Left Buloxi this morning. Mixed emotions. Can't believe my trip is over but I'm really looking forward to being back home. I know I've said it several times but all I was able to do and see while I was gone was amazing!!! I still can't believe some of the things I experienced. Thank you so much to all the people who made this happen for me. It would have never been possible without you!!! Also, thank you to everyone who followed my blog and all of your comments. Your support means a lot. I made it home at about 7:30pm. My first time seeing my home in 56 days. It was great to see my Mom and Dad and to have a home cooked meal with my favorites. Delicious! After saying "Hi" to Mother and Father, I went straight to my room and kissed my big screen television! The TV I had to watch while I was gone was not much better than the black and white days. Yes, I'm spoiled. We have an ongoing bet to how many shirts I bought while I was on that trip. Some of the guesses are 70 and 100. I predicted 55. I'll keep you posted. I'll start trying to get back in the groove of things tomorrow morning. Its good to be home.

Sunday we left for San Antonio. Long day of driving, about 9 hours. Fortunately, we got an early start and made it there around 7pm. I knew the Alamo was in downtown San Antonio, so before we went to our hotel we went to find it. I know it's just a small little place but because what it stands for I wanted to say I have seen it with my own eyes. Finally arrived at our hotel about 9pm. The room worked out good.If I ever travel again I will try to stay at Embassy Suites along the way because they are very accommodating to me.If you are traveling, I recommend staying at Embassy suites, rooms are spacious,free breakfast, and I think you'll be glad you did. We got a bite to eat at the hotel restaurant. Good food and great service.then it was time for bed. Long day ahead of us tomorrow. Monday got off to an early start again on our way to Biloxi. We drove on some of the roughest roads between San Antonio and Biloxi. During the drive a car in front of us hit something and it flew up and hit us. It put a nice little dent on the drivers side door. Hit a lot of traffic in Louisiana. I don't remember the town we were in. We were all so glad to see the Beau Rivage. This day felt like the longest we spent driving on the whole trip. Mentally an physically drained. I do not know what I would have done if my friend, Asa, had not been with me driving throughout my trip.I am so thankful to him for helping me out. He is truly a wonderful man and I feel blessed and honored to have him as a friend. Checked into the Beau Rivage.None of the rooms they gave me worked. Fortunately, the maintenance men remembered me and got me a room with a bed that they set up for me to use. Went down for a bite to eat and gambled one least time before coming home. three card and Roulette, I lost on. Played Blackjack and got all my money back and a little more. Back in the room, ready for bed.Tommorow I'm headed home. It's going to be good to see my mother and father, my TV, and my own bed. Pray for a safe trip.

Blogging for two days. I didn't get a chance to do it yesterday.We left San Diego Friday morning. It was really sad to leave.I had such a wonderful time here. Thanks again Cliff and Jennifer for making my stay in San Diego wonderful.My friend Marie went back to Jacksonville. Emotional.It was for the best so she could spend time with her mom in South Carolina. Not much to tell about our travels to Tuscon. Just a lot of deserted highway. Arrived to Tuscon safely. Got a bite to eat and then in for the night. Saturday morning we got up headed to El Paso. More of the same desolate roads.Arrived in ElPaso, got unloaded and went to Olive Garden for dinner. Misty flew in safely and met us at the hotel after we got done with dinner. Tomorrow we have a long drive ahead of us. Out next stop in San Antonio. Pray for a safe trip.

Today we went to Del Mar racetrack. They have horse racing. I'd never been to a horse track before so I thought it would be something neat to do. We got to the track, $20 for parking, then we proceeded inside. Its very beautiful here. We had planned to have lunch and bet on a race or two. The first place we went to have lunch it was $120 just for the table, not including lunch. Next place we tried was $60 just for the table. I decided to take it. It faced the track so you could see the horses run by. On our way to our table, cause you had to buy tickets at another place, there was a twenty foot walkway that the horses come in and out of and for you to from one side to the other it was $4 a person. I can now say I paid $4 to drive across mulch. But it was on the way to get to our table. The food wasn't very good. Out of the three races I bet on, I won one. But it didn't pay enough to cover my bet. We were ready to go. We were meeting everyone at the Marine Room for dinner. We sat down for dinner beside floor to ceiling windows looking out over the Pacific Ocean. The waves actually crash onto the glass. The sun was setting and it was beautiful. A good close to the end of my trip here in San Diego. Cliff and Jennifer have been so wonderful to me, my nurses and Marie. They have made us feel right at home. I'm so thankful to have been able to stay here. I can't believe the time is here that I am heading back to Jacksonville. Like I've said before, time has just flown by. I've gotten to do everything and more that I've wanted to. I'm so blessed to have been able to take this trip. There's no way I could have done this without all my nurses. I want to thank them especially for making this possible for me. My friend Marie will be leaving tomorrow also, flying back to Jacksonville. I've had a great time with her. I'm definitely ready to come home. Pray for a safe trip back.

To a complete surprise to me, I really love modern art. Mostly paintings. While I was in La Jolla cove, there was a small gallery and a painting caught my eye as I was rolling by. So I went inside and couldn't believe how cool these paintings were. I never knew I had it in me to like paintings. So today we went to Balboa park, which is named after Rocky, just kidding, that was a joke. They have all kinds of museums and art galleries. As we were on our way to check out one of the art galleries, we came across a botanical garden. It brought back a lot of memories of all the plants I used to grow and show. We then went to an art gallery next door, but it just wasn't for me. It was older artist from hundreds of years ago. There were some very expensive pieces, but I prefer the modern stuff. On our way back to the van we stopped in a museum of dinosaurs and gems. I've never seen full sized dinosaur skeletons before. There were a lot of different species. The next floor we went to had photographic pictures on display and for sale. Some of them were cool but for the most part anybody could have taken these with a disposable camera. The next floor we went to was the gem floor. There were a lot of beautiful stones and the history of where they come from. After that we headed back to the house to get ready for dinner. We had dinner reservations at the Marriott in downtown San Diego. It was right next door to the Padres' stadium. The food was excellent. While we were eating there were several people walking by with huge bags about the size of your body with different comic characters on them. Come to find out, "Comic Con" is in San Diego this weekend. For those of you who don't know, this is one of the biggest conventions in the US. You have to get tickets for it 10 months in advance to even be able to come to it. I wish I would have known I would be here at this time. I would have done my best to come to it. It is something that would have been very awesome to visit. There's all kinds of stars from movies and television that are making appearances here. Such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie for her movie Salt. The cast from the Big Bang Theory and many more. I can't imagine all the vendors and really cool stuff they have inside. After dinner we walked around the Gas Lamp quarter of downtown. Lot of cool bars, restaurants and shops. Jacksonville is really missing out on not turning downtown into something like this!! Back at Jennifer's and Cliff's now. Tomorrow we don't know what we're doing during the day. At night we have reservations at the Marine Room.

Today we visited the World Famous San Diego Zoo! The first thing we did was a bus tour around the whole zoo. Then we went to the different sections that we wanted to see the most. It was my first time to see pandas and some other animals. If Jacksonville could make their zoo their zoo a tenth of how nice this one was, it would be an improvement on what they have. It seemed like they have every animal and bird you can think of. We spent six hours there and had a great time. On the way back to Cliff and Jennifer's we stopped and picked up drive-thru REAL mexican food. True carni asada! It was good, I enjoyed it. But it tasted just like regular Mexican food to me. Now we're just chillin... waiting for the gas to start. I feel like the possible are endless. Don't know what we're doing tomorrow yet.

We arrived safely at Jennifer and Cliff's house in San Diego yesterday. It is as beautiful as they described it. When I got inside they had dinner ready and the guest room set up perfectly for me, right down to the special bed that Cliff had brought in for me. It is really beautiful here. Today, I went to find a place to wash hair. The first place we stopped at, Kami went in to ask if it was possible. The lady inside asked what kind of hair wash I wanted. Kami replied that I wanted a "vigorous" hair wash. The lady replied that it is against the law. No, I'm not making this up. I don't know what kind of hair washing they do here, but I didn't want to break the law so we went to another place. Kami went and checked it out and came back and said she thought this one would work. Once inside, as the lady who will shampoo my hair walks me back to the shampoo area, I notice that she is putting on surgical gloves. I ask if she can do it without gloves and she replies that she can't because it is against the law. California must be a law happy state. I still needed my hair washed so I went through with it. I have to say its the best hair wash I've had since leaving my regular hair washer, May, in Jacksonville. After that we went to an aquarium. It was okay. Then we went to La Jolla cove. There was a walkway along the beach where we could see seals and the waves crashing up on the rocks. Really cool to be close to the Pacific like that. After that we went and looked in a few shops. Then back to Cliff and Jennifer's to get ready for dinner. We had dinner at Peohe's across the bay from Downtown San Diego. Our table faced the skyline. It was right on the water. It was a really amazing view. Dinner was very good. We then headed back to the house. Tomorrow we are planning to go to the San Diego zoo.

Well the day has finally come, I'm checking out of Vegas and headed to San Diego. My time here has flown by. I'm so blessed with everything I've been able to do. My last day and night here turned out perfect. I went and watched the WSOP some and then went and gambled. Did really good doing that playing all types of games. After we then got ready for dinner our dinner reservations at "Olives" in the Bellagio. I had no idea that we would have such a wonderful table. We sat outside overlooking the Bellagio lake with the huge fountains. The Eiffel Tower and the other famous hotels of the Las Vegas Strip were the backdrop. The fountains were going off every 15 minutes. Dinner was delicious. From there we had tickets to Cirque du Soleil's "O." I've heard from some many people that its the best Cirque show. After seeing the show, I disagree. It was just okay. From there came back to the Rio for one last hooray of gambling. I was up and down the whole time until I hit a slot machine that paid $700 and another that paid $500. If you're curious which one, it was Wheel of Fortune. I believe I've got it out of my system for a while. Went back to the room to get a few hours sleep. We got up this morning and now we're heading to San Diego.

I went to the Aria to play a tournament at 1pm. I really liked the tournament and would play it again if I had more time left in Vegas. I had some good cards and made some good bluffs. Took a bad beat. Had the best hand but got unlucky on the river. After that came back to the Rio to get ready for dinner. We went to Charlie Palmer's Steakhouse at the Four Seasons. So many locals had recommended it. When we got to the restaurant, the first table we saw was a table for two. Both chairs were covered in Chinchilla fur. This place was very swanky. The food was outstanding. After dinner, I completed my mission of gambling in every famous casino. Came back to the Rio, gambled a little here and then came to the room to start packing. Tomorrow I want to go to the WSOP to watch it get down to the final 9. I'm told that I've saved the best Cirque du Soleil show for last which we will see tomorrow night at the Bellagio. It's call "O" and I hope it lives up to its reputation. Trying to find a great place to eat before hand also. Wow, how my time here has flown by!

My wonderful friend, Marie, took my friend to the Ford dealership this morning to have the A/C checked. The day before we had made an appointment for 11am. The guy making the appointment said the whole day was open with appointments. When she got to the Ford dealership, the story had changed. There were 6 to 7 cars in front of mine. Marie asked about our appointment. His answer was that they never know how long it will take. I understand that but you don't make an appointment at the hairdresser for 1pm and get there and they tell you there's two people in front of you. This Ford place clearly doesn't know what making an appointment is all about! I had no choice and told her to leave it there and come back to the Rio. They told me they would call when they diagnosed the problem. About 2pm, the Ford place called and said they couldn't find anything wrong with the A/C. Makes me wonder if they even checked it. When I get to San Diego I may try another place. She went back and picked up the van. When she got back, me, her and Lisa went to the Mirage. We had dinner at a French style Japanese restaurant called Japonais. I know, a weird combination. It wasn't one of my favorite meals. After that we had show tickets to Cirque du Soleil's Beetle's Love. I was resistant for a long time on seeing this show, but after hearing all the compliments from other non-Beetle fans, I decided to give it a try. I should have trusted my instincts. Marie liked it, but Lisa and I took a nap. Unfortunately the nap wasn't long enough and when I woke up it was still going on. I then went to Bally's casino and Gold Coast casino. My list is now narrowed down to two unvisited casinos. The Riviera and the Sahara. I am going to try to play a tournament at the Aria tomorrow afternoon.

These are from the Eiffel Tower restaurant in the Paris hotel. It was the best food and best view I've had in Vegas. I had a wonderful evening with my friends Robin and Josh.

The first picture is me and Susie Isaacs, the lady that's been so wonderful to me. The second picture is me, Annabelle and Evandor Holyfield. The last photo is of the Le Reve show at the Wynn. Tied for the best show I've seen here.

We watched the 4th of July fireworks from the 50th floor balcony of the Rio. We got lucky and had a prime spot.

This is from Red Rock Canyon in the Mojave Desert. It was very beautiful.

These are from my short stay in Bakersfield. What an amazing surprise! I always wanted to see my name in lights!

Ran some errands today. Stopped at an older casino called the Orleans. I wanted to play in there for just a few minutes. It paid off and I made a little money. Went back to the Rio and Nicole, Marie and I went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Caesars. We met some friends from Jacksonville for dinner. After dinner we went to Aria. I've heard a lot about it and it lived up to its reputation. We stopped to get out of the van at the valet and saw that the whole front wall of the casino is a waterfall. I would say its probably 200 feet long. It was impressive! I have to say it ranks as one of the nicest casinos I've seen. The architecture and interior design is original and modern. It is very cool. Played some blackjack and had a really good run. Cashed out because I wanted to go to the Monte Carlo, which is just an elevator ride from Aria. I hadn't been there yet. Gambled a little while and decided to head back to the Rio. I was happy to see my favorite massage lady was still working. They have massage therapists who walk around offering massages to people while they play poker. This one therapists, Amber, does really good work on my shoulders, neck and head. She's not afraid to press as hard as I want. Most of the therapists are afraid to touch me. After the massage, I headed back to the room. Tomorrow I'm taking my van to the Ford dealership to have the A/C checked out. It isn't blowing quite as cold as it should. Hopefully they'll be able to fix it. I have a lot of miles left to travel.

First thing I did today was to run some errands. Came back to the Rio and had a little time to kill so Marie and I played a little 3 card. I didn't have any luck but Marie hit a straight flush and had a good run at it. Afterwards we got ready and went to the Wynn to see Le Reve. I had free VIP tickets to see the show which included chocolate covered strawberries and truffles. We ate dinner at Stratta in the Wynn. It was delicious. Le Reve is one of my favorite shows in Vegas. For those of you who are following my blog, you're probably thinking, "didn't he just see this show recently?" You would be correct. But I wasn't turning down free tickets, so I saw it again. After the show we headed to the Encore, which is the "encore" hotel of the Wynn. This was my first time in the Encore, so this was the perfect opportunity since its attached to the Wynn. Oh, almost forget, went into the bathroom at the Wynn, the stalls, the walls and the doors are all marble. They may be that way at other casinos but this is the only one I've taken notice of. I heard somewhere this is the most expensive one to be built. Played a little at the Encore and left to head to the Trump. There aren't too many casinos left that I haven't gambled at and the Trump was one of them. Got out of the van at the Trump, paid the valet, went inside and asked where the casino is. They told me that they don't have a casino there, its just a hotel. Why in the world would you stay at a hotel in Las Vegas that doesn't have a casino? That means you have to pay to be driven to another casino to gamble. I thought Trump was known for his business mind. I don't know what he was thinking by not putting a casino in this hotel. So back in the van and decided to go to Circus Circus, just around the corner. At one time I assume Circus Circus was considered a nice casino. Its like going back in time in this casino. But I still wanted to be able to say I gambled there so I did. Actually made money at 3 card poker there. Came back to the Rio, not sure what I'm doing tomorrow.

Got up this morning and had a few errands to run. Then we picked up Misty's mom and dad from NY NY and went to the Luxor. The exhibit Bodies was at the Luxor. Misty, Marie and I went through the exhibit and I have to say it is pretty cool to see the human body in different poses such as throwing a football and baseball, shooting a basketball and even holding a knife like they are going to stab you. There were each organ displayed...whole, cut in half, healthy and unhealthy. Each of the bodies systems were represented separately in different poses. If you ever get a chance to see it....check it out. Then we all were ready for dinner. For some reason alot of things are closed on Mondays. So our pickings for dinner were slim. I suggested the buffet so everyone could get what they wanted. Boy was that a mistake. There were very few choices at the buffet at the Luxor. The food was bland. One of the worst meals I've had the whole trip. We gambled a little and then headed back to the Rio. Going to the elevator I found out the Main Event had just broke for the evening so I decided to head down to where it is being held in hopes of catching up with one of the pros. I was able to meet Jason Mercer who is a young pro from Florida sponsored by Poker Stars. He was the only one I got to see. Went back to the casino to play 3 card poker where I was waiting to get a message from my favorite therapist, Amber. I am so glad I did...the very first hand I got was a straight flush! It was an instant $700. After the message, I headed back to the room. I really don't know what I am doing tomorrow but I'm sure something will come up...this is Vegas.

Today was a day off for all the players that were still in the Main Event. I heard they were having a deep stack tournament at one o'clock. It's just a regular tournament and doesn't have anything to do with WSOP. So I went down to register for it and you would not believe how dead it is down here where the WSOP is taking place. There were only 2 or 3 cash games going on when normally there are 20 or more but they still had the 1:00pm tournament. I had a great run going in the tournament, made some great calls and some bluffs, had a good chip stack. Then I made a costly mistake. I misread the cards on the table and it took almost all my chips. I thought there were 2 sevens on the board when a jack hit the river it gave me a full house because I was holding 2 jacks in my hand. One of the sevens was an eight. Big mistake on my part! I was in a bad seat when we came back from the break. I am spoiled from the cards at the Poker Room in Jax. They are big faced cards and you can see them from any spot on the table. That's why I always try to sit in one of the middle seats when the cards have the smaller print. Just one of the parts of getting old...I should have been more careful. After that, I went back to the room and Nicole, Marie and I got ready and went to The Mirage for dinner and to check out a new casino that I haven't been to. After dinner, Marie was not feeling well and wanted to go back to the hotel. Nicole and I played a little while in the casino. As we were getting ready to go I had a $100 chip I was keeping to bring home. When Nicole went to put it in my wallet she dropped it. You would think it would be easy to spot that but it wasn't. It was like it had vanished. Finally, some pit bosses and dealers asked what we were doing and we explained what had happened so they got out their flashlights and found the missing chip...WHEW! It had rolled about 10 feet from where I was sitting. After that, it was still early so I decided to try Harrahs on our way back to the Rio. It was also a casino I had not been to yet. No stories about it. Tomorrow my plans are to go see the Bodies exhibit, I've heard alot about it. It sounds cool.

Day two of the Main Event started for me today. My chip count was 17,500 so I knew I had to make moves early. Got some decent hands to start with. Got my chip stack back up to just under 20,000. Lost back down to 12,000 when I was on the button. One guy raised, I called. The flop came out, he checked. The flop gave me a pair and an open-ended straight draw. So I went all in. He called immediately. He made a straight flush. That took me out of the tournament. I can't be down about it because my first WSOP experience was more than I ever dreamed it could be. I've had a wonderful time and I've been able to do so many cool and wonderful things. So many people have been so good to me. I would like to thank them all but I don't want to leave anyone out. So... THANK YOU, ALL!!! Oh, my trip still is not over. I'm still in Vegas for another week. I wanted to see the WSOP get down to the November Nine. I still will play some smaller local tournaments and there are still a few casinos and shows I'd like to go see. I'm still going to San Diego for 5 nights and 4 days. I'm really looking forward to that. Tonight we all went to Mandalay Bay for dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse, Rum Jungle. Very delicious! Very reasonably priced for the amount of food they throw at you. Gambled a little bit, then went to New York, New York casino where Misty's parents and husband are staying. Played a little while there and then headed back to the Rio.

Brenda and I went to Caesar's Palace to play in a tournament. We got there early because we had been warned how confusing entrances and exits are in the casino. We ended up getting a great parking space and went into a unmarked door into the casino. On our way to the poker room we went through a complete mall of stores called The Forum. They have anything and everything you would ever want to shop for. We stopped and got a bite to eat just in case there was no dinner break during the tournament. The poker room is very nice and spacious and they were very accommodating to me. I had another bad run of cards but I would definitely play this tournament again. After getting knocked out of the tournament Brenda and I went to Beijing Noodle9. Very cool atmosphere....there were 2 rows of huge fish tanks that you had to walk through to get into the restaurant. All that was in them was big goldfish. There were hundreds of them all the same color. I don't know how to describe the ceiling but it was truly impressive. The food was pretty good. Brenda and I then went to meet Misty, Mike and her mom and dad at Planet Hollywood. Played a little while there...super unlucky. Brenda, Misty and I left and went back to the Rio. Tomorrow I start day 2 of the main event. I hope the cards fall more in my favor.

Absolutely beautiful! The smell is like Christmas trees.

I know I'm late getting these up, but hope you like. This is me driving my chair across the Golden Gate bridge.

I planned to go down and play tournament or cash games when I got to the poker room. I first went into the Full Tilt lounge so Carissa could eat lunch and while in there Matt Donnelly, the guy that gave me the tickets to the improv show, was doing an interview. When he was finished he came over and we were able to talk for a few minutes. We then were on our way to the poker room when we spotted Josh and Robin. We spoke for a few minutes and then all the day 4 WSOP players were going on break. We stayed put and kept talking because you could not move for the amount of people around. During that time Josh, Robin and I confirmed plans for the evening. When the break ended I went and played pot limit Omaha. There was a waiting list but I had time to kill. Finally got on a table and once again one of the first few hands played I flopped the nuts and got beat on the river. It's just fun sitting and watching how different people play and bet compared to what I am used to. It was then time to head back to the room to get ready for the evening. Brenda and Marie were dressed to the T. They were beautiful!!! Robin, Josh and I had planned to meet at The Wine Cellar. The table that best worked for us that I could pull up to was normally reserved for a starting price of $12,000. Of course I asked why so much.....the waiter said it was a six course meal with several different wines that are specially selected for each dish you eat. He also said that the 12k did not include tax and gratuity, which puts it to about 15k starting price. So before we ordered I said "We would pass but maybe next time!" We then left and went to Paris Casino. They have a miniature version of the Eiffel Tower were Josh and Robin had made reservations for dinner. We went up about 9 floors which opened up into the restaurant. Our table was on the window right in front of The Bellagio fountains. The view was absolutely one of the best I have seen my entire time in Vegas. Every 15 mins the fountains go off with a different show each time. Incredible!! We also had views of other casinos and neon lights everywhere you looked. I will say again this was such a beautiful view!! I have never had french food before but from the hor d'oeuvre's to dessert it was the best meal yet!!!!! It has been one of the best evenings I have spent here. I so enjoyed having dinner with Josh and Robin. Back to the Rio. I am meeting Susie tomorrow afternoon at Caesar's Palace for a tournament.

Didn't do much today but tonight I was invited by Matt Donnelly who has a improv show at The Palms casino called "Executive Monkeys". We made plans for dinner on the 52nd floor of The

Palms Casino at an Italian restaurant. Everything in the restaurant was shades of brown including what the waiters wore. The menu was confusing. I know I'm not the brightest bulb in the box but man it was like trying to read it in Japanese. Yes I know it was an Italian restaurant...It was in English though. The food was alright. We then left and met Josh and Robin for the show. After the show we played in the Palms for a little while and then came back to The Rio. Tomorrow I'm going to have dinner in the Eiffel Tower. I've never had French food before....Should be fun.

I'll post more later, I just wanted to get the interview I did with the local NBC station posted.

http://www.mynews3.com/story.php?id=22049&n=5037

As you know, today was the start of the Main Event for me. Got down to where my table is about 10 minutes before noon. On my way I saw my friend Jim from Bakersfield. It was great to see him out here for the event. As I told you already, he did so much for me during my visit in Bakersfield. I so much appreciate it. Then I saw Susie Isaacs. She had told me the day before that she had a surprise for me and that she would give it to me before the tournament started. After we talked for a couple of minutes she went and got a camera crew to come over and video me receiving the surprise. I couldn't believe what she had done for me. She had contacted the Pittsburgh Steelers and told them about me and my trip out to play in the WSOP. For those who don't know, words can't describe how much I love the Steelers. She got the Steelers to send a football autographed by the entire 2009 team for me. What an amazing gift! She is absolutely one of the most wonderful women I've ever met. I am so blessed to have become friends with her and have her support. I will most certainly try but I will never be able to reciprocate her kindness. Josh, my friend who manages the Poker Room in Jacksonville, and his wife Robin, met me before I started the tournament. It was great to see a familiar face from home. Then it was time to start the tournament. Everyone started with 30k in chips. Never really built up my stack past 37k. I really had a bad run of cards all day long but I still made it into day two with 17,500 in chips. Hopefully the cards turn around for me when I play again on Saturday. I'm still having the time of my life!

Went down to the Poker Room. Susie Issacs was playing. It was her day to play the main event. She looked beautiful in her purple outfit. After that, came back to the room, finished getting ready then went down and washed hair. I had an hour to kill before the Main Event dinner break.I wanted go to the Full Tilt Lounge in hopes of meeting some of the pros.On my way down to the lounge I met my friend Aaron who arrived earlier today from Jacksonville. He went with me to the lounge. Mike Matasow was the only pro I recognized. As I was leaving to go to the Wynn, I got to meet and take a picture with Evander Holyfield. From there we went to the Wynn for dinner and watch LeReve. We ate at Okada, a Japaneese restaurant, which wasn't very good. The show however was the second best how I've seen here.From there I came back to the Rio. My main event starts tomorrow. Wish me luck...

Mother, Kami and I were going to go to a few casinos to see the exhibits since it was Mother's last day. As I was getting into the van, the valet guy suggested we go see Red Rock Canyon. So I asked Mother what she would like to do and she chose Red Rock Canyon. There is a 13 mile road thru the canyon with places to stop off to take pictures. I will post pictures soon but they will not capture the massive size and beautiful colors. I am very glad Mother chose the canyon.We came back to the Rio, and met Annabelle and Marie and went to dinner.I made reservations for dinner at the Vodoo Lounge. It is on the 50th floor where you are able to go outside and see all the city. I knew it would be a great spot to view the fireworks. After we finished dinner, we were lucky enough to get a great spot to see the fireworks. They were shot off from Ceasar's Palace.It was spectacular!I am glad Mother was with me to see this. When the fireworks were finished, Mother and Marie went back to the room to rest. Annabelle and I went to register for main event. While I was doing this Kami called from the airport and told me she had my van keys. Fortunately I brought an extra set with me. This could've turned out to be a serious problem if I didn't have an extra set with me. After some plane complications, Carissa arrived safely.Annabelle and I are now back in the room fixing to get ready for bed. My wonderful mother is fixing to fly back home in the morning. I am going to miss her!!!

We left Bakersfield about 11:30am. Didn't realize until I started seeing the signs that we were about to drive through the Mojave desert. I have to be honest it did cross my mind, "What would we do if we got stranded in the middle of the desert?" You know I like the heat and I had already thawed out from San Francisco but it is easy to become well done in the desert. So I made sure that the van was full of gas and everything looked good with the tires. Turned out it really wasn't that bad. Made it into Vegas at about 5:30pm. As I caught the first glimpse as we were driving into the city, I had a flash back of the first time I saw it. I'm very happy to be back here. There's still so much I want to do here. Time is flying by. Tonight got tickets to a Cirque du Soleil show called "Mystere" at Treasure Island. I wanted my Mother to see one of the Cirque du Soleil shows. Unfortunately "O" was sold out. Its supposed to be the best. We had dinner at a Hawaiian-style restaurant in the Treasure Island. The food was very good. Mystere was good, not as good as KA but I'm still glad Mother and I were able to see it together. Played Three Card poker for a little while afterwards. Had a bad run with it. Headed back to the hotel. Going to try to find some things for me and Mother to do tomorrow for her last day and night here. I'm so blessed with such a wonderful Mother. She is a trooper! She can hang with the best of them and outdo most of them. I will be sad to see her leave on the 5th but its probably for the best because I'll be busy playing in tournaments. I love to have her sitting on the rail watching me play, but I know it must be boring and tiring to just sit there. Happy 4th of July, everyone!

The first four pictures are of my van going down Lombard Street in San Francisco. Yes, I'm inside! The fifth pic is of a cable car in Chinatown, San Francisco. Its not handicap accessible.

Left San Francisco today. I had such a wonderful time there. I am so thankful to be lucky enough to do all the things I was able to do. On my way to Bakersfield to see my friend Jim, from Jacksonville, who recently moved out here to manage a casino. Miles and miles of almond tree orchards on the way. There must be millions of them in this area. There are also many grape vines and other fruits and veggies. To be so hot and dry in this area, everything is so lush and green on these farms. They have canals for irrigation. Its really impressive. Made it into Bakersfield and drove up to the casino where Jim is managing. I couldn't believe the neon sign out front. It said "Welcome Donnie Vann!" Its the first time I've ever seen my name in lights. They also had a big banner above the entrance to the casino that said "Welcome Donnie Vann!" It was really an overwhelming feeling to see that. Jim and his staff came out and took pictures of the van, trailer, myself, my Mother, my best friend Marie, and my two nurses, Kami and Nicole. We then went inside and they had a table set for us for dinner. The food was outstanding. Jim was so nice to treat us to dinner. A man named Richie played "I left my heart in San Francisco" on the sax while we were waiting for dinner. Jim really made me feel like a celebrity. I can't thank him enough for the welcome that he gave me, the dinner and the casino memorabilia. He is a wonderful man. He will definitely make the casino here more successful and a place people will enjoy playing. After dinner I played at the casino while my Mom, Kami and Marie took the van and trailer to the hotel to get it set up. That's when the night took a turn for the worse. The beds were not accommodating for me and most all the other hotels in Bakersfield were full because of a Jehovah Witness convention going on in town. We talked about just driving the four hours to Vegas to stay at the Rio and would have done so but the Rio was completely booked. Thank the Lord that Marie is with me. She got on the computer and hunted down another hotel after so many had told her they couldn't accommodate me or they were out of beds. We found a hotel that met our needs and its actually very nice. It works out perfect. My friend Marie is so wonderful. Back to Vegas tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. California has been everything and more than I expected. I've really enjoyed my time here.

Because this blog site has a mind of its own, the pics are out of order sometime. The first picture is of the gorgeous view we had while driving up the PCH. The second pic is when my snout broke. Its the thing I blow into to drive the chair. The third pic is me in front of the sign I refused to give up on when we couldn't find it. I finally found it! The last one is the last thing I saw leaving Dodger stadium.

The first pic is the final score. The second pic is the Dodgers after they won. The third pic is a dream come true! The fourth pic is the field from our seats.

The first picture is of Dodgers stadium from where we were sitting. The second pic is Manny! The third pic is Jeter. The last pic is the highest price I've paid for gas thus far on the trip. That's LA for ya.

The first pic is me, Annabelle and Superman. Annabelle's guns are bigger than his! His are fake! The second pic is of the Steeler's fan club at Hooters on Hollywood Blvd. There are Steeler's fan EVERYWHERE!!! The third picture is me, Mother, Annabelle and Marie in front of the Chinese theatre. The last pic is me being interviewed for a documentary about fans of Michael Jackson.