The Room - The Bathroom

The Room - The Jacuzzi Tub

The Room - The Dressing Area

The Room - The Flat Screen TV

The Room - The King Size Bed

The Room - Sitting Area

The Room

First look, the room is GIANT.

11th Floor

In case you're wondering, the elevator was completely covered in wood
paneling also. Up to the 11th floor, so far, darn good.

Wood Paneling

A lot of wood paneling, everywhere.

The Chandeliers

They have a thing with giant chandeliers. This one is at least eight
feet across. Huge.

The Lobby

Nothing short of seriously outstanding (fabulous service too).

Not So Little, Little America

Before I could even finish my last thought, the entry way was starting
to suggest something a little more than neon signs and red plastic
party cups.

The Little America

Ah-ha. Our hotel was across the street. A tall, dimly lit building
with a tacky bright neon sign. First thought, 4 stars ain't the same
in Utah.

The Grand America

Approaching closer, we realized the name of the hotel was The Grand
America. Our hotel name was The Little America.

Hotel Adventures

So 30 miles out of Salt Lake City Kevin is annoyed because I was
supposed to book the hotel and I didn't. With low battery on the
iPhone and no 3G network, navigating Hotwire was starting to be a
pain, nevermind that Safari kept crashing. Eventually, I just called
Hotwire and booked through the phone, no extra charge. 2 star hotels
were around $70 but a 4 star with guarenteed Internet access was $115.
The choice was easy. Driving down the street, we saw this magnificient
hotel, worthy of The Strip, and thought we were home for the night.

Mini Salt Lake about 45 miles west of SLC

Beautiful, but it stinks!! Almost as bad as Coalinga, but not quite.

Utah!

Missed the 'Welcome to Utah' sign. Here's a USA flag on a rock right
at the border instead. Wendover, UT

Somewhere 60 miles west of the Utah border

Death on I-80

Attack of the iPhone!

Wondering how I'm blogging from the road? My spanking new 3G iPhone!
It's awesome. I'm offline until SLC. Need to buy a car charger...

Salt Flats Outside of Reno

The Beginning of a Lot of Nothing

Bye Reno!

Blackjack

Kevin trying his odds. Last time we were in Lake Tahoe, he managed to
get 9 blackjacks in thirty minutes. Unheard of! (BTW, he just won $11
in 3 minutes)

eBay slot machine

I lost a dollar...

Cheers to New Friends and Old Friends

One thing I'm really going to miss about working in the wine industry
is the great friends I've made over the years. Countless stories over
shared bottles of wine, laughing until my stomach hurt. Up until the
last minute, I was still meeting wonderful new people. Cheers to all
you folks that made my last few years a blast. And cheers to you,
Thomas, for an excellent dinner pairing.

Missing Friends

Annie and I took a photo together after dinner at A16. I'm going to
miss her.

Reno 4am

Leaving SF

It's 12:42am and we're finally leaving SF. We're not getting very far.