Motorcycle Thoughts and Royal flushes

I was still curled up, buried beneath my blankets when Jeff came in. We had made plans to ride the motorcycles out to the casino on the beach, have lunch, lose a few quarters and ride home. I really didn't want to go. Jeff did so I pulled myself from my haven, got all leathered up and we roared away. My thoughts on that first leg were typical:

• I hope the kids take the puppy out
• It's kinda cold out here
• I love my bike
• How much longer?
• Big heard turns
• Look through the turns
• I wonder how much a Mac is?
• I want to go to Vegas
• What are we going to have for dinner?

Once there we parked our bikes, de-leathered and made our way into the casino and through the maze of canes, walkers, smokers and oxygen tanks.  I played one of my favorite games for about an hour while Jeff walked around.

Jeff was a compulsive gambler about 40 years ago so he doesn't play much. He found his way outside to enjoy the sunshine while I continued to lose quarters. After about an hour I was done, I found my husband and we had a bit of lunch.

 Note to self: the buffet lunches at tribal casinos are icky at best. There are also icky people with no table manners that have macaroni salad dripping from their gaping mouths. I really need to eat before coming to the casino!

On the way out I asked if Jeff wanted to play a few hands of video poker. We claimed a couple of quarter machines and begin to play. A few hands into my game I pressed the deal button yet again. I think I was in a daze by now.

The first card up was an ace of spades, followed by a king of spades. Next was an off suite card that I can't remember, then came a jack of spades and finally a queen of spades. I stared at the screen for probably 20 seconds before I tapped Jeff on the arm and said "Look at this".

Jeff stared at the machine and stared at me. I froze. I wasn't sure I wanted to press the deal button. After what seemed like an eternity I held my breath and pressed the button praying for the ten of spades. The card was dealt. It was the ten of spades. A royal flush! A freaking royal flush!

I looked at the pay line and said 4000 credits. I'd been playing quarters. I couldn't think. I turned to Jeff and asked "how much is 4000 quarters?"

"Uh, Teri, it's a thousand dollars!"

We watched the red digital counter as it counted out the winnings. As soon as it ended Jeff pressed the cash out button.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

"Teri, we're out of here."

Still in disbelief we walked to the cashier, then I realized he had my ticket.

"Give that back!" I snatched it out of his hand. We cashed out and walked back to our bikes without saying a word.

"You know Teri, that could be part of a down payment on a new 2011 Harley."

"Yeah, I don't think so."

Thoughts on the way home:

• A royal flush?
• All spades?
• That was unbelievable!
• What ARE we going to do with it?
• We're not paying bills, that's for sure.
• Maybe we should put it toward the family vacation in June.
• A freaking royal flush?!?!

We stopped at a light. Jeff looked over and said "maybe we should put it toward the vacation with the kids."

Dilemma solved. Kids. Vacation. Family time.

It was a good day.