of drinks, then as he put it: "I turn into Billy Big Balls and throw it all away again," but not this time. He cashed in and we helped him invest it more wisely in drink. So that's all I'm going to tell you. The later evening involved a really good show, jazz, a singer called Sky, a tap dancer, steak, and loads of alcohol. The details stay in Vegas!
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