Advance warning – this post has absolutely nothing to do with search.

My wife is a gambling nut. She just loves to go play the slots, and lately she’s getting in to video poker.  She does well most times, and it makes her smile, so I don’t mind going to a casino now and then.

The new Lumiere Place casino in downtown Saint Louis is our latest hangout.  We are probably there 2-3 times a month, sometimes more.

Well we’ve been saving up for vacation so we’ve kinda laid off going, but last night I took her down there for a while.  I don’t mind going, particularly if there’s a Cardinals baseball game on.  I’ll sit in one of the bars, drink beer and watch the Cards.  I usually sit in a bar that’s right in the middle of the casino because it’s actually fairly quiet in there, surprisingly.  But last night I ventured over to another bar, dubbed the “Burger Bar” (how original!).  It’s a nice little place, and best of all its non smoking.

The wife wanted to play video poker, so I met her over at the Burger Bar and she went to it.  She has some crazy strategy which usually works to her advantage.  I just sit and stare at the TVs.  But last night I was starving, so I asked for a menu.  I ended up ordering the turkey burger with blue cheese and skinny fries.  Man oh man was it good!!

I was a little cautious about ordering turkey, but it was worth it.  I’d order that baby again today if I were there.  It had the normal tomato, lettuce and onion. I got a wheat bun and put some mustard on that bad boy.  Good stuff.

Oh – and the wife did well.  She hit four of a kind on about three or four different machines there, totaling about $300.  Not bad considering we walked in with about $140.

In preparation for the family vacation, I realized that there are several things I’ll be doing differently than in years past.

I signed up for OnStar’s Three Months on Us Trial.  This will give me emergency contact info if my 15 year old wrecks the Denali on Highway 57.

My Mom just bought a new Garmin for her husband.  I’m going to see if I can’t borrow it for our trip, and if we like it, we may just buy one of our own.

I’ll also be using the Garmin for some geocaching fun.  The kids have been talking about this, so what better way to introduce ourselves to it than on vacation?

I’ll have Google Maps on my Treo for restaurant location and any other info I may need on the fly. I’ll also use it to find known wireless hotspots so that the wife and I can check email.  Unfortunately I’m not at the point in my business where I can trust the biz to someone else while I’m gone, or else I’d be avoiding the email altogether.

I’ll also use Google Reader on my Treo to keep up with the latest feeds (when I’m not driving).

We’re considering signing up for XM radio so we don’t have to change the radio station every 100 miles or so.  That gets old, particularly on an 1800 mile trek across the US.