Hi! I can already see that this blog posting is automatically going to date itself for Dec 21st, but it’s a Dec 20th blog posting……yep, I’m up late tonight…..

Wow, what a day and I’ve got tons of pictures for you! Meet Leonard Knight….creator and builder of Salvation Mountain in Niland, California…..before I post alot of picture, let me pass the website over to ya (when you click on links in my blog, they will open in a new window), the website is http://www.salvationmountain.us/……

OH, I forgot I snapped some pictures of the California sand dunes along the highway on our way to Niland, California….

Okay we made it to Salvation Mountain…..California does officially recognize this as a tourist attraction…..Leonard is so proud of his masterpiece and he’s really upbeat about it. He’s tells us he get 150 visitors a day! All the paint is donated and the help is purely volunteer. Some of the students from UCLA stopped by on November 1st (on his birthday) and helped with some spring cleaning…….Leonard is 78 years old and lives right there at the mountain……

There he is – Leonard Knight – here’s that website again in case you want to take a peek at the history of Salvation Mountain and Leonard - http://www.salvationmountain.us/

I was here a year ago and I got a free postcard and a DVD video of the history and creation of Salvation Mountain…….and on this visit I got a DVD and a puzzle! – Yes, this is my second visit here…..you can read by blog posting on my visit here a year ago by clicking here http://rvtrip08.wordpress.com/2009/02/01/salvation-mountain/

When we left Salvation Mountain, we knew there was a casino in Salton Sea Beach, California. When I say “Beach”, don’t think this is on the coast or something because it’s not. It’s inland across the street from a huge lake. This is Red Earth Casino. We have seen signs of Red Earth Casino on I-8 in Yuma but didn’t know how far it was away from our RV Park. The billboards just say to come visit Red Earth Casino and I’ve seen commercials on TV about it, but thinking back now, none of these advertisements say exactly how far away Red Earth Casino was…..well, we found out. This casino is two hours from Yuma and about 50 minutes from Niland (Salvation Mountain)…….

There’s the casino…….

And it is attached to a truck stop and gas station……Those billboards make it sounds like the casino was huge, but it wasn’t that big inside. Ohhhh, maybe about 200 slot machines inside and three or four table games…….

We stayed in there for quite awhile……it was dark when we got out……I lost 40 dollars if you are keeping score….

I’m seeing a shift in the level of casino marketing these days….let me explain….I’ve been to alot of casinos….hundreds of casinos and since I’ve been visiting casinos they are always eagered to sign you up for a players card…..no big secret, you know that…..I’m sure you know how it works…..they take your license and punch in your information into the computer and it spits out a personalized players card for you. Now, in the previous years, when you get a players card, you get a gift….an incentive to add you to their database. NOW, I’m seeing alot of casinos give you nothing at all for signing up for a players card, but they will shower you will gifts just for your email address. Seriously! I went to the players card desk and gave her my license and out pops the players card for me and she says to me, “If we get your email address you can get a free gift – your choice of a mug, back scratcher, or a fly swatter.” And recently, this isn’t the first time a casino has dangled free gifts in front of my face just for my email address. Okay, so I don’t need a back scratcher, and I sure don’t need any more mugs, so I point at the fly swatter. And then she gives me a small bag with some other goodies in it along with my fly swatter. So, here’s a picture of my goodies and a ticket for 3 cents I forgot to cash in…..I had a good time and I ventured over to the truck stop (in the same building) and splurged on Subway for dinner…..hey, you can’t go wrong with Subway!

Two hours after we left the casino, we made it home. Jake was hungry, so I took him for a walk around our neighborhood and fed him. He’s a good boy when he’s left at home alone. He just think we are going to work and we’ll faithfully be back a little later…..

So, that was our day today. We have nothing on the table planned for tomorrow, so I don’t think we are venturing too far….but, then again, I have a habit of saying that to you everyday, so you better off just checking in on me tomorrow to see what I’m up to. OH, and tomorrow is Monday – you know what that means……Monday night Bingo at the Paradise Casino Have a good night! Don’t forget to leave me a comment – those just make my day!