We Went to the Casino

One of the settings for several of my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mysteries is the Bear Creek Reservation and the casino. Those settings are loosely based on the Tule River Indian Reservation and Eagle Mountain Casino.

I heard on the radio that the casino had crab legs on Friday night and hubby and I invited son and daughter-in-law to go with us out there. We also asked son to drive. The closest road leading there is narrow, has sharp curves and lost of ups and downs. (The road closer to town is just as bad.) It scares me to drive there, which I've done a couple of times) because people are always in such a rush to get there and come back.

The reservation is tucked in a beautiful but rather narrow valley surrounded by huge mountains--part of the Southern Sierra.

Because of all the rain everything was green and water flowed abundantly through the Tule River. Some wild flowers decorated the hillsides, though in a few days more will cover them.

To get to the casino you don't go into the main part of the reservation, taking a right and following all the cars streaming in. Revenue from the casino has brought new life to the reservation. A new fire station as well as many other public buildings have been constructed to enhance the life of the Indians who live on the rez.

The parking lot is huge, with lot of space for private vehicles and the buses that transport people from Porterville and all the other nearby towns, including Bakersfield.

Our destination was not the casino itself but the buffet. Since I was there last time, the buffet area has been remodeled and enlarged. And yes, we got our crab legs--but they didn't have any utensils to crack them or poke the meat out. We struggled, but managed. Next time we go, we're taking our own crackers and pokers. Actually they are for cracking nuts and poking the nut meat out, but they work well on crab legs.

By the way, the clam chowder was the best I've had anywhere--more clams than anything else.

After we ate, son insisted we go into the casino and gamble. I've never enjoyed gambling and didn't have any spare money I wanted to waste. He popped a $10 bill in a penny machine and insisted I play. Oh, I pushed buttons, things spun around, sometimes I won, sometimes I didn't. Lost for awhile, then finally got the money back to where it was nearly what had gone in and I cashed out shy a few pennies. Hubby had a $5 given to him and after he got it back up to $5 he cashed out.

Frankly, I don't see any fun doing that at all. Some people must, the place was crowded. I saw more Indians eating than I did in the casino. I think they are the smarter folks.

Anyway, that was my night at the casino.

If you haven't seen it yet, do check out this great interview
http://gumbojustice.blogspot.com/2011/04/guest-blogger-marilyn-meredith.html

Marilyn

Comments

By the way, I don't know the people in the photo, they were just there when I took the pic. And those stairs are killers.

Marilyn
James Garcia Jr said…
Hi, Marilyn. I'm not a fan of gambling either, although I do love to go to Vegas and see the lights and the spectacle that is that town.

Thanks for the post.

-Jimmy
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When we go to Las Vegas we visit my sis. Will be going in May as I'm speaking to the Sisters in Crime group there and in July to the PSWA conference.

Marilyn

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