Playing the Odds

Have you wondered where I’ve been? The blog posts have been sparse for April, because I’ve been to hell and back; felled by the Herpes Zoster virus. That’s Shingles in layman’s terms. If you have ever had chicken pox as a child, you have a 20% chance of contracting shingles. It did bother me a bit that while the odds are 80% a person will escape this torture; I drew the short straw on this one. I can be a bit of a gambler at times, within reason of course. I like a chance now and then, but I stop short of betting the house. One would have thought the odds were pretty good I’d never contract shingles. I was wrong.

As soon as I felt able, and to give me motivation to get 100% better, I decided to start investigating our options for a trip to Sturgis in August. I did what most people do; I checked our favorite hotels for availability. The first search came up zilch, all except for the casino hotel at $500 a night! I didn’t find it at all amusing that since I had been thinking of odds, that the only bed available was at a casino, and at $500 dollars to boot! The house always wins right? All the others were booked solid. I began to scratch a bit deeper and investigate the more obscure resources. I stretched my search out to all hotels, motels, B&B’s, and Mom & Pop’s in a 30 mile radius. There were some rooms available, if you don’t mind $250 a night.

Andy started getting excited. He has always liked the thought of throwing a sleeping bag on the bike, maybe a small pup tent and camping out at Buffalo Chip Campground . I draw the line at that. My camping days are over. However, in the interest of fairness, and compromise, I thought I’d check into cabins at campgrounds. I had some false hope when I saw the availability which looked promising. My hopes dashed when the price was still at $200 or more a night! If I’m going to spend that, I’ll take the Mom and Pop motel at that price.

All this internet search and research found me reading how the town of Sturgis blossoms from 6,500 people to more than 500,000 during the Sturgis Rally. If numbers don’t impress you, the advertisements inviting you to camp on the front lawns of private homes might. My daughter is checking out time shares for us. I wonder what my odds are. Considering the Zoster’s you would think I would throw my hands up in defeat. Not me! This just makes me all that more determined to find a bed at a decent price. I might be getting closer with a recent discovery of a room at $132. In true gambler fashion, I passed. The bigger the odds the better the pay out, right! Let me know if any of you are taking up a pool. I might like to get in on that to pay for my room!