Today my parents and I drove up to the new Cache Creek casino in Brooks, northwest of Sacramento. Apparently the casino has been advertising a lot, and my parents wanted to go check it out. I acquiesced. I’m not much of a gambling man, and this trip was sort of unexpected (at least on my part), so I didn’t hit the ATM first to load up on gambling money. We had lunch at one of the restaurants, where I had a surprisingly good grilled panini, and then took to the various slot and video machines. At the end of the afternoon, my net loss was about $15, basically all I had in my wallet at the time. I can live with that. If there’s something positive to say about the place: it really is a beautiful property, especially for a casino. From the outside it looks more like a sprawling winery estate in a modified Mission style, set amid fields and hills. And inside, despite the machines and card tables, the architecture and decor continue a nature theme, with leaf and tree motifs running throughout. Typical me: I’m all, look at the Wright-like light fixtures! and the massive porte cochère!
On the drive back, we benefited from the unexpected kindness of strangers. As we approached the Bay Bridge toll plaza, we noticed that in front of us was a new Mercedes sedan, noticed because my parents recently bought a Mercedes SUV (yeah, I know). I was driving it on the way back, and when we got to the booth, I held out my two bucks to the toll taker, but he said that the woman ahead of us took care of it. Wow, thank you, random driver! Was it the new-car camaraderie? Was it just random kindness? Were you coming on to me and was I supposed to follow you to get your number?
Lose your money at the casino, make some at the toll plaza. Who’d have guessed?
Maybe random kindness! I get a kick out of doing that at drive-thrus. At the pay window, you just ask for the total of the car behind you and fork over the cash. Instant day-maker for someone else!