Chapter 2

By the time the sun was coming up, I was quite tired. I had been up since pretty early the day before finishing up with my packing, gotten a late start on leaving town, picked up a woman and her 3 kids (what was I thinking?), and drove for the rest of the night while they slept. At least they didn't snore too bad, but I had to make sure not to turn my stereo up too loud so they could get some rest (why did I care if they got rest or not?). I like to turn the stereo up when I have to do any kind of distance driving.

Soon enough, my need for sleep got the better of me and I started looking for a place to pull into for some much needed rest. I wasn't in any real hurry and being able to stay in one more casino, even for just part of a day, was a good enough reason to take the next exit. I pulled into the Red Lion hotel, got 2 adjoining rooms (both with 2 queen sized beds), grabbed my travelling companions and our "immediate-needs" luggage, and headed on inside.

When I got to the first room, I opened the door and told my new foursome that this was their room and mine would be next door. I told the mother (whose name I found out is Linda) that I had gotten us adjoining rooms, and that the door on my side would be open in case she needed me for anything. I didn't think to just say "call me if you need me". I was just too tired and wasn't thinking quite clearly. I needed sleep, but was aware enough to know that my companions probably didn't. I pulled out a few twenties and gave them to Linda (over an extremely mild protest), telling her to get everybody something to eat and I would meet them later. I went to my room, opened my adjoining door, got undressed down to my boxers, and fell asleep as soon as I got into bed.