Barstow Casino Could Become a Reality, Says One Tribal Leader

With 42 crisp hundreds lining my pocket and child-like wonder pulsating, Vegas was summoning me from the bowels of hell. But first, I had to take a little detour by Morongo Casino for no particular reason other than recently reading up about Jackson's Seminole Wars and Cherokee policy; felt like the right thing to do.
I smoke a few bowls from my apple piece and do some Tai Chi in the parking structure to immerse into the zone. Within the zone, I am as objective as a poker player as I can comprehend; once the zone crumbles to ego, I am a PLO donk from the pit of eternal suffering and going all in on long shot stock options. It's a perplexing duality to rationalize and live with, though I wouldn't have it any other way. I lost a wee bit under 10k two weeks before with said degeneracy; regardless, there I was harnessing my Chi in the parking structure to redeem myself - maybe I should have been volunteering at a soup kitchen or raising malnourished kittens instead of this self centered quest, but the journey had already commenced..
The only game with an open seat is a 5/10 and I sit down with $666 for my own amusement. The villain of this hand had accidentally revealed his cards to my peaking eyes a few hands before where he floated 2x and bombed a paired board with nothing against a nit. Having known this, I flatted his 3b to 105 with my QQ's because his range is too wide to rip it and checked to him when the board came T95 rainbow, surprisingly he checks back. Turn is a 4 (bringing in clubs) and I lead for 60 to hopefully induce - he flats. River is an offsuit Ace and I check it, he insta rips all in for 550 effective. I ruminate on quantum theory and my mother's abuse, then make the crying call only due to the fact that I saw his donkalicous play before. Sure enough, he flops over 57h and the trip is off to a BANG. After playing tight for another hour and as the table slowly began to break, I walk out with nearly a grand more to my name.
I sat in my Volvo wagon with an American spirit fading to my finger tips and Bach's E Major Partita emitting from mere mm's of my phone's speakers, I realized I had completed the most objective objective of this trip.. The only reason I set off was because my cello "broke" the day before and the degen tingles were too convincing without a bow in hand, now I had more than enough in profit to get my baby tuned up. But who the fuck has the time to act upon their conscience, I'm tryin to GAMBOL! "Vegas, here I come darlin."
I stopped in Barstow to force myself to vomit and then gently placed a tab of LSD under my tongue in ode to Dr. Gonzo. I tried deciphering some meaning in the vast array of stars as I wandered the barren Mojave and after coming up short, I was back to flooring it on the 15. My optics were melting a tad and the road did permeate with my breath, but not an ounce of fear radiated within. I sang my favorite songs from "O Brother Where Art Thou" and didn't think about my ex at all with "You Are My Sunshine," baby steps. With the dusk hue fading as rays of light mustered over the horizon, our beloved capitalist wasteland was within eye shot. Before I could render the inclination of a responsible thought, I was in the Bellagio parking lot smoking weed with some drunk broad beggin for a few bucks to throw on slots - "Ganja is the only charity I provide hon."
After a few orbits at 5/10 with a far too many regs that I recognized and getting a walk with Aces, I stand up right there n then and get the hell out of that nit fest. My soul was aching for 4 cards and there's no forsaking such a ravenous urge, Aria was my destiny.
Due to the fact that live 1/2/5 PLO is actually abbreviated for BINGO, most of my play was incredibly standard and not worth typing out. There was only one hand for which wasn't a cognitive snap decision against a 10/20 pro for whom I had top set and let 3 potential straight combos get there from foolish slow play; after a minute of deciphering the hand and his perception of my image, I called his $400 river bet and got the good news. Aside from that single hand, any domesticated chimp could have been in my seat and it wouldn't have made a difference; the hands played themselves out. After 72 hours of continuous grinding and gettin lucky at 5/5/10, I reached the sacred $4,200 in profit and doubled my trip's first stop loss amount (which I had no intention of adhering to).
With 84 mildly crumpled hundreds in my pocket and that same child-like wonder pulsating; here I am wandering the strip looking for the stories in all these confused faces. But conceptualizing the seemingly infinite dimensionality within even the simplest of folk is futile when I am just as confused; I hope the find what they are looking for or find that the looking is the fun part, who the fuck knows. I appears as though the next leg of my journey is to visit my childhood home in southern Utah and commit Felony arson in spite of my mother - or I might just keep degening away. Only time will tell.
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Safe travels comrades.

I never write blogs or long posts but I just went on an amazing trip with my M3 LR RWD and wanted to share. I bought this car 2 years ago and due to work travel and COVID I only have 13K miles on the odometer.
An opportunity arose due to my friend getting married in Colorado and I’ve never been to any of the national parks in the desert south west so I decided to make a rod trip out of it!
I drove from the LA area to Bryce Canyon and stayed a few days, then to Moab UT for a night, then to Durango CO for 3 nights then home through New Mexico & Arizona. Story and Pics follow.
I left around 8am and drove to Bryce. It's a 530 mile trip and took ~9 hours. I roughly mapped out the trip via ABRP with conservative settings to get an idea of the trip and made sure to stay at hotels that had destination chargers. My first and most range anxiety stop was at Primm, NV. The car said from the start I'd arrive at 7%. If you’ve done this drive from LA after Baker there is a large uphill incline followed by a long decline to state line. Going up the hill I had less range than the distance to destination. My wife was super nervous as was I. I drafted behind a semi which BTW I'm not even sure I did properly as I don’t know how to actually draft LOL. Anyway coming down the hill I regen’ed almost the entire way and arrive with 6% and 19m range. I should have just realized and trusted the car from the beginning.
This was a pic during the moments of stress
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So hot…so many fires along the way
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Me charging in Primm, NV at 118 ambient. 130+ Kw
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We had lunch in the casino and headed on to St George UT. Since my wife was super nervous about range from the prior stop she asked we top off in Vegas so we did. This downtown charger was in a weird place with nothing around. We stopped for only 5 mins since there was nothing around, but it never mattered since we arrived at St George with ~105 of range
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St George, UT was a challenge. It was so hot that day the heading across the NV desert my car registered in at 119F.
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When I arrived in St George I had 104 miles and there was a line at the charger. I had to wait 15 mins then realized why there was a line. The car told me to charge for 20 mins but it took over an hour with ~30Kw max charge speed. It wasn’t just me as other cars were there a long as me and the line grew. I guess it was the heat...it was blazing hot although I charged in Primm at 118F and had no problems.
This was the only ‘annoyance’ in charging but we made the best of it and I made it to Bryce which is a large elevation gain with 29% SOC...i guess I waited too long in the St George heat and that slow 30Kw 😊
We stayed at the Bryce Canyon Best Western. They had 4 chargers. No problems although one of them requires you to park in a no parking spot to make the cable reach. Bryce is ~8-9K feet so the temp was cooler. Still hot with highs in the 90s. I’ve didn’t know that any state had an 80mph speed limit but Utah does!
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This is the part where we deviate from the car a bit. Stayed 3 days. Hiked and road horses. Amazing place...breath taking
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From Bryce we headed to Moab and stopped at Green River which was a great charging station with a very good local restaurant across the street.
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Moab was very hot ~110F, but Arches national park was as expected. I figured I’d be able to drive through get out for a few mins, take it in, and get back into the car. I was able to do that. Camp Mode was awesome for this 😊 Yeah yeah I know there are hikes and things I could have done but I wouldn’t be in this trip if it weren’t for the wedding so the time of year and temps were just part of the coincidence of me even having driven here in the first place.
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In Moab we went to a winery after an amazing drive along the Colorado river. I knew Utah had strict laws on drinking but man this was a let down if you like to relax and have a drink. I knew something was up with the tasting was $1 per person. The drive was amazing though and that’s what matters
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Finally, the wedding! I wish we had more time on Moab but alas we woke up and headed to Durango. In Durango our hotel had 4 destination chargers and no problems finding an open spot. We stayed at the Double Tree which was a amazing hotel on the local river.
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Downtown Durango was very cool. Lots of small locals shops and a great Winery named Four Leaves
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This is an Aerial shot of the historic narrow gauge train depot
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Durango was beautiful and we took this awesome historic train ride from Durango to Silverton. This ride is 9 hours pre-COVID but only 3 now due to 50% capacity and the financial ability of the entire run. It was still amazing.
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Oh and we couriered the bride’s vale all the way to the wedding!
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After 3 days in Durango having a great time with friends, we headed home through New Mexico and Arizona. Coming into New Mexico from Colorado put us in the Navajo Indian Reservation. Talk about a depressing place. The landscape was ugly, the roads were bad, and there were “don't drink and drive signs” all over the place including the do not enter signs all over the media separated highway which suggests a lot of people go flying down a divided highway the wrong way.
We stopped to charge in Gallup, NM which is a skip. There is nothing in walking distance at all. That said charging was fast!
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We also stopped at Holbrook, AZ. We didn’t need to charge but were hungry an there is a Burger King there. Now off to Flagstaff where we spent a night and hit local bars which was fun as it’s a college town. We charged at the super charger which is in the hotel parking lot we stayed in and then woke up to head home the next day.
On the way home we stopped in Needles, CA just past the border. I suppose I forgot to take a pic because I can’t find one but it’s a good spot at a Dairy Queen which fortunately in this blazing hot place has partial shade on the chargers depending on on time of today you go. I was there about 9:30am
From there we headed to Barstow which requires a solid charge as the elevation gain is ~4K feet and it’s one of the most desolate drives I’ve ever done. There is absolutely nothing out in the Mojave desert except blazing heat and sand. Running out of charge or breaking down out here would suck. It was ~150 miles and I used 250 miles of range to achieve it but I arrived with plenty.
Charging in Barstow was nice. They have 12 stations and shade. There are several places to eat in a short walking distance.
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From there I was home in 90 mins!
This was a great trip and while my wife didn’t really understand why i didn't want to fly for me in addition to seeing these amazing national parks I wanted to see what it was like to drive an EV thousands of miles and frankly as I mentioned at the beginning I’ve had this car 2 years with only 13K miles and I wanted to road trip away from this COVID isolation. The trip was amazing, the car is amazing. A few closing thoughts
1 - Charging is not slower than pumping gas. Yeah filling the tank takes 5 mins, and charging takes 15-30 mins but depending on the situation but after driving for hundreds of miles for multiple hours getting out to get a drink, stretch, grab a bite to eat is what I would have naturally done anyway and the time at the stop felt totally normal.
2 - The issue in St George was an anomaly IMO. It was almost 120 degrees ambient and the charger was busy.
3 - The trip was super smooth and EAP relieves a lot of driving fatigue. I don’t know how to explain it but using EAP makes you far less fatigued than normal driving. I was able to stretch my legs, enjoy some scenery, and overall feel more after each leg of the trip.
4 - Lastly…..it’s amazing to me that we have technology that can hurl me across the desert in 100+ temps at 85mpg for hundreds of miles in luxury all using a battery!! I hope you all enjoyed reading this. I enjoyed writing it.

As a first road trip, I took my new 100D Model S from Los Angeles to Las Vegas this weekend. I decided to check out each Supercharging station to see which ones I would like to use in the future. For distance calculation purposes, I used the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Below is my review of them with grades on the following metrics:
Overall: Overall score
Availability: Availability of Supercharger stalls
Accessibility: How easily the stop is accessed from the freeway
Amenities: Overall grade for shops/restaurants/etc.
Restrooms: Grade for cleanliness/# of restrooms
Food: Grade for food options/quality
Proximity: How close the stalls are to the amenities
Rancho Cucamonga: 12 stalls
Address: 12642 Cultural Center Dr, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739
Distance between charging stations: 65 miles to Barstow
Distance from Vegas: 221 miles
Distance from LA: 48.1 miles
This one was full when I was arriving but luckily someone was pulling out as I came in. This seems like it is a highly trafficed spot as it's at the 210/15 merger. This location is right next to the Victoria Gardens mall (https://www.victoriagardensie.com). There's a variety of restaurants and shops you can check out on their website, along with an AMC theater. The stalls are in a back place in the parking lot that is not directly next to the mall entrance.
Overall: B+
The lack of availability brings down what would otherwise be a solid A.
Availability: C
High traffic freeway junction has potential to create more demand than supply of stations.
Accessibility: A-
Pretty close to freeway with easy on/off when there's no traffic.
Amenities: A
A full mall with movie theater.
Restrooms: A
Many standard mall quality restrooms.
Food: A
Lots of choices in the mall.
Proximity: B+
The stations are in the back of the parking lot not super close to the mall entrance.
Barstow: 16 stalls
Address: 2812 Lenwood Rd, Barstow, CA 92311
Distance between charging stations: 65 miles from Rancho Cucamonga, 16.5 miles from Yermo
Distance from Vegas: 157 miles
Distance from LA: 111 miles
I thought that this location would be very heavily used and unavailable but during my to/from trips it always seemed to have some availability. This location is next to a Chili's and Aryes hotel with some nicer restrooms in it than your normal gas station. It's a 5 min walk to In N Out/Starbucks with a large selection of almost every fast food option available too. This Barstow stop also has an outlet mall which gives further food options within it and a shopping destination.
Overall: A
Lots of food options, cleaner restrooms, pretty easy on/off, and not too far from the amenities makes this a solid stop.
Accessibility: A-
Pretty easy to get on/off but have to drive through Lenwood road a bit to get to the stalls.
Availability: A-
16 stalls offer a lot of availability but I could see it getting jammed during peak travel times.
Amenities: A
Solid food options and outlet mall.
Restrooms: A
The Ayres Hotel and Chili's have better than gas station.
Food: A+
Lots of options.
Proximity: A-
~5 min walk to almost everything.
Yermo: 18 stalls
Address: 36017 Calico Rd., Yermo, CA 92398
Distance between charging stations: 16.5 miles from Barstow, 52 miles from Baker
Distance from Vegas: 140 miles
Distance from LA: 127 miles
When Barstow is too busy, this can be a great plan B, and is a great stop in and of itself. This is my second favorite supercharging station on the trip. It has an easy on/off from the freeway and the stalls are right next to an Eddie World which offers a host of vendors and food options. Check out their full offerings on their website: eddieworld.com
Overall: A+
Very easily accessed, lots of availability, and Eddie World is a surprisingly cool stop.
Accessibility: A+
Very easy on/off the freeway.
Availability: A
Decent amount of stalls.
Amenities: A
Eddie World has everything you want from a highway stop.
Restrooms: A+
From Eddie World's website "Our beautiful 26,000 sq. foot store is designed to provide you an immaculate clean restroom experience every time you visit us. We are dedicated to clean bathrooms, it is our passion, period."
Food: A+
Lots of food options in Eddie World
Proximity: A
Stalls are a quick walk to Eddie World entrance.
Baker: 40 stalls
Address: 71808 Baker Blvd, Baker, CA 92309
Distance between charging stations: 52 miles from Yermo, 51 miles from Primm/Stateline
Distance from Vegas: 89 miles
Distance from LA: 179 miles
This is the mega charging lot with 40 stalls for maximum availability. Directly next to the station is a DQ Chill & Grill, Tapioca Express, Orange Julius and convenience store. Baker also offers a host of fast food options down the main drag, which are a bit of a hike if you're walking from the station, especially in the heat. The main food attraction in Baker is the Mad Greek Cafe which is 0.4 miles/8 minute walk from the station. There's also the Alien Fresh Jerky store in Baker, which has a variety of exotic jerkys and is about 0.7 miles/15 min walk from the station. The restrooms next to the station are "gas station gross" but not the worst ever. There's also few restrooms and tour busses stop here which can cause lines.
Overall: B
This stop is really only good for getting your supercharging on, and it does that well with 40 stalls available.
Availability: A+
Largest amount of superchargers on the trip.
Accessibility: A
Pretty close to freeway on/off ramps.
Amenities: B-
The close vendors are a bit lacking.
Restrooms: C-
Closest restrooms are on the grimier side of gas station stalls and can warrant long queues from tour bus stops.
Food: B
Smattering of fast food options and Mad Greek Cafe
Proximity: A/B-
Very close to the shops mentioned but B- for the better option (Mad Greek Cafe)
Primm (Stateline): 10 stalls
Address: 31900 S Las Vegas Blvd, Primm, NV 89019
Distance between charging stations: 51 miles from Baker charger, 36 miles from first Vegas city supercharger
Distance from Vegas: 39 miles
Distance from LA: 230 miles
This is a great stop. There seems to be a lot of availability here and I stopped on my way out and way back. This is right next to the Primm casino area which gives you a chance to do some low stakes gambling if you are so inclined. You could also walk or take a shuttle or get over to Buffalo Bills in order to ride a roller coaster or log flume Fri-Sun. There's a nearby convenience store w/ Starbucks by a gas station, a variety of fast food options, a Mad Greek Cafe and your standard array of budget casino food offerings (cheap buffets, cafes, etc.) in the closest Primm Valley Casino. There's also the Factory Outlet malls if you want to get some shopping on. Overall, this is a great place to top off to have some miles to get in/around/out of the city before you get into town or get a semi or full charge on your way out. This is my favorite one on the trip but I may skip it if there's a lot of traffic and don't need the juice.
Overall: A+
Lots to do at this stop with lots of convenience.
Availability: A
Only 10 stalls, but there was no one else there with me either time I stopped.
Accessibility: A (no traffic) or D+ (with traffic)
This is a very easy on/off if there's no traffic but could be a nightmare to get on/off if there's a traffic jam around Stateline.
Amenities: A+
Everything you want from a highway stop and more because of the casino options.
Restrooms: A
Casino restrooms are always better than gas station ones, and the ones in the Starbucks/convenience store are nice too.
Food: A
Lots of options.
Proximity of stalls to Amenities: A
Very short walk to the Starbucks, fast food, Mad Greek Cafe, Primm Valley Casino, and outlet malls.

Link to original post: http://redd.it/1g90pf
Since my original post got a fairly positive reaction from all of you, here's the second half as requested.
10.3.81 6:18 PM- When I woke up this morning, Ryan and I checked out of the room and said our goodbyes. I hope we meet again, but it's a big wasteland so I don't think it's likely. I got all of my supplies and was out of the Burn by 9:00 AM, then I just kept walking until I found a nice overpass to camp under since I forgot to buy a tent while I was still in town.
10.4.81 7:28 PM- I stopped at a little town called victorville to rest and refill my water skins. The people here seem nice enough, one of them even offered to house me for the night for 50 caps. It was tempting, but I need to save these last 50 caps for something important, so I just slept in a little caravan camp for the night.
10.5.81 6:32 PM- I had to stop in the middle of nowhere tonight. No shelter, no nothing. It's a strange feeling being out here alone, I get a feeling that's like the opposite of claustrophobia. I feel that anything can come from anywhere and I'll be able to see it and do nothing about it. Well, I guess I should try to get some sleep, I'll be in Barstow by tomorrow afternoon.
10.6.81 12:44 PM- I made it to Barstow, it seems to be quite the trading location, merchants are everywhere. I decided to treat myself to some grilled mantis and some clean water. After I started eating I realized that I only have 10 caps left now, I had better find some work soon or I'm gonna be fucked. 1:00 PM- I asked the chef if there was anywhere I could get a job in town and he pointed me to the caravan camps. I'm gonna head there now and ask around. 2:13 PM- No work here, apparently. One of the caravan leaders told me about this thing called the Mojave Express. It turns out they're always in need of couriers, I just hope they pay me a little up front so that I can buy some supplies for the journey. 3:26 PM- I just landed myself a job at the Mojave Express. The boss man told me that I will start at 5:00 AM tomorrow morning, around that time a guy should come into town and drop off a package for me to carry along the long 15 to the New vegas strip. This section of the 15 is allegedly well guarded by the NCR since it's the main supply line between New Vegas and the Hub, so I don't really need to worry about raiders or any of that stuff. I get payed 250 caps now, 250 caps when the package gets delivered, and a 50 cap bonus for each day before the deadline if I get there early. I need to be there by the 20th, so if I do 20 miles or more a day, then I should get there by the 18th.
10.7.81 Last night I spent 80 caps to fill up my water skins all the way, and spent around 100 caps on food. I'll be sleeping out in the middle of nowhere again tonight.
10.8.81 Goddamnit! I forgot to ask Tom how he kept his mustache looking so awesome! I'm going to regret that for the rest of my life...
10.9.81 I ended up crying myself to sleep last night remembering Jimmy, that little boy who used to go exploring the old buildings around town with me when we were young. Amyway, I stopped in a little town in the middle of nowhere called Baker to refill my water supply. Then continued for a little ways before I stopped for the night.
10.10.81 I actually made it to the mojave outpost just after nightfall, but it seems like I won't be leaving for a few days. The traffic here seems like it's backed up all the way to Barstow. Oh well, I was ahead of schedule anyway. I'll still get a bonus, it just won't be as big as I had hoped.
10.11.81 I tried talking to some of the caravaneers today, it seems like they're all pissed off at how slow everything is going too. They also tried to teach me how to play a card game called caravan. Fuck that game, I don't understand it one bit. I had a little bit of a lunch and checked how long the wait was going to be, one of the troopers said that it shouldn't be too long for me since I was a courier and the people in charge of the place don't like to keep couriers waiting since they normally have tight deadlines.
10.12.81 Hot damn! I knew they said that I'd be released soon, but I didn't think that they meant today! I made it to Primm before I stopped at the Bison Steve Casino to spend the night, the news I heard there wasn't good though. Convicts have taken over the prison to the north and have basically stopped all traffic along the 15. One person suggested that I turn around and head through nipton and up through novac, but if I did that I might not get that bonus, so it looks like I'm going to have to go into goodsprings and head North.

So, my club is having the National Rally in Barstow California this year, and my Chapter Pres also happens to be the National Pres...so our Chapter did a ride out to Cali starting this past Sat morning. Unfortunately, my military duties will not allow me to make the entire 2 week trip, so myself, my wife and another couple were offered the chance to ride part way, to Texas, then o a turn around and head back. This worked out well for me since I am a new Prospect with my club and 1 of my requirements is to do 1000 miles on organized Club rides...this ride totaled 1412 miles! This was super awesome considering I am deploying to Afghanistan in Sept and normally I would not have been able to make the mileage requirement in such a short time frame (I was accepted as a Prospect at the end of April).
Heres a few pics...http://imgur.com/gallery/J5ahZ/new
Heres some lessons i learned on my little 3 day trip...may help some other down the road...
1) My bike is a 01 E-Glide Police, TC88 with a 5 speed...my best gas economy is in the 60-65-70mph range...we rode a steady 80mph all day Saturday...we did 641 miles Sat...Alabama to Texas in 1 day....I was barely getting 29mpg where I usually get 39mpg....
2) We had two(2) 96" and two(2) 103", all of which were equipped with 6 speed tranns...and 2 1800 Goldwing Trikes...they were strolling at 80mph...
3) TC88`s with a 5 speed can do 80mph steady between fill-ups, but, they really dont like it! At 80mph, I was steady on 35-3800rpm, wheras the 6 peed guys were holding around 2200rpm...much much easier on the engine.
4) It pays to travel with close friends/family/club brothers. We built new bonds on this trip that i truly think will last forever.
5) Accidental fuck-ups can turn into awesome oopsies. My wife left her wallet at a fuel stop in Ruston Louisiana...she didnt realize it until we were 50 miles on down the road toward Vicksburg Mississippi(luckily, the attendant found it, unmolested and intact). The other couple with us didnt hesitate to turn around and double back with us...with killed our plans of celebrating the other couples wife`s birthday in Memphis. So, we spent her birthday in a Casino in Vicksburg...my wife won $140 on a Penny Slot, club brother won $210 on a Penny Slot...still a very Happy Birthday at the end of the day...
To end, if you get a chance, get out and ride...regardless if you have a small tank, small engine or a "ugly beater"...get on it and ride...