I woke up very early, and no one was around except a couple of the park attendants. I drove out of the park very sluggishly.
On the way through Indiana, I stopped at Deleny State Park and snuck in and used the bathroom to clean up. The unusual thing about this park was most of the RV's in the camp site had set up permanent residence for the summer and spring- some even had decks and sattelite tv. It was a fairly inexpensive park (roughly $10/day for developed camp site with $18 annual car pass), but very difficult to find. The state parks in Indiana are somewhat difficult to find if you follow the signs.
On the way out, I ran into park ranger and he said they turn off the water in the fall and winter, and so the campers have to leave. The ranger lives at the entrance, which was a small story home and the bottom part was where he greeted visitors and took fees.
Examining the Rand McNally atlas, I decided to take beautiful Highway 56 along the Ohio River towards Ohio. Indiana is a very beautiful state with rolling hills; however, the only complaint I have is that the camp sites are kind of expensive with the exception of Deleny.
Lo and behold, along Highway 56 is a brand new casino- very Vegas style. I came in to play, but the riverboat only boards every other hour, and the next boarding was about an hour away. So instead of losing my money, I left. This was the most extravagent casino I would enter on this trip, even better than Trump Mariana in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Up the road about 20 miles in the city of Rising Sun is the Crown Victoria Casino and I entered that one. My nerves were still kind of weak. I got a free boarding pass and boarded with the million other senior citizens. I was able to win $175, but could have left when I had won $250; I was close to losing my bankroll of $300 here- just made a comeback with the last $100. And again, if I had been braver on the bet spread when the cards were going my way, I would have won more. Currently, I'm down about $450 for the trip.
After the casino, I stopped by the nearby Dairy Queen and purchased something to go and got back on Highway 56. At the border of Indiana and Ohio, there was another casino, and I stopped in intending to play, but they charged a $5 entrance fee. That is rediculous to charge people money when the casino knows they will likely win players' money. In fact, that's the only casino which discourages players- well, this casino actually has the best return rates on slots in Indiana. So that was the 3rd casino visited today.
Cincinnati was along the way, so I thought I'd drive through there. It's not a very pleasant in the city during rush hour in the drizzy rain. The city is crowded and the roads are hilly. Recently, Cincinnati has had some racial tensions due to a white police officer killing a black man. The media does seem to focus on these things. I remember years ago here in Texas, a black man driving a stolen vehicle had killed a white state trooper after the trooper pulled him over. He was found to have rap music encouring this violence in the stolen vehicle. The media didn't publicize that. I believe I read in the paper years later the suspect got the death penalty. (He was pulled over because one headlight was not working.)
Speaking of which, I have another story- I'm not trying to take sides, just presenting something. One time, a white woman officer pulled over a black male (with his young daughter), and as they were talking, the man started to beat her right in front of his daughter. The little girl tried to say something, but he continued the assault. The officer's face was destroyed had to be surgically reconstructed. She quit the force and got a job as a car salesman. The media didn't sensationalize this; The media really needs to be fair about these sensitive issues. I guess ratings determines what the public should know.
On the other hand, how many times have we all seen officers zoom through traffic and tailgating other drivers? I suppose if you a make the laws (politician) or sworn to protect and uphold the law, then you find little or no guilt in breaking them. Not all officers are like this because once in a while I'll see one driving nice and safe. So when the authorities cannot be trusted to stand up for what is right (it's their job), how can they expect people to trust them. Maybe this is a little too harsh- I like the police most of the time.
The last time I was in Ohio, I was sleeping on the side of the interstate in the middle of the night. A guy with a beer can came knocking at my windshield which freaked the dickens out of me! The first time is always the scariest. Turns out he and his wife needed ran out of gas and he needed a lift to the local gas station. I gave him a ride in the back of my truck (no room inside since my stuff was in the 2-seater), but left his wife in the car. He wanted to take her along, but for my own safety, I only wanted to take one person. We got gas and headed back and a state trooper was talking the wife. We put in a little bit of gas we bought (using the only available containers I had), but the car only ran for about 1/2 mile before konking out. I told them I would go get more gas, and the trooper stayed with them. Oddly, when I came back a few minutes later, only the car was left. I left the gas container there and drove off. But then, I circled back a couple of times, but no one returned to the vehicle. Well, either the trooper gave them a ride somewhere or he killed them.
I drove the rest of the day trying to find and inexpensive camp site, and finally stopped at A.W. Marion State Park in Ohio, and got a primitive camp site for $10 (self-registration) at approximately 11:00 pm. There was no water in the local bathroom, just waterless toilets. In my camp area, there was just a man and his young son nearby. At one state park they wanted $17 because all camp sites were developed. Hell, they cater too much to the RVers. What about us poor folks who have no money to camp and saving it for gambling? I don't think A.W. Marion Park was worth 10 bucks.
As I was ready to go to bed, the sky wanted to pour.
Casino journal: At the Crown Victoria Casino, they play with standard rules with 8 decks: stand on all 17's, double on any first 2 cards, double after splitting. A player can bet the minimum up to 3 hands. I played a couple of hours at the same table. The guy who played by himself before I came had won about $800 betting $25-$100 at a time. I asked him if he wanted me to wait because the shoe was good, and he said yes if I didn't mind (always polite to ask especially if someone is on a roll). After I came in on the next shoe, we were both losing, and he stepped to the craps table. I had lost over $200 and with the last $100, I was able to break even and then go up $250. When I lost $75 of the winning, I decided to call it quits.
Only amazing thing is the guy who played with me most of the morning. He bought in with $100 and was finally down to his last $10 before winning $500. When he had enough to bet big, everytime he bet $100 he would win. I was playing 2 hands and should have followed his lead since the cards were good and bet more than $25. Everytime, I won, I knew I could have won more if I had increased my spread.
There was one older gentleman who sat at 3rd base for a few hands, and I'm not sure what was he was thinking, but he was killing me and the other guy. He would hit on his breaking hands against a dealer face up low card, and he would get a large card to bust which the dealer would have busted on. And this happened many times before he lost all his money. Boy, was I relieved. One round, I had a 20 on one hand (and was confident), the dealer had a 3 showing, and 3rd baseman had a 16. Of course he hit and caught a 9, busting him. The dealer turns over a 10 for a total of 13. Well, confidence sunk somewhere when the dealer pulled an 8 for a 21. I know that each player plays independently against the dealer and I shouldn't read into how other play, but he was consistently killing us. I didn't show any anger, I was a little amused- you really should have a good attitude, and play for fun first, and profit second. The other guys said we should boot him off the island (the riverboat had sailed out of port). Anyways, sometimes, risky or amateaur plays help, and sometimes they don't.
