Another day of vacation. Another day of rain.
We may have had to postpone our plans to go tubing on the river, but we were definitely not willing to let a little thunder and lightning ruin our fun. Instead of tubing on the river, we set out on a rainy adventure in the little historic village of Blue Ridge where we sampled the fudge and cheese in every shop that sold fudge and cheese.
This evening we actually managed to make s’mores on the fire. And we played another rousing game of poker. The kids are convinced they are ready to storm Las Vegas and break the bank. This is after playing with real poker chips and modified betting rules. Instead of keeping track of actual dollar amounts, we are calculating the bets by chip color. So the bets sound a little like this…
“I’ll see your three green and raise you two blue and a red.”
“I don’t have any red.”
“Ok…I’ll raise you three blue, four more greens and a black.”
“Ok. I’ll see your bet. I call.”
“I win. I have three pair!”
“You can’t have three pair!”
And this is how it goes all evening. They have actually played fairly well. They managed to bankrupt both me and my husband. I think the trick is a sense of fearlessness in the betting. It’s easy to bluff when you have to ask after every other hand if you won.
It reminds me of a trip I took with my family when I was a teenager. We were in a hotel room in San Francisco, California playing poker with oatmeal packets and Band-Aids. It was five card draw back then. But I’m sure my sister and I weren’t the card sharks my kids have become. We just may have to take our next vacation in Las Vegas.
But we still have one more day and night in this vacation, and I’m inclined to enjoy every minute of it.
Until the next time…I’ll be sleeping with the balcony doors open to listen to nature.