Coming up on the last minute, I decided to scrap my Torrey, UT, plans. I still needed a front tire (or felt I did) and didn't quite have everything in order at home and work to take off on such a long trip, which would also require some decompression at the end.

And so, I decided to see what Harrahs would give me in Tahoe, and the answer was a free room, which was fine. I got there, proceeded to lose what I would have paid for the room in short order, and then got checked in. An upgrade to a suite. Cool. For one night? Maybe a little silly.

However, I'll have to say, if they want to bump me to a suite in the future for my more extended stays, that would be just fine. It had a nice-sized refrigerator in the bar area just inside the room. That's right, one corner taken up by a bar, surrounded by stools. The typical for Tahoe dual bathrooms, which has always seemed a little crazy when I'm there by myself. The bathroom I didn't use this trip could be closed off an isolated by the separate bedroom. Finally, there was a big, comfy couch and a full-sized table with four chairs. TV's, of course, were in both the living room and the bedroom (not the mention the TV's in each bathroom... but those are there in the standard rooms.)

In any case, what they gave me in living space this weekend they took from me in gambling losses.

It was nice to get away, even if only for a bit. The scooter worked flawlessly, though there's something up with the front end I've to work out. I got around 50 MPG on the highway, versus my 40 MPG commuting. Had some jerk in a Passat who apparently only knew where her accelerator was in the passing lanes. Suffering from a bit of road rage, I did take advantage of her lacking driving skills at the end of one of the passing zones. It was pointless, because we were about to hit the 4-lane portion anyway, but it made me feel better. She also, curiously, dropped back. I'm sure it's because I look like such a tough guy on the scooter.

I picked up a new jacket in anticipation of the Torrey trip. My first everyday leather (I bought some track leathers when I did the Code school a while back), I've been quite pleased with it. It handled the variations in weather conditions on this trip nicely. I was concerned I was going to get rained on on the return, but, fortunately that didn't happen. I had failed to pack any of my rain gear.