I was awakened Sunday morning by my little sister poking me excitedly because she'd gone off in search of coffee and ended up winning a sizeable pile of dollars in a slot machine. We decided this meant that she apparently had the gambling skill (since neither my older sister or I managed to win much more than a few dollars in quarters the entire trip) and were ready to hand over our loose change to see what she could win us. However she'd promised her husband she would return home, so she decided against staying in Reno to live a life of gambling and loose morals.

Sunday morning we decided to head over to Circus Circus because we were getting tired of the smoke and the slot machines and had a need to try to win poorly made stuffed animals just for the fun of it. Little sis continued her winning streak by promptly flinging a stuffed chicken into a pot to win a little stuffed tiger, and then we threw bean bags at beach balls hovering on columns of air for green and blue and purple splotched teddy bears, and then we rummaged in our wallets and scrounged up enough quarters to win enough tickets to score a rubber duck and a Matchbox car each. The Matchbox car was only so we could claim (truthfully. Sort of) that we had each won cars while in Reno.

The only thing left was to find a roulette wheel and then a blackjack table for little sister to play both games (since she was curious), and then we'd just about had it with the gambling. So going on the poorly remembered comments of the manicurist the day before, we all piled into the car and set off in several different directions to eventually find a mall (after getting an unexpected tour of Reno on the way). There was just enough time to wander around one store and get ice cream cones at a little sweet shop next door (thus ending the weekend on a high note) before my sisters needed to get to the airport.

I dropped them off and then headed home, with only a few detours along the way for gas and lunch. It was a bit of a trip down memory lane as I drove – passing the town where lived a guy I once had a crush on, the town where I went to high school, the town where I spent over a year working on a project for the Big Fish. I finally made it home, three hours later, somehow without falling asleep at the wheel, and promptly waved sleepily at Richard, pet a few cats, and then crawled upstairs to climb into bed and try to recover.

This weekend with my sisters was incredible fun. We talked and we laughed and we got a chance to catch up on everything we needed to know. We're already starting a list of ideas for where to go next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. This weekend reminded me of how very much I miss spending time with my sisters. But at least I know that once a year from now on we'll have a few days that are ours and ours alone.