Horseshoe Casino in Bossier City, LA

I've posted about the Horseshoe Casino in Bossier City before, so I'll not say too much here lest I end up repeating myself.

We spent Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights at the 'Shoe. Over the years, the 'Shoe has probably been our favorite casino in the Shreveport/Bossier City (SBC) area. At times, we may find another casino with games we enjoy playing, but that usually lasts for only a year to two and then we end up returning to the 'Shoe. Since Donna and I play video poker, we try to find the games with the best pay schedules, and these change frequently. To be honest, there are few -- if any -- good games in the SBC area, especially for low rollers like us.

The 'Shoe is part of the Total Rewards player's club, and we like the way they do things. As a rule, I find the employees at TR casinos to be better trained and more service oriented. Rooms are generally clean and well maintained, and upgrades are regularly scheduled. On the casino floor, service is respectful and polite. And little things make a difference. I can rely on the staff at the 'Shoe to keep the cold beer coming and the machines in good working order.

What I don't like about the 'Shoe is that it is somewhat isolated, so you either eat at one of the eateries in the casino/hotel or you hop in your car for a trip somewhere else. The restaurants in the 'Shoe are a bit steep, even their Burger Bar. There is a new Jasmine Noodle Bar in the foyer. We looked at the menu there and kept walking. We would pay twice at Jasmine what we pay for the same food at our local Vietnamese restaurant, and I simply can't do that. So, we tend to go off-site for food, and I don't mind that, because there are some good restaurants not too far away.

We did spend one morning visiting 2 other casinos, Sam's Town and Eldorado. For 3 or 4 years, Eldorado was our main casino, but they have butchered the video poker inventory at that place, and their service has declined miserably. We walked through the casino this time to see if anything had changed, and it hadn't -- in fact, if anything, it has gotten worse -- so we walked right back out and next door to Sam's Town. In Vegas, we play extensively at Sam's Town, so we are partial to the Boyd casinos. Sam's Town in Shreveport does have a fairly good progressive jackpot deuces wild game at quarter level (known in the business as "LV Airport" or "Illinois Deuces"), and we did play it for a while.

We had heard that Margaritaville was becoming the most popular casino in the area, so we drove over there one morning to check the games in their inventory. It is a nice land-based casino, no doubt about that, but the VP inventory was abysmal, so we walked right back out the door. We then went next door and strolled about the Louisiana Boardwalk, an outlet mall on the east side of the Red River in Bossier City. I found some pants and shirts at the Hagar store there. I find they carry odd inseam sizes (odd as in odd numbers; I wear 31 length), and these are really hard to find in regular clothing stores.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of the Boardwalk and the area along the river.

Donna standing along the Red River in the Louisiana Boardwalk. Across the river is Sam's Town casino.

Again, Sam's Town on the right with the Eldorado casino on the left. At far left is the western end of the Texas Street bridge over the Red River.

Photo taken from Louisiana Boardwalk shows Bass Outdoor World in center and the Margaritaville Casino hotel in background. Steps on right lead to Joe's Crab Shack.

Side street of Louisiana Boardwalk looking across the river to downtown Shreveport.

Bass shop has an alligator moat in front. Here are a couple of the citizens.

Our Recent Trip

I'm beat. Donna and I just returned from a 6 night trip to East Texas and Louisiana. Over the next week or so, I'll post some reports of the different places we went -- along with pictures, of course -- but for now I'll just give you a general overview of the entire trip.

We left early last Sunday (Aug 12) and headed east to Bossier City and the Horseshoe Casino. From Goldthwaite on east, we ran into numerous storms, some with very heavy rain.

We spent the next 3 nights at the 'Shoe and really had an enjoyable time. Donna lost a wee bit, and I actually came out a few dollars ahead. Since our room was comped, we felt good about the whole thing. We had some nice meals while there, but I'll write about those in another entry.

From Bossier City, we headed south to the Paragon Casino in Marksville, LA, which is about 30 miles southeast of Alexandria. We had never been to this casino, so this part of the trip was all new to us. We had passed through some of this country about 10 years ago, but we didn't stop anywhere.

After 2 nights at the Paragon, we began our journey home. We made it only as far as Hillsboro before giving out, and spent the night there.

Upon returning home, we discovered our refrigerator had gone out, causing us to lose quite a bit of food, not to mention a mess to clean. Fortunately, that is the fridge that our HOA is responsible for. They will probably replace it as I doubt it can be fixed. We have our own personal fridge which we keep in the laundry room, so we are using it for now.

I do not know how much rain we received in Angelo during our absence, but I know some rain did fall. Upon looking at the lake level for O.H. Ivie Reservoir, I do not see that it has improved significantly. Unless my source is wrong, I guess rain didn't fall in the right places to drain into the lake. But it is raining as I write this, though not much. But any rain out here is good rain, so I'm thankful for what we get.

This was our first trip in several months, and it was good to get away. Of course, it is always good to get back home. Donna, however, is ready to go again right now!

Let the Rain Fall

It began raining about 3:30 this morning. By 8:00 AM or so, we had received almost 2 inches, as you can see in the picture below. I was able to capture some of the rainwater in buckets to use on our house plants, and they seem pretty happy about the whole thing.

We have a chance of more rain for the next week or so. I'm hopeful we'll get those drenching rains over several days that we so desperately need. Our main resource lake -- O. H. Ivie -- is currently at 14% capacity or so. That's pretty low. Since the lake is located about 50 or more miles to the east, it takes a while for the waters to get there. I'll be watching to see if the lake levels rise.

We had errands to run this morning, and it was good to see water standing in ditches, in the arroyos, and other places where water collects. Of course, now our white car is filthy. I've not had to wash it for several months since we've had no rain.

Even though I recorded almost 2 inches of rain at our house, the official collection point -- Mathis Field -- recorded less than an inch for the same time. The airport is only about 3 or 4 miles from our house as the crow flies, but they only received half the rain we did.

We are grateful.

What a pretty picture!

I caught this picture of some pretty purple sage a week or two ago. The picture does not do the actual color justice.

Our neighbor across the street has good color in her yard. I like the mix of the yellow and orange shades.

I caught this hawk sitting in a tree top a couple of mornings ago. I think he was following me.

Relief Ahead

I've not posted in about 10 days. There just simply isn't anything worth writing about. It continues to be hot and dry, with daily temps in excess of 100.

But that may soon change.

There is a good chance of some rain falling in the area over the next week, and temps should drop to the mid 90s. In fact, we even have a couple of days with highs in the 80s being predicted. Let's hope so. The countryside is parched, and lawns are really showing the stress, especially with our necessary water restrictions in place. And I won't even get into how the ranchers are struggling.

Courtney and her gang of juvenile delinquents came down for a visit last week. I'm really beginning to feel old. Eldest grandson Xander has taken -- and, surprisingly, passed -- his written driver's test, so the young fellow is armed with a learner's permit. I don't know about you, but I certainly plan to stay off the roads now. His father has been giving him some practice time. I don't know when he takes the  test to get his actual license. It's hard to believe he is that old. Perhaps we can make him our designated driver on some outings before too long.

Donna and I went to our local Cinemark last week to see Mission Impossible -- Fallout. Boy, these movies are certainly exciting. To be honest, though, I just get tired of the ridiculousness of the choreographed stunts. I'd certainly like to see more realism coming out of Hollywood. Now, just as I say that, I must confess that today we are going to see Christopher Robin. Yeah, we're just a couple of big kids, but we do love the Winnie the Pooh stories. We especially love the song "Return to Pooh Corner" by Kenny Loggins. It's such an innocent and magical song. We'll probably be the only childless adults in the theater, but that's quite alright.

Classes resume next week in SAISD (San Angelo Independent School District). Two-a-day workouts started this week, and the local newscasts are covering all the local teams. Although it is still hot hot hot outside, fall just isn't that far away, just a month and a half or so. Bring it on. It is certainly my favorite season of the year. And I love when the kids go back to school. There is less congestion on the roads and in the stores. It is really a great time to travel.

And I hope Donna and I will be traveling again very soon.

And the Heat Goes On

Yeah, it's still hot out here. The temp hits triple digits every day. At least we are not getting up to 108 and 109 as we were last week, so it is more bearable. And early next week, we have a slight chance at rain and some cooler temps. After a short respite, though, the temps should rise above 100 again. I guess I shouldn't complain, as some of our neighbors farther west are getting much higher temps.

It's getting pretty depressing. Lake O. H. Ivie -- San Angelo's main water source -- is now down to about 15%. We really need the autumn rains to bless us with continued down pours to refill this lake, but I'm not holding my breath. Area ranchers are starting to sell off their inventory; of course, they are having to settle for lower prices while the middle man -- who, like politicians, does little of the actual work -- makes most of the money. Yes, the rancher will get lower prices for their animals, but my guess is you'll pay more at the grocery store. Something just ain't right with this scenario!

To be honest, I don't even like going outside these days. The heat just radiates all around, and the wind is hot, not cool and refreshing. Yards are burning up, and trees are dying. We rarely sit on our back patio anymore. I'm ready for summer to be over, but we still have 2 full months of hot weather remaining before we can see any cooling trend.

I do continue to walk in the morning. Even then, it isn't very cool. This morning, for example, it was 80 when I left in the dark for my walk. I did catch this picture of a lovely sunrise a few days ago. Actually, the colors were more vibrant about 7 or 8 minutes before I took this picture, but I was among a lot of trees and could not get a clear shot. By the time I got to a more open area, some of the color had faded with the approaching light. Still, it shows a bit of the color that makes sunrises -- and sunsets -- out here so special.

Concho Valley Sunrise

After lunch a day or two ago, Donna and I drove through Spring Creek Park, as we often do. The park wraps along the south bank of Spring Creek on the upper stretches of Lake Nasworthy. We've driven through this park dozens and dozens of times over the years, and we've even walked it and biked it. For some reason, though, we had never noticed the cactus growing on a branch about 8 or 10 feet off the ground until recently. There are some peculiar things out there if you just take the time to look around.

Cactus tree

Here's a closeup of the cactus in the tree.

Stay cool!

Annual Monster Bash, 2018

All 3 of our grandsons were born in the summer. The two youngest have July birthdays 4 days apart, while the oldest grandson was born in August. So, every year daughter Courtney and her patient husband Michael throw the monsters a birthday bash.

Camden and Jensen, ages 5 and 4 respectively, enjoy their cake at their bowling alley party.

This year, they decided to have the party at the local bowling alley in Big Spring. It was a fun day not only for the kids but for the adults as well.

Michael's family turned out in force: his 2 brothers, their wives and children, and Michael's mother and her husband. An employee of the bowling alley was assigned to this horde, and I know that poor girl does not get paid nearly enough. She stayed right with the kids and helped them bowl and did her best to corral them. It's pretty hard to herd a gang of cats, but she did an exceptional job. The adults also bowled, and that was a shameful exhibition. I'm glad my son-in-law isn't a professional bowler, for the family would go hungry. I started to suggest he use one of those racks and a lane with the railings to keep the ball in play.

Camden really seemed to enjoy bowling.

Jensen and his follow-through.

This was the first time Donna and I had gotten out of San Angelo in quite a while. On the way up, we stopped at the produce stand in Sterling City and bought some cantaloupes, a melon, some tomatoes, and a few cucumbers. We've been stopping at this stand for years in our travels up to Big Spring to see the kids, and we are usually pretty satisfied with the quality of the produce there.

The countryside looked bleak. Here it is nearing the end of July, and the heat has been oppressive. All the grass is burned up. I don't know what the cattle and other livestock are eating in the pastures, for there just isn't much out there that is alive. Here in San Angelo, we have topped out at 108 degrees for the last 4 days in a row.

Back at home, I continue to enjoy my morning walks. Right now, I'm really on the alert for the small family of hawks I mentioned in a previous post. I can hear their calls -- sort of a piercing whistle, from a high to a lower sound -- and I can really hear their wings as they fly through the trees. The flap of their wings is definitely heavier than the normal birds we have around here.

Some times they just move through the trees around the houses; other times, they are soaring above the subdivision looking for small rodents, little dogs, grown cows, old fat men like me, and other prey. Funny thing, since the hawks have moved in, I've not seen a single skunk or ring tail cat. Coincidence? I guess we know who is really in charge around here.

Summertime

It is summer in San Angelo, Texas. I watch the local weather report each night, and it is starting to look like a broken record. At the close of the each report, they give the forecast for the week ahead, and the daily highs are all triple digits. We are expected to hit 107 at least twice in the next couple of days. And since we can't get any rain, everything is burning up.

This is the plot of ground along the entrance to our neighborhood. The grass here could burn easily.

But just because it is hot and dry, that doesn't mean there isn't some color out here. I pulled out of Market Street (local United Grocery store) yesterday and saw this beautiful purple sage in bloom.

Purple sage in front of apartments across the street from Market Street.

So, when I returned to our subdivision, I kept my eyes open for any color in our area. I didn't see much.

Many yards have this plant. I believe it is a Mexican Bird of Paradise, but I am not positive. It's good color for San Angelo in the heat of the summer.

The not weather doesn't seem to stop the animals. Last week, Donna and I walked to the clubhouse for a birthday dinner. As we were leaving, we came across the little critter in the picture below.

Horned toad

As boys, my brother Larry and I would see horned toads everywhere. You just don't see many anymore.

I get a lot of my neighborhood information from the "walker's grapevine." There is a core group of walkers at Rio Concho West, and we visit during our walks. One gentleman, Dave, is the one who alerted me to the ring tail cats I've discussed before. Lately, Dave told me about a family of hawks he had spotted nesting in the trees at the end of one of our streets. I've been watching the area during my walks and have seen movements, but no clear sightings -- until this morning.

As I turned a corner this morning, I caught a glimpse of movement on a rooftop and paused to look. Sure enough, I spotted 2 hawks on the roof. I snapped the photo, but when I got home, I noticed there were 3 hawks rather than 2 in the photo.

2 hawks are on the roof, one on the left and the other on the right, turned facing one another kind of like bookends. The 3rd hawk is on the tree limb branching left, directly above the hawk on the roof.

I need to carry my camera with me to get better photos on my walks, but I never seem to be able to remember to grab it as I'm walking out the door. The phone camera is alright, but it does not zoom as well, nor does it seem to focus as well. Of course, these photos are taken in the early morning when the light is not that good.

Later, I came across a hawk in the road. It could have been one of the hawks from the picture above. I do know that he was a confident rascal. He was standing next to a pool of water in the road and he was not going to yield that puddle to me. I walked past him as I snapped several pictures, and he was not bothered by my presence.

Hawk in the street.

The hawk fluffed itself up in this photo. I don't know if it was trying to scare me -- it did --or if it was getting ready to bathe. I screamed like a little girl and took off running.

Same hawk, with morning sun reflecting in the puddle.

I ran into Dave and Geneva (another walker) a few minutes later and shared these pictures with them. Geneva mentioned that she had heard that a hawk had carried off a small kitten recently, and Dave said that he had seen one of the hawks catch a smaller bird. They may be looking for me now. I need to keep a low profile.