After deciding which direction we wanted to go, (we chose to go north), we scanned our options for what to do. The Steve Miller Band was playing at Winstar Casino on Dec 30th, so I grabbed us four good tickets for that. I wasn't sure if Avery and Dylan would be into it, but they both were excited from the moment I mentioned it.
We still had two nights before the show, so we initially decided to head up I-35 to go to Turner Falls and Lake Murray. As we drove north, I remembered how cool Broken Bow, OK is and we changed course just before leaving Texas and headed east on Hwy 82 towards Texarkana and settled in Beaver Bend State Park in Broken Bow. It turned out to be an excellent choice, as we stayed in the woods for two nights. It's really nice having grown kids that still love to hang out with us. They loved it too! The dogs got to be dogs, with Ryder running around in circles at high speed and Layla rolling on some dead animal's remains. Does it get any better than this?
We made some great fires, ate very well, had smores, played Jenga and just chilled out for a couple days until Sunday was upon us and it was time to head west to see Steve Miller. Late Saturday night, we all agreed it would be best if we hit the road by 10:00 in the morning, so we had enough time and weren't in any rush. True to form, we woke up late, and were rolling by the crack of noon! We didn't leave a lot of fluff time, but we were never feeling rushed either. We hadn't had a good shower yet, so we stopped in Gainesville and grabbed a motel room for some hot showers.
After our showers, we headed ten minutes up I-35 to Thackerville, OK to Winstar Casino. The RV park was full, as was the casino hotel so we just parked in the lot and settled in. Avery and Dylan couldn't wait to go gamble, so they went into the casino while Kelly and I hung out with the dogs in the bus until showtime. Soon, we were heading in and made it to our seats, which were on the 4th row, but a little further to the side than I would've preferred. Anyway, they were great seats and Steve and his band put on an excellent show. I first saw the Steve Miller Band in 1978 at the Tarrant County Convention Center and they were awesome then. I went with my cousin Bubba, brother Mark and his friend Jeff Kramer. Back then, Tarrant County was the place that most of the big acts played and it was about 45 minutes away from Dallas. About halfway there, Mark realized he forgot the tickets and we had to go back to get them. (We didn't miss any of the show as I remember it, but it was a brief panic). After 40 years, they were just as good! Avery and Dylan loved them too.
After the show, we grabbed some Italian food at one of the casino restaurants and then Kelly and I came back to the bus to make sure the dogs were ok, and they were fine. The kids stayed behind at the world's largest casino to gamble and have fun. Dylan ended up winning over $500, but ultimately gave it all back to the house and came back to the bus (at 7:30 am!) with the same amount of money in his pocket that he walked in with. Though he expressed disappointment at not leaving with a pocketful of money, I told him that to be able to have fun and gamble for eight hours without losing money IS winning! He didn't quite grasp that concept...
