NO POLITICS! NO ECONOMY INFO! NO BULL! We stayed at the Riviera Las Vegas in mid September. Overall it was a good stay. The Riv sent mail, advertising a pretty good hotel rate. I picked mid-week days to keep the price down and we hit the road. The deal was as follows: 3 nights at around $40.00 per night, two tickets to ICE (the ice show from Russia,) two breakfast buffets and a $200.00 gas rebate coupon. The room was basic but nice: new heavy mattresses, flat screen TV, nice appointments, safe, hair dryer and refrigerator. We got the comps for the Breakfast Buffet. I declined the show tickets since I saw ICE opening night around two years ago and Susan wasn't into it. We could have traded the tickets for another show, just didn't. The gas rebate, as I understand it is as follows: for every $100.00 in gas receipts (driving to Las Vegas) you get $25.00. I'll be doing this through snail mail and I'll let you know how it turns out... The buffet room is comfortable. The food lines had all the basics. All said, there were no problems - with the buffet!!! On the last day we got another comp for a lunch buffet from one of the LV mags. We went up the escalator, gave the woman our ticket, and were given a placeholder (table-holder-tent-card) which you put on the table to reserve it. A hostess found us a table and I placed the card on the table. We left the table to load our plates. When I returned, a little weasel of a guy was sitting at our table. He had placed his placeholder card next to ours, which was still on the table. I told him that it was our table and that he should find another table for himself. The little weasel claimed the table for himself because "my placeholder was facing inward toward the wall instead of facing out." I started to loose it when the hostess cleared the next table. We sat. I loudly said something about THE WEASEL still being there. We ate! What kind of a miserable human being would do that? Anyone with a shred of decency would apologize and move to another table. I don't think he was a Westerner. The only other annoyances we encountered were the people from that Vegas Resort that advertises two free nights in Las Vegas. The people pestered us every time we walked through the hotel. Their manager left me with mental indigestion... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The San Lorenzo Italian Restaurant at the Texas Station Hotel served us a fine dinner. We had a delicious Eggplant Parmesan with a nice salad...Reservations are recommended. Please call (702) 631-1023. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Riviera had a bank of WMS' Monopoly slots. I watched in fascination... WMS' Monopoly slots are superlative in their sound and video capabilities. WMS definitely has the latest edge over IGT...I wonder if the stock would be a good bet. Right now with the economy, SURE...They do have the best video display I've ever seen on a slot....If you played Pinball, you've played WMS - AKA- WILLIAMS... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tony L has been hanging out at the Tuscany Suites and Casino on Flamingo in Las Vegas. It's rather small for Las Vegas, but the locals seem to like it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moving on to Southern California we had an afternoon diversion in Dana Point at Turk's Restaurant (34683 Golden Lantern St Dana Point, CA 92629 (949) 496-9028) ...How cool is this place...Think Old Man and The Sea - full beard sipping Bloody Mary's after a day of fishing - with a Harbor view...Very nice... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fisherman's Restaurant in San Clemente, CA is a delightful place to spend a HAPPY HOUR - or any other hour...Grab a table (on the pier,) order an adult beverage and an appetizer and watch the surfers or just watch the surf... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We went into Hollywood and had coffee and salads at The Farmer's Market - World-class people watching...Come evening, four of us went to Miceli's for dinner...Miceli's is the Oldest Italian Restaurant in Los Angeles...It shares the honors with Fior d' Italia, which is the oldest restaurant in San Francisco, in fact it's the oldest Italian restaurant in America (1886.)... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Synchronicity might be the definitive word to describe the freaky coincidence that found us riding (on The Durango / Silverton Narrow Gauge Train) over the bridge (Baker's Bridge) that Paul Newman and Robert Redford jumped from in the movie: Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid - on the day Paul Newman passed... "Thanks for your contribution Paul Newman. " Beyond the Paul Newman thing, we had the good fortune - and good timing - to ride the train up to Silverton - at just the right time of year: the changing colors of the leaves were magnificent and the weather was perfect. I recommend this trip, which is an all day excursion from Durango, Colorado to Silverton, Colorado on an ancient Coal/Steam, narrow-gauge train. The trip is several hours each way with a two-hour layover in Silverton, where you can walk around town, have lunch or a drink. Speaking of drinks, the train has a mess car where you can purchase food, coffee, beer and drinks. The train edges along mountain passes and follows the pristine Animas River. This is like the the perfect all-day Disney ride to the top of the mountain...Click the link for complete information, including ticket purchase.

        

This is one of the Durango/Silverton coal-fired, steam-engine, narrow-gauge trains snaking along the Animas River to and from Silverton, Colorado.  The dead-fall view of the Animas River was shot from the train as it sidles along the edge of the pass...Thanks Kimberly... 

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