Playing the Ponies

A few weeks ago Drew invited us to the horse races at Emerald Downs. The Market Street Pub was chartering a bus to the races. Matt and I used to go to the races at Del Mar with the RBF crowd in San Diego but that was a good 9 years or so ago. The race trip was this past Sunday. Here are some pics from our day at the races.

The bus riders gathering at the bar before the bus arrived

Drew was concerned (and rightly so) that the sole non-drinker on the bus (me) would get cranky at some point in the day. I am happy to go along for the ride - up to a point. But in situations like these there is a black magic moment where everyone changes and I am left alone in a sea of drunk strangers. I feared being trapped on a bus home with loud obnoxious drunks. So Drew, the man of solutions, had a "sober person's survival kit" waiting for me. He filled a camo backpack full of chocolate, candy, crosswords, a mini-lightbright, 20 questions, silly putty, a coloring book, OK Magazine and a book light in case we were still on the road when it got dark. He also threw in a couple of goodies for Matt: a John Deere sticker and activity book, Chicken in a Biscuit with Easy Cheese, and Wasabi almonds. Those last items came in handy on the way home. Matt passed out "hors d'oeuvers" to all his new friends. The most popular item in the bag turned out to be the little electronic 20 questions. It had us all in stitches on the bus ride up. I lost interest in the races after race 7 and there were 3 more to go so I entertained myself trying to stump the game. I managed to do so with syrup. It guessed peanut butter. Also, Drew, it came in handy later in the night. Matt was snoring like a Sasquatch so I played 20 questions until I was so tired I could fall asleep through the racket. THANK YOU!!!!

The people on the bus go drink and drink.

Pub owner Karla, Drew & Matt

Warm up ring

View from the stands! Mt. Ranier is gorgeous

Matt placing his first bet. We won $63 but bet about $80 so we can't claim to have won anything.

Yay! There we are on the marque

Pretty silver horsey

Poetry in motion

The ninth race was dedicated to the pub.

Horses warming up for the Market Street Pub Purse

6 people from our group got to watch the race from the winner's circle and have their photo taken with the winner.

Here we all are just before the Market Street Pub Purse. I lost $2 on this race.