Day #1- Free

We always start our day of travels listening to Zak Brown's Greatest Hits.  When the song "Free" came on, I knew it would be the title of today's blog.  There is a line in the song that says, "...travel all across this land, me and you..." Well, that's us.  Another summer of travels has begun. 
It was bitter sweet leaving today.  So much is going on at home that it made it very hard to leave.  Not only are there people to think about, but life will be very different when we return.  Different good, but still hard. 
Anyway, we stopped for gas and started to hit the road.  Well, as per usual, there was a small kink in our plans.  I forgot to pack my contacts.  So, home we went.  Then it was finally time for the open road.  We stopped for a quick visit in Beaumont.  Marty and Beth have sunflowers like 10 feet high in their garden.  They also have PURPLE green peppers.  I have never seen such a thing!  But I pulled one off the vine and bit into it like an apple.  Yep, tasted like a green pepper.  
Only 40 minutes after leaving Beaumont,  we arrived in Lake Charles, LA.  We decided to start our adventure here at the Isle of Capri casino because this was the first trip we ever took together.  We came here in 2012 to see Big and Rich.  I cant believe how long ago that was!!  Well, the place has totally changed.  Total disappointment.  I guess they think they improved it as the place has been redone.  We disagree, however.  All these years we have called it "the bird hotel" because of the tacky bird wallpaper and neon birds everywhere.  No more birds.  Sigh.  Guess you can never go back- even to dumpy casinos.
We had dinner with Alexis and Morgan.  After dinner we came back to the hotel and hit the casino.  We would have been walking out of here with ALOT of money if we knew how to play the Roulette game they have here.  It is video in that we have the board in front of us to select our #'s, but then there is a live guy somewhere dropping the ball.  We each put money on 00 and it hit!!  I was cheering thinking we were millionaires since we had both put money on it, as we always do.  My cheering turned to wailing when we realized our bets had been invalid because apparently the $5 minimum bet means you have to have a $5 minimum on the inside or the outside and can't split the money up and use it for multiple squares equaling $5.  Grrr!  Anyway, I won $20 so we took our money and left. 
Tomorrow we are on to Myrtles Plantation, so stay tuned!