After Intro:
The season begins with the eighteen contestants inside the patented Hell’s Kitchen bus making the trip to Las Vegas. Robby especially is excited to show Chef Ramsay his stuff while Eleanor is just hoping that her local babysitter is keeping a good eye on her children. During the ride, Vince begins to chirp a bit about how he’s ready to mop the competition, only for Sidney to say that she’ll make sure to dump the water on him. Vince and Sidney both consider themselves passionate people and know that Chef Ramsay will see it.
Upon arriving, the contestants see that the inside of the restaurant has been decorated to the gills in celebration of the show’s twentieth season. Inez and Trina marvel in all its beauty, but Vince notices eighteen chefs inside the kitchen and wonders how many people he needs to stab in order to get the position. Marino welcomes them to Hell’s Kitchen and gets them seated, saying that Chef Ramsay will arrive shortly.
As time passes, Courtney notices all the former winners of Hell’s Kitchen and quietly asks Trent who they are, admitting to having never watched the show before being given their meal. Unsurprisingly, everyone enjoys it. Barney especially discusses how amazing the flavors are. Eventually, Chef Ramsay comes up in front of the kitchen to make an announcement. He thanks everyone for attending the grand reopening of Hell’s Kitchen, the twentieth in history. He begins to discuss this year’s prize. A $250,000 contract to work as an executive chef in Hell’s Kitchen at Lake Tahoe. Trina expresses excitement, wanting to be known as Trina, the girl who won Hell’s Kitchen.
Chef Ramsay then acknowledges the former winners that were able to attend (Rock, both Christinas, Nona, Paul, Scott, LaTasha, Michelle, Ariel) and makes one more announcement. The people competing this year are in this very same restaurant and shines a spotlight on the contestants table. Shocked at being mentioned, Evan asks to himself if he can go to the bathroom first. No such luck as Chef Ramsay welcomes them into Hell’s Kitchen Season 20.
Signature Dish Challenge:
After the grand reopening, Chef Ramsay takes some time to hear what everyone is doing for a signature dish. Barney immediately brings up the idea of barbecue chicken wings, claiming it to be part of his Southern heritage. Inez hopes to make a Cuban styled dish called Ropa Viera. Meanwhile J.P is having trouble trying to figure something out. It is there Ramsay reveals a twist. As this is the 20th season, he’s putting this crop of contestants on a higher level than any other before them, revealing a slot machine. Two contestants will face off and spin the machine. Whatever three ingredients they get will be what they will use for their dish.
Barney and Lulu go first, Lulu admits that she’s terrible at gambling while Barney hopes he doesn’t get anything fish-related. The two receive Halibut, Green Beans and Pasta. Immediately Barney curses his bad luck, saying he’s terrible at fish. Alberto and Inez go up second, receiving Pork, white rice and brussel sprouts. Inez begins to picture her dish in her mind, putting all the ingredients together. Vince and Katherine are third, garnering Scallops, apple, and potatoes. Vince already knows that he can defeat Katherine with this combination. Next up, Robby and Rita roll for Filet, asparagus, and coleslaw. Being from Texas, Rita expresses full confidence that she can nail this dish. For the fifth pair, Oscar and Trina obtain Chicken, spinach, and yams. Having had no experience with chicken, Oscar just prays that he can get it right. Up sixth, Evan and Sidney roll for New York Strip, cauliflower, and brown rice. Sidney confesses that she didn’t even know there were other types of rice, but rolls with it. J.P and Eleanor roll next, garnering Salmon, eggplant, and quinoa. Eleanor has no idea how to pronounce the final ingredient but is happy regardless. The penultimate pairing of Harold and Courtney go up, garnering a Rack of Lamb, lettuce, and couscous. Courtney finds humor in pronouncing the word 'couscous'. Finally, Trent and Gina go up. Both competitors detail their experiences before spinning the slot machine. They receive Duck, zucchini, and jasmine rice.
As the cooking portion of the challenge begins, Alberto expresses his intent to make his family proud. Growing up in Puerto Rico, he should know how to cook a perfectly good pork chop. Trina proclaims how excited she is to cook for Chef Ramsay and hopes to do her best for her. Outside of her confessional, Tina drops a pot onto the floor, sheepishly looking around in embarrassment.
Fifteen minutes pass and most of the contestants are hard at work with their signature dishes. Gina especially is going into overtime, trying her best to figure out what goes best with her dish. The art of a perfect signature dish is carefully crafted so you have to be precise with everything. It's not a race.
Halfway through the cooking portion, Barney looks over all the ingredients for his signature dish and realizes that he forgot the pasta. Having never cooked in any place like this before, Barney knows he has his work cut out for him. Harold stands by with his dish, looking over his other competitors. He finds them unable to match his expertise and twenty years of experience and expresses confidence that he will prevail.
The thirty minutes pass by and the eighteen chefs stand in their respective groups (men blue, women red) while Chef Ramsay explains the grading system. Once finished, he begins with the battle of the New York Strip. Evan goes first, winning praise for his 'beautifully cooked' strip and scoring a 4. Ramsay then looks at Sidney's attire, asking if she missed the high school reunion.
Sidney knows that people underestimate her because of how she looks but she's never been afraid of a challenge and isn't planning to start today. Her strip is cooked perfectly as well, but less than stellar presentation limits her to only three, knotting the score at four to three.
The battle of the porkchop is the second round as Alberto and Inez step up. This time Inez is the one that goes first. As Ramsay observes her dish, she talks about her nervousness watching Ramsey's facial expressions. To her relief, her chop is cooked perfectly, giving her a very strong 4. Alberto comes next, bringing up his Puerto Rican heritage again and claiming to have 'got this'. Sure enough, Ramsay declares his dish to be 'absolutely stunning' and awards him the honor of being the first 5 of the day, putting the men firmly in the lead at nine to seven.
Harold and Courtney are next, embarking on the battle of the lamb. As Ramsay tastes Harold's dish, he brings up his twenty years of experience. It impresses Ramsay...but the dish does not. The presentation is nice but the Lamb is overcooked to hell, forcing him to settle with a 2. Courtney's dish comes next as Ramsay asks what people back home describe her as. Flushing red with embarrassment, she says they call her 'hot'. As Ramsay tries her dish, Courtney talks about how everyone sees her as the 'hot chick' and how it's been a part of her life. She hopes it won't be used against her. To her relief, the lamb is cooked properly, her inability to fit the lettuce in without it seeming awkward however leaves her with a 3. The men continue to cling to a one-point lead.
Round 4 features Barney and Lulu in the battle of the halibut. Lulu goes first, receiving critique for her raw green beans and bland pasta and scoring only a 2 much to her embarrassment. Barney goes next, presenting his halibut dish. Surprisingly, it looks relatively promising. Ramsay asks Barney how he cooked the pasta, only for him to ask if that was what they had to do. Embarrassed, he discovers that his fish is raw and receives the dreaded 1 out of 5, putting the red team in the lead and making Lulu feel a little better about herself.
Trent and Gina hope to get the groove back for both teams in the battle of the duck. Sure enough, both receive praise for their efforts. Only one garners a five however, the honor going to Gina for creating a dish that belongs in a three Michelin star restaurant. Trent does receive a 4 however, keeping things close.
Next, the battle of the chicken starts with Ramsay asking what Oscar is wearing. He calls it his 'Sunday' wear and explains that people call him 'fly for a white guy'. To him, however, this is how he expresses his confidence. Despite earlier concerns, the duck is cooked well. The rest of the dish however is a mess, scoring him a 3. It is better than Trina's debacle, one so bad that Ramsay spits it out upon trying it. To no one's surprise, it's a 1. This puts the men back out in front at 19-18.
Robby and Rita go next in the battle of the filet where Ramsay compliments Robby's shades. Robby sees himself as a laid-back person and tries his best to let mistakes roll off of him. Ramsay struggles to find fault with the dish, praising his usage of coleslaw and awarding him a strong 4. Rita also performs well, scoring a very strong 3. The men still lead 22-21.
The penultimate round sees J.P and Eleanor pitted against each other in the battle of salmon. After J.P mentions his name, Ramsay brings up former Maître D Jean-Phillipe. J.P doesn't know who he is but plays along for the heck of it. Unfortunately for him, the clunky usage of his ingredients and raw salmon scores him only a 2. Eleanor fares no better with her dish being a 'future horror villain in the making'. She becomes the third 1 of the day, leaving the score 24-22.
At last, the main event arrives. The battle of the scallops. Katherine goes first, revealing her age and being an executive chef. This gives Ramsay shivers and reminds her about a chef who was similar to hers who didn't pan out. Despite her youth, Katherine has already won the praises of multiple chefs for her work-ethic and expresses confidence that she can win. Vince goes up to present his dish and reveals that he's been a chef for fifteen years, ready to finally make his mark in the industry and years of being in food trucks and small business.
Vince and Katherine return to their teams, leaving Ramsay to decide a winner. Vince scores a 3, his scallops being just a touch over. Katherine however becomes the third 5 of the day, her dish being praised for absolutely nailing everything. With a tie, Ramsay brings back the top four best dishes and discusses them with sous chefs Christina and Jay. In the end, they agree that Katherine had the best dish, clinching the challenge for the red team. Ramsay goes even further, considering it the best signature dish he's tried in the twenty season lifespan of Hell's Kitchen.
As a reward for their efforts, the red team will be spending the day at one of Las Vegas's finest restaurants. Top of the World at the 106th floor of the Stratospheric Tower. A reward so intriguing, even Ramsay wants to come along. While the red team dines, the blue team will be cleaning up both kitchens in preparation for service. Ramsay warns them that both are quite messy.
Reward:
Upon entering the dorms, Vince makes it clear that Barney, J.P, and Harold were the ones that cost them the challenge and lectures them about setting the standard. J.P immediately shuts Vince up by mentioning how he had the chance to win the challenge and failed to do so. In confessionals, Vince brushes it off as J.P being 'ignorant' and predicts that he'll be exposed in due time.
The red team arrives at the Stratosphere, reaching the 106th floor with great intrigue. The group is astounded to find the restaurant at the floor, Gordon Ramsay preceding. He welcomes them inside and everyone sits down. Katherine expresses how much of an honor it is to be dining with her idol and excitedly begins to ask him many questions. Rita makes fun of how much of a suck-up Katherine comes off as but Eleanor feels that she's earned the right seeing as she won the challenge for the team.
Later on, the red team reaches the top of the stratosphere, getting a bird's eye view of Las Vegas while drinking champagne. Being an adrenaline junky, Lulu expresses her love of heights. Gina looks around, commending her team for such a strong start and reminding them to keep the momentum strong throughout the season.
Punishment:
Sous chef Jay leads the blue team inside the blue kitchen and reminds them that Ramsay wants both kitchens to be spotless. Alberto takes charge, letting four work in the red team (the three low-scorers and Oscar) while the rest work in the blue kitchen. Oscar expresses frustration with how Vince practically blew it and yet he still gets to be with 'the cool kids'.
As the team scrubs away, Harold tries to lead his group, claiming to be the person they need to rally behind. Still infuriated, Oscar back mouths him. Seeing the tense look on Oscar’s face, Barney offers to let him help out with his station. He hopes not to get into any further hot water as he already made a bad first impression with his signature dish.
Later that evening, the red team returns from their reward and make their way to the dorms. Rita and Gina stay behind however to discuss the challenge. Rita mentions how Eleanor and Trina almost blew it for them. Gina isn't worried, she knows the two of them are the first ones gone should they ever struggle during a service. Inside the blue team's dorm, the contestants deal with an issue of their own. Harold. JP and Oscar quietly discuss his arrogant behavior and agree to target him if they lose service. Meanwhile, Harold begins to talk to Barney about how combative and 'disrespectful' Vince is. Barney doesn't deny it but says that they should stay on his good side for now. He could be an asset to the team.
Pre Individual Challenge:
The next morning, sous chefs Christina and Jay wake up the teams and follow them to the kitchen where Chef Ramsay is busy giving a press conference. Seeing all the lights and cameras, Trent wonders if they're famous by association. Evan looks at the crowd of people, fearing that his mom may be among the crowd. Rita however doesn't care. Whatever happens, she's ready for it.

Last Time on Hell’s Kitchen...
In a tasting menu challenge, the chefs had to come up with dishes that would make the showmance dinner service, which proved to be too much for Tabuki. It was Tamina’s take on a caramel coffee cake...that won the challenge for the red team. At dinner service, despite miscommunications on the blue team between Erykka on flatbread and Tabuki on Wellingtons, the blue team ralleyed to serve all tables. Over on the red team, Scottie was out of order on the monkfish stew, Chloe sunk the salad station, but it would be Tamina’s undercooked chicken breast, that sank them for good. The red team lost and nominated Chloe and Scottie, but ultimately Chef Ramsay eliminated Scottie from his chance of becoming Co-Head Chef at Hell’s Kitchen: Lake Tahoe.
After Intro
Arabelle walked to the table and wanted to have a talk with Erykka and Marvin. She told them that she wanted to work well with them, and not make another mistake, and Marvin has promised that she can do better. Meanwhile, Bella was shocked that Scottie was her friend, and didn’t deserve to go home, she thought that Tamina would go, so she walked into the bedroom and chatted with Tamina, if she sees another mistake, then she told her that she’s going to go soon, meanwhile Sous Chefs Christina and Jay blow through a microphone and call the chefs to come downstairs to the dining room.
Challenge
When the chefs hurry their way down to the dining room, they are surprised to find Chef Ramsay stand in front of a craps table, and this surprised Becca as she was thinking if they were going to gamble or not. She thought that she was cooking, and not gambling. For their next challenge, Chef Ramsay tells the contestants that they will come up to the table, and roll the dice, and whatever letter they land on, they have to think of an ingredient that begins with the letter they’ve landed on. Since the blue team has won the challenge, they get to go first, and both teams are going to be using six ingredients, which means one person from each team will roll twice.
The red team thankfully decided on Bella to roll twice, while the blue team agrees on Rod to roll twice. Bella steps to the craps platform and rolls an L. The ingredient that Bella chose was Lentils, which shocks Brett, as he knew that lentils were too hard to cook, but Bella had a Mexican background, so she was confident that she has it. Rod comes up to the pass and rolls a G, and the ingredient that Rod selects is Ginger.
Next, it is Tamina’s turn to roll and the letter that she lands on is a D. The ingredient that Tamina selects is Duck, which shocks Gordon as they finally have a protein. And then from the blue team, it is Erykka’s turn to roll. The letter she lands on is a P, and the ingredient she selects is Polenta.
Next up, it was Brett’s turn, and the ingredient that he lands on is an R, the ingredient that Brett selects is raspberries. From the blue team, it is Tabuki’s turn to roll, and the letter he lands on is a J, and the ingredient that he selects that starts with J is Jalapeños.
The next one from the red team to roll is Becca, when she rolls the dice, the letter she lands on is an L, and the ingredient that she selects is Lemons. It was Arabelle’s turn from the blue team to roll, with Marvin and Rod hoping for a protein, and the letter she lands on is an M, and the ingredient she selects is mushrooms.
It was then, Chloe’s turn from the red team to roll, and the letter she lands on is an S, and she selects Snap Peas. From the blue team, Marvin rolls a T, and selects Trout.
Finally, Bella rolls the dice again, and the letter she lands on is an O, and she selects Onions, and then Rod rolls a E, and goes for Endive.
Ingredients (Red Team) = Lentils, Duck, Raspberries, Lemons, Snap Peas, Onions
Ingredients (Blue Team) = Ginger, Polenta, Jalapeños, Mushrooms, Trout, Endive.
The first person to get their dish judges by Ramsay is Becca who makes a seared Duck breast on top of mashed lentilsm snap peas mixed with onions and a Raspberry Lemon sauce. Ramsay found a flaw in the duck, and inside was pink, which means that Becca has scored only 2 points.
The next person to have their dish judged by Ramsay is Tamina who made a Baked Duck breast with a onion and lentil breading, and raspberry lemon glazed snap peas. Chef Ramsay finds the duck cooked perfectly and liked the breading. And that the snap peas have a great combination. Because of that, Ramsay gives Tamina a perfect score of 5.
The next person to have their dish judged by Ramsay is Chloe who made a seared duck breast with baked lentils with a lemon sauce, grilled snap peas and raspberry coulis. Chef Ramsay gave it praise, and she scored 3 points.
The next person to have their dish judged is Brett who made a Duck cutlet with a lemon sauce, and a snap pea, raspberry and lentil salad. Chef Ramsay mentioned that the duck does not work as a cutlet, and Brett is feeling defeated, but mentioned that it tasted delicious, and Ramsay gave his dish a 4.
Last up, Bella presents her dish of a duck breast with a raspberry sauce, lemon lentils, and steamed snap peas. Chef Ramsay said that it actually worked, and gave her 3 points, giving the red team a total of 17 points.
It was time for the blue team’s presentation, and the first person to have their dish judged from Ramsay is Erykka who made a Fried Trout with polenta tater tots over roasted mushrooms with a ginger and Jalepino marinade, on a bed of endive. Chef Ramsay gave it praise, and told her that she had a 5 in the bag, but the mushrooms are too spicy, and he has gave her a 4.
The next person to have their dish judged by Ramsay is Rod who made a trout stew with an ginger broth with mushrooms, endive and jalapeño polenta. Chef Ramsay told him that he liked the presention, but the broth was too salty, and he scored only 3 points.
Next up is Arabelle who made a poached trout wrapped in endive, with a jalapeño polenta cake, seared mushrooms, and a ginger sauce. Chef Ramsay told her how she wrapped up the endive in the trout, and he declared the dish a mess, when he tasted the dish, he found that the trout was cooked perfectly, but Ramsay told her if she did use endive as a side dish, she would’ve gotten a 4, but got a 3, and the blue team have 11 points for catching up to the red team.
The next person to have their dish judged in front of Ramsay is Marvin who made a seared trout with a endive, jalapeño and mushroom salad, and ginger polenta. When Ramsay tasted the dish, he declared that the polenta was crunchy, and that the trout was raw in the middle, scoring a 2, and the blue team has 12 points.
The blue team is now counting on Tabuki to get a perfect score of 5 to tie with his Cajun fried trout with seared mushrooms with ginger and jalapeños, steamed endive and cheesy polenta, which tastes quite delicious, as his trout tasted good with the Cajun seasoning, and liked the presentation of the polenta, and the mushrooms have good heat. For that he gets a perfect 5, and both teams are tied at 17 points each, and Ramsay wanted to taste the best dishes from each team which belonged to Tamina from the red team, and Tabuki from the blue, giving him a hard decision, and Ramsay declared Tabuki’s dish best of the day, giving the blue team the win.
Reward
The blue team was rewarded with a day in Las Vegas, which included spending the day at Dig This, and overnight at the Nobu Hotel in a private villa. Chef Ramsay told them that they will also fly to Vegas in their very own private plane, which excites Arabelle as she never been in a private plane before. When the blue team got on their private jet, Erykka declared the view awesome, and Rod felt like they were the kings and queens of the clouds, while the blue team clinked their champagne glasses, Tabuki celebrated their victory for smashing cars at the begining and staying in a suite in the night. When the blue team arrived at Dig This, the instructor asked if they were ready to crush some cars, which was a big deal for Arabelle for having a disrespectful attitude towards Rick from the last punishment, and they all began smashing the contestants who lost, and when Arabelle smashed the car, she said goodbye to Bella, and thanked her for giving them the win. Tabuki felt like a Nigerian king in the desert while smashing cars. Rod felt like he hasn’t got his driving license from 2 years ago, and declared it the most fun in his life. Erykka has made it a clear way to get rid of her anger during dinner service to protect her from making more mistakes. Marvin felt like he was the king of trucks, and was ready to smash some losers for supper. When the blue team arrived at the Nobu Hotel, Arabelle declared the suite amazing, and Marvin felt like he never been in a suite in his whole life, and felt like a prince. Rod mentioned that he has been to Vegas once when he turned 22, and when they went outside to the balcony, Erykka mentioned that one day the board will say “Welcome, Hell’s Kitchen 23 Winner, Erykka Ratcliff”, and Arabelle mentioned that she liked champagne while they were having dinner, and her whole team jokingly told her not to gulp it.
Punishment
The red team was punished by cleaning the dorms which included cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming the floors, cleaning the baseboards and dusting the furniture. Chef Ramsay mentioned that he wanted everything to be absolutely spotless, and Tamina was upset that she was close to winning but just missed out, and felt like she should have won because most of the things in Tabuki’s dish felt like they had spicy ingredients. When the red team cleaned the dorms, Becca cleaned the bathroom, and declared that it stinked, and felt like she never wanted to clean again. When Brett dusted the furniture, Chloe’s constant chattering got under his nerves and he aggressively, told her to shut up! And Chloe turned around and said “Hey don’t do that to me”, and Brett has told her that she was being annoying right now. While Bella was cleaning the baseboards, she declared that it was no fun and games for the red team, and said that she cannot win all of the challenges that come by, and Bella stated that she wished to be in Vegas instead of doing some spring cleaning, and Brett and Chloe have agreed to their decision. While Bella ate dinner, she complained that she did not get a 3 because of her pink middle in her duck breast, with Tamina trying to help calm her down.
After Reward
When the blue team got back from Vegas, Bella asked Arabelle how her day was, and she said that it was Knocktastic from being out in Dig This and smashing up the red team members looked like fun. Brett was annoyed by Arabelle’s chattering, and he mentioned about the private jets, and excavators, and luxury, bla bla bla, everything about the blue team’s reward was a miss for him. While Brett was trying to take a nap, Sous Chef Jay walked into the dorms and told everyone to come to the dining room.
Challenge #2
The chefs walk into the living room, and Chef Ramsay has made an announcement that there was no dinner service tonight. However, he did mention that after the challenge, someone was going home, so he had Tamina and Tabuki who were the perfect 5’s in the last challenge pick 2 weakest members on their teams to compete in the Cook For Your Life Challenge. And Ramsay had them have a meeting with each of their teammates.
(Skips meetings)
Chef Ramsay asked Tamina who the weakest chefs on the Red Team were. Tamina said that Brett and Chloe were the weakest chefs as she felt that Becca and Bella were too strong to be nominated, and felt like Brett wasn’t performing well enough to Bella or Becca, and that Chloe has started off as a strong chef but turned out that she had poor performances in her last two services, which resulted in her nominating them both. When Tabuki announced his nominees, he nominated Arabelle for her horrendous attitude and subpar performances and multiple nominations, and felt like she was a target to the team, and he also nominated Erykka who started strong enough, but felt like she was going into a downward spiral and felt like she has to better to stay here. Chef Ramsay has Chloe, Brett, Arabelle and Erykka stay down in the living room, and has the other chefs going up to the dorms.
For this challenge, the four chefs who have been nominated by Tamina and Tabuki as their weakest chefs have to cook a risotto dish , a sea bass dish , and a rack of lamb dish. The person who has the weakest dish out of the four who were competing will be sent home for good.
(Skips cooking)
The first person to judge their dishes is Chloe who made a lemon poppyseed risotto with English peas and roasted red onions, which Ramsay finds too sweet but the onion does give it some power for her to stay in the competition. For the sea bass dish, Chloe has made a pan seared seabass with a citrus vinaigrette and a fennel and snap pea salad, and Ramsay founds that the fish is glistening but the vinaigrette is too sweet and too sour but her salad was given praise. For the rack of lamb, she presents a smoked lamb with miso and lemon and lime rice with a blackberry reduction. Chef Ramsay finds that the lamb is overcooked.
The next person to judge their dish in front of Chef Ramsay is Brett who makes a tomato risotto with green onions, chicken and carrots, and Chef Ramsay finds that the risotto is too crunchy. For the sea bass dish, he presents a poached sea bass with a bed of greens and wasabi and finds that it tasted quite nice. For the rack of lamb, Brett presents a roasted rack of lamb with sweet potato mash and green beans, which is given praise.
Next up for judging is Erykka who makes a mint risotto, which tastes overpowering. She makes a seared sea bass with coconut rice and brocolli, and Ramsay finds that it is boring. For the rack of lamb dish, she presents a bbq rack of lamb with roasted potatoes mixed with cheddar cheese and a salad, which Ramsay finds delicious.
The final person presenting is Arabelle who makes a risotto with wild mushrooms and peas, which was bland for having no salt added, and Arabelle has apologized to Ramsay for the lack of salt. She makes a sea bass with a green curry sauce, basmati rice and mixed vegetables, and Chef Ramsay finds it boring but tastes quite nice. For the rack of lamb, she presents a coffee crusted rack of lamb with polenta and spinach, which was given praise, and Ramsay is having a difficult decision on who should leave.
The first person to be sent back to the dorms is Brett for having most components of his dish accepted, and when he goes to the dorms, his team is excited to see him walk through and Bella gives him a hug.
The next person who advances to the dorms is Arabelle who is very excited, and told Tabuki that he tried to get rid of her, but she passed, and not a lot are excited to see her stay, and Rod was complaining that she might have more mistakes if she wasn’t sent home, and it was down to Chloe and Erykka.
The final person sent to the dorms has Ramsay in a difficult decision, and Ramsay has decided to send Erykka to the dorms, as Chloe did not shine on any of her dishes, but Ramsay told her that she was a talented young lady, and Chloe was feeling beat down as Arabelle should‘ve gone home instead, and Chloe told Ramsay that she would not make any more mistakes, even though she was not there.
”When it comes to chefs who have to Cook For Their Lives, you have to bet on everything perfect, unfortunately, Chloe flopped on everything”

18th place: Jake
17th place: Irene
16th place: Angelina
15th place: Gabby (ejected)
14th place: Harry (hospitalized)
13th place: Chas
12th place: Blake
11th place: Scottie
10th place: Chloe (Cook For Your Life)

Next time on Hell’s Kitchen...
Its time for a classic challenge in the history, the Blind Taste Test, and then a Creative Menu Dinner Service, tends to be a confrontation for one team.

Hi, phriends. Summer Tour is on the horizon and many of us are making plans, booking flights, reserving RVs, budgeting for shows, and so on. Many of us will be going to the Gorge for the three day run this year.
The Gorge is an amazing venue with an equally amazing history(seriously, if you have't read up on the geologic history of the place, give it a look because you will look at the venue in a whole new light).
However, it is also a very unique venue. Fifteen minutes from the nearest town. Fourty-five minutes from the nearest city. Ninety minutes from the nearest place recognizable as a city. Two hours and change from the nearest large city. It's high desert. It gets hot and cold in the same day.
In order to help people with questions like "where should I fly into?", "what do I need to bring?", "do I need to rent a car?", and the gamut of other concerns, I've made the Phishhiker’s Guide to the Gorge as a reference for everyone. Hopefully some of my experiences since 2013 can help you! I will be updating this as I remember things I left out or people suggest their own tips.
But before we start, let me be extra clear about one thing related to safety:
Whatever you do, be super careful while smoking or using flames while at the Gorge or on the drive out. The night before the 2018 run was marked by a massive wildfire on I-90 that rerouted all traffic on surface streets around it. Use ash trays, do not flick your ash carelessly, extinguish roaches and cigarette butts with water, etc. Be responsible about this. Also be careful if you pull off to the side of the road as your vehicle’s catalytic converter is hot enough to start a wildfire if dry grass is touching or too close to the bottom of your vehicle! It is no joke. The vegetation within an hour of the venue will be bone-fucking-dry and will catch fire very easily. You could legitimately cancel the whole run for everyone if you're not careful. And I swear that Carini will find you if that happens.
This also means no fireworks.
For those that are unfamiliar with wildfires, let me share some somewhat disturbing facts to help you appreciate them:

Wildfires move at the speed of wind, which is much faster than you can run
They also can change direction unexpectedly with the wind
The campground is not fireproof and one of the issues with a nearby wildfire is that floating embers often get airborne and could easily start tent fires in the middle of the campground
Evacuating the campground and venue would take a lot of time, even if everyone was already in their cars
There is enough dry vegetation and the right windy conditions around the Gorge to start a major wildfire that nearby fire assets would struggle or be completely unable to contain in the first several hours
You don’t die from burning alive in a wildfire, you die because your lung tissue needs to be wet to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide across the tissue barrier. Getting caught in a wildfire means your lungs char in the heat and you actually suffocate to death while you are burning alive.

In 2018, when we were pulling into the campground and looking at the west bank of the Columbia with the fire, it looked like something out of a war movie with the whole horizon on fire and glowing orange (that picture is from the road leading from I-90 to the campground looking west over the river the Thursday night before the 2018 shows). BE FUCKING CAREFUL!
Sorry for being a bit graphic and intense about that, but this is a legitimate safety concern. After the I-90 fire in 2018 and the random little wildfires in 2013, I figure it is worth reiterating.
Maps

This is a map of the Gorge venue and campground outlining the basic areas: day parking, various levels of camping, the venue itself, etc. (NOTE: Generally, the smaller general camping circle is not used for Phish)
This is an annotated map of the Gorge campground based on my experience in the last three years. This includes locations of portajohns, Shakedown Street, and the showers. I pointed out portajohns so you can recognize them in the satellite view of the campground.
This is just a link to Google Maps centered on the venue in case you wanted to explore.

Area Background

The Gorge is pretty much the middle of nowhere(no offense to Grant County residents, but it kind of is). It is at about 1,300 feet above sea level in the high desert. There are effectively no trees anywhere that man hasn't maintained them. It is sagebrush and dead grass as far as the eye can see. It is super dry and hot during the days. There aren't any clouds to hold in the heat at night so by 3AM, you'll be pretty damn cold.
The venue is in the heart of Washington in the aforementioned Grant County. This is a rural area that is used to concert traffic, but the county is more known for being the highest producer of potatoes in the country. The nearest town has a McDonald's and two stoplights. Law enforcement consists of county sheriffs and state police. Fire trucks and ambulances are a good 20 minutes away, at best. The nearest big store like a Wal-Mart is 40 minutes away, northeast of the venue in Ephrata(but the one in Moses Lake another 10 minutes away down I-90 is probably better).
You will need to bring pretty much everything you need.

Climate

The Gorge is located in high desert. This means that it is hot and dry during the day and cool and much less dry at night.
Daytime is about 80-95 degrees and is usually sunny but sometimes can be cloudy towards the late afternoon. Humidity is 15-35%.
Nighttime is about 57-65 degrees and is usually clear. Humidity is 45-60%.
There is usually a bit of a breeze, but the wind picks up significantly, and reliably, every day during 11:30PM to 2:30AM, 7:30AM to 10:30AM, and 5:30PM to 8:30PM.

Flying in to the Area

There are several options for airports.
To the east, there is Spokane. This is about 2 hr 15 min east of the venue down I-90. You can get here from a lot of airports Denver and west. There is also an option to get here from Chicago on United or from Minneapolis on Delta.
To the south, there is the Tri-Cities airport. This is easily the closest airport to the venue, being only 1 hr 45 min away. There are a few flights here, but you will be able to fly here from Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis, and SF.
To the west, we have several options. The farthest would be Portland, at 4.5 hours. There are a lot of flights in and out of here and, considering Eugene is the tour opener, might be a good option.
The next two options are in Seattle. Most people are familiar with SeaTac Intl Airport, at 2.5 hours away. This has a ton of flights and you can get here from anywhere. This is a solid option. However, Seattle just opened a second airport for commercial service in Everett. There aren't many flights to Everett, but you can get there from Denver and a lot of west coast cities. You could also consider Bellingham or Vancouver(Canada) to fly into, but they don't make as much sense.
To the north, there is nothing.
There are a few other very small airports that you have to connect through Seattle to get to: Wenatchee, Yakima, and Walla Walla. These are small airports. They mainly function as cargo connections with an federal Essential Air Service subsidy that makes the route viable for Alaska to fly. Unless you have a rental car reservation at the time of booking a flight, you are making a huge gamble that you will be able to find transportation in the middle of nowhere. Although, you could maybe feasibly take a bus(elaborated in a later section) or a very expensive rideshare from Wenatchee as it is an hour long drive. Yakima has a bus connection, but it is 4 hours long, plus figuring out that last couple miles from the bus stop to the venue. Yakima is also an hour drive from the venue. Walla Walla has no public transportation options and is a 2.5 hour drive away.

Getting To the Venue
By car

The only real way to get to the venue is by car, so you will need your own car, a rental, or to find a ride.
Most people will be driving in from the east or west on I-90. If you come from the east, Moses Lake is your last real town to stop in for anything more than ice or overpriced beer. If you come from the west, Ellensburg is your last stop before the venue, period. Both the Silica Rd and Quincy exits work for getting to the venue, but the Silica Rd one is closest for those coming from the west and the Quincy exit for those from the east.
Some people may arrive via US-2/WA-28 from the north. For you, Wenatchee is your last real town to stop in.
For those coming from the south/Eugene/PDX, you will either come up US-97 through Yakima and Ellensburg, where Ellensburg is your last real down, or up through Tri-Cities, where Tri-Cities are your last real place to stop for anything.
I believe that the policy allowing you to drive in and out of the campground is still in effect, so you can also leave to pick up people or more beer.
For those parking at the Gorge and staying elsewhere, there is day parking at the venue, but it is not free.
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT IF YOU DRIVE THROUGH A NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATION, STATE LAWS REGARDING MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION ARE NOT IN EFFECT THERE. YOU CAN BE ARRESTED BY TRIBAL POLICE FOR IT. A MAP OF TRIBAL LANDS CAN BE FOUND HERE.

By public transit

You can actually get surprisingly close to the venue just on public transit, though. A bus or Amtrak can be taken to Wenatchee or Ellensburg and then you can catch the Apple Line bus from there to the George or Quincy stops a few miles from the venue. You may be able to get a Lyft or something here, but you probably would need to find a ride from there or hoof it. I wouldn't advise this method, but if you have friends that can grab you on the way, this might work for you. Or you can get a ride to Ellensburg or Moses Lake on a bus and get a ride from there. Or maybe ride a bike the last little bit? Which brings me to...

By bicycle

I'm definitely not going to recommend this, but it is entirely feasible and legal to ride your bike to the venue. There is a rail trail from Seattle all the way to about Ellensburg. After that, it gets a little more difficult. It used to be you went across the rail bridge in Beverly to cross the river, but that's unsafe so you either have to contact Wanapum Dam to get permission to be walked across or find some way to make it across the shoulderless I-90 bridge. The bridge seems pretty dangerous, though. Yes, you are legally allowed to ride on I-90 for most of it's length, aside from areas listed in the applicable state laws(usually around Seattle).
Again, I don't recommend this and might actually recommend against this, but it could be done. Be safe and take appropriate precautions if you do. You do this at your own risk.

By boat

Sorry, like the salmon, you're not getting upriver or downriver of those dams.

Getting Around

Most everyone will be doing a lot of walking. The venue, the campground, the venue's store, the path to the river that I'm-told-exists-but-haven't-quite-verified-yet-and-have-been-told-sucks-to-walk-down-anyways: all within walking distance. The paths are pretty dusty and rocky, so bring appropriate footwear. However, most of the campsites are on fairly soft grass.
You could probably bring a bicycle to ride around if you wanted. There is that much space. There isn’t anything on the campground website that says you cannot bring a bike and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them before, but double check by contacting the venue before you go to I'm not sure if a skate/longboard would work, though.
Make sure to take stock of any flags or light poles around your campsite and get really familiar with some landmarks because it can be really difficult to find your way back at night. Or, bring your own flag pole and flags.

See

There is so much to see. Literally spin around and point in a direction and there's something cool that way. Take a moment to read this for a primer on the area the venue is in.

Natural

Dry Falls State Park: this is the largest waterfall on earth, with over three miles of ledge for water to run off of. Unfortuantely, it has been dry for thousands of years. Still amazing to see. A bit far, though.

Potholes Coulee: Not to be confused with Potholes State Park. This is a coulee where the ice age floods dug out some small ponds on the east short of the Columbia.

Potholes State Park: a bit farther from the venue and pretty cool

The Columbia River: yea, you can see it from the venue, but going down to it is different. Definitely worth seeing.

the night sky: If you feel like taking a walk, there's fairly little light pollution in the area compared to most places. You can do some pretty solid stargazing.

Ginkgo Petrified Forest: haven't been, but there is a petrified forest in Vantage that is ~15.5 million years old.

Moses Lake the actual lake: it’s a pretty sizeable lake/reservoir with some beaches

Manmade

There isn't much manmade stuff to see out here. There's a few dams(Wanapum and Grand Coulee spring to mind) and the Columbia Basin Project canals, but that's about it. Also, I'm pretty positive it is illegal to swim in the canals, so don't do that unless you've verified it is legal and safe to do so.
However, if you are into planes, Boeing does run a flight facility in Moses Lake that sometimes sees test flights and currently is housing bunch of those 737-8 MAXs in storage until they aren’t grounded anymore. You can find more information on those here in this Google Doc that lists all the test flights. The Moses Lake airport code is MWH.
Speaking of planes, the US Navy sometimes likes to give everyone a 9AM wakeup call by flying F/A-18 Hornets down the Gorge at low altitude. It’s quite a fucking sight to see them zipping over the campground close enough to see the hardpoints on the underside of the wing as it banks away from the campground.

Do
Read the fucking book

Seriously, if you haven't by now, an afternoon at the Gorge is a great time to read it.

On/In the water

There are numerous places to go down to the river north and south of the venue, including the supposed path from the venue to the river(just drive if you can).
Up in Crescent Bar, you can rent kayaks, jetskis, whatever you want. There are also some public beaches there. Bring some inflatable tubes and enjoy yourself! Although, the river is way too wide and too slow for actual tubing. Plus, there’s a dam downriver of the I-90 bridge, so be careful!
There are a couple other places you can get to the river. Just give Google Maps satellite view a peek.
Moses Lake the actual lake is also nearby and that's a pretty great place to go. Someone in one of the 2018 threads said they were chilling on the beach there and had pizza delivered to the beach they were on.

On land

There are tons of hiking and biking trails nearby. You can use WA Trail Association's trail finder map to find some.
There are a couple wineries and orchards in the area, as well. I'm not sure what will be in season about then, but you can usually pick up produce at roadside stands. Prices may vary.

At the campground

There's the normal activities to do here: meet new people, people watch, drink, have fun, etc. A lot of people just relax around the campground.

Buy
Necessities

For things like ice or beer, you can get them overpriced at the venue's store. Or you can run into Quincy or George. You have to go to Quincy or George if you need gas.
For things like sunscreen, a tent, a growler refill, you will need to go to Ephrata, Moses Lake, or Ellensburg. If you need a growler refill, I can personally recommend Iron Horse Brewery in Ellensburg. Their Irish Death Ale will get you feeling nice and good, but it is dark and heavy.

Shakedown

Shakedown at the Gorge is awesome. Basically, it sets up in two legs that meet where the food trucks and larger shops are. You can find anything from a PB&J to a lot shirt to a new dab rig here. Bring cash for these purchases because it’s highly unlikely anyone takes credit cards. Activity on Shakedown usually peaks around 5-630PM before people start to head to the venue.

Marijuana

There are a lot of great pot shops in the state. However, the pickings get slim around the Gorge. Try and stop in a shop in a larger city or town on the way in or after you land. But, according to WeedMaps, there are a number of stores within 45 minutes of the venue. BUT REMEMBER MARIJUANA IS ILLEGAL ON TRIBAL LANDS.

Food Options

I typically bring most of my food as the options at the Gorge can be a bit pricy or nonexistant.

Food Trucks

Usually, it has been gyros, pizza, burgers, burritos, and that kind of stuff. Usually like five to seven food trucks. Also, if the churros are back, they're clutch as fuck for 2AM.

Shakedown

There's always people selling food here during the day. Pickings get slim after the show, though.

Nearby

There's a McD's, Westside Pizza, and some small places in Quincy but pretty much everything else is 45 minutes away.

The Actual Show and Inside the Venue

HERE is a map of the venue itself with important things marked out from my memory. If anyone knows anything I missed or if I got something wrong, let me know and I will update the map.

Security and Getting In

The security line starts filling up about an hour before the show and it can easily be a two-beer wait(read: 30 to 60 minutes) to get past security. All I will say about security is one time they got suspicious that I had a lighter and forgot my ciggs at my tent. Most of the time, they barely care that I have ciggs and a lighter.
Please note that an unopened water bottle or an empty Nalgene are allowed in the show!
AGAIN, BE CAREFUL ABOUT WHERE YOU SMOKE, FLICK YOUR ASH, AND DISPOSE OF YOUR CIGARETTE BUTTS AND JOINT ROACHES.

Finding a spot to watch the show

This is less about what is there and what you want. The venue is huge.
I will say that if you are(all directions mentioned are if you are in the center of the lawn facing the stage) on the left side of the lawn, you will have a more direct view over the stage and down the Gorge towards Crescent Bar. If you are on the right side of the lawn, you’ll have a better view of the sunset over the wind farm on the ridge above the Gorge.
If anyone has any definitive info on the pit in front of the stage, let me know. I have no experience with it.

What to Bring

I’ll throw it out there that the grass is genuinely kept well enough that you probably could get by without a blanket if you usually bring one to sit on on the lawn. There’s a 99.999% chance there will not be rain in the week before or during the run so there’s no need to worry about mud and they clean it pretty well of trash.
Sunglasses are probably good, but you won’t need them for the second set and encore after the sun goes down.
An unopened water bottle or an empty one(disposable or reusable) for water is always clutch.
A headlamp for the portajohns in the 2nd set and encore would be really helpful because most of those portajohns are dark as hell after the sun goes down.
Your boogie shoes.

Refreshments

I’ve marked them on the map. They’re pretty pricey like any concert venue. I can’t really think of anything particularly worth mentioning about them.

Bathrooms

Marked them on the map as well. In the venue, they’re actually pretty well taken care of and look alright until second set. Maybe bring a headlamp because the lighting inside can be nonexistent in the second set.

Camping/Lodging Options

There are a couple different options here.

Staying at the venue

There are a few different levels of camping:

Oasis: This is the five-star option. With like memory foam mattresses.

Glamping: They have four glamping setups at the venue.

Easy: Right next to the venue and they have a tent and sleeping bag all ready for you.

Terrace: Basically one level above Premiere. Better grass, a picnic table, a little closer, and (I believe) better access in and out with your car.

Gold: Never done this, but this is basically camping right next to the venue with bigger spots.

Premier: Basically regular camping, but with slightly bigger spots, free showers, a shuttle to the venue(which is kind of unnecessary IMO), and security to keep out your new friends and the spunions.

Standard: Regular old camping.

Family/ADA: I haven't seen anything on the website aside from the map, but there's usually a quiet/family camping section somewhere. Maybe it is gone this year. Contact the venue if you're interested.

Near the venue

There are several options near the venue for camping or lodging. For more traditional hotels or Airbnb, you can look around Quincy, Ephrata, Ellensburg, and Moses Lake.
For nearby camping options, the two big ones are Wildhorse and Sage Creek. I have no experience at either, but I have heard them both highly recommended. They run shuttles to and from the venue so you can still come back and party with friends at the main campground and then go back to your relative peace and quiet at your campground after. Generally, I hear people talk about these as alternatives to premiere camping for those that like the show but are kind of past being woken up by intoxicated people outside their tents making noise at 4AM.

Camping Gear

A lot of this is the standard fare: tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, etc. Definitely try to bring a shade tent or at least a tarp.
If you need camping gear because you are flying in, you can rent via back40outfitters or REI.

Sample Daily Schedule

This is a general idea of life at the Gorge:

4AM: Fall asleep

6AM: Wake up to the sun making things bright and roll over and go back to bed

9AM: Wake up to the heat and open the tent flap and go back to bed

10AM: Wake up because now it’s too hot even with the tent flap open

10-11AM: Recover from the night before

11AM-12PM: Figure out what to do today, maybe get a bite at the food trucks, smoke a bowl, have a little hair of the dog

12-3PM: Go down to the river, go into town, read a book, whatever

3-4PM: begin pregaming, maybe take a walk down Shakedown

4-5PM: start really pregaming, eat some food so not drinking on an empty stomach

5-6PM: pregame some more, maybe go down Shakedown again to see the partying

6-630PM: final checks for being ready and making sure we have everything, maybe more Shakedown

630-640PM: a little more pregaming

640-7PM: head over to the show

7-730PM: wait in security

730PM-8PM: find a beer, a spot, and wait for the show(7:30 show time so figure it’ll start at like 8)

8PM-1215AM: at the show

1225AM: start leaving

1225-1245AM: party on the way back

1245-115AM: regroup at campsite

115-230AM: walk around and meet people and have fun

230-245AM: late night munchies

245-330AM: more walking around

330-4AM: wind down at campsite and then pass out

Staying Comfortable

These are pro-tips for enjoying your time at the Gorge:

bring lots of sunscreen

bring sunglasses and probably a cheap pair or two of them for the shows

a headlamp for the portapotties in the dark is a lifesaver

bring some sort of shade because there is no shade at the campground beyond what you bring

bring lots of water and actually drink lots of water

a battery powered fan may be helpful

bring a shade tent or a tarp to make your own shade

have warm clothes for at night because it gets chilly and dewy

watch out for the dew at night

try and get a shower daily because the dust gets everywhere

bring back up shoes

bring and use wet wipes

bring ear plugs to block out late night noise and maybe a sleeping mask to block out the early morning sunshine

give yourself time to get to the venue because it is a bit of a walk and kind of on the slow side with everyone jammed into the walkway and security can take almost an hour sometimes

the lighting towers typically don’t shut off until like 3:30-5AM, so be aware of that when you’re pulling in for a spot. Staff may not let you move, but they may let you choose a spot farther away from the lighting. Or maybe you want to be there so everyone knows how to get back to your spot in the early morning

also, if you’re planning to be out late, be aware the lighting towers shut off around 3:30-5AM if you’re trying to navigate back to your campsite

the portajohns are typically cleaned once a day at around noon, although I think they might clean them again while the show is going. I haven’t confirmed the second cleaning, though

portajohns also usually have hand sanitizer but there’s been a few times they run out, especially on the last night

List of nice-to-have items

USB battery pack

Battery powered fan

Solar charger(you will get all the sun your charger can handle)

Shade tent/tarp

Warm pajama pants for chilly nights

Extra water(you might be surprised how quick it goes)

First aid kit

Sunburn gel/aloe

A hat because sunglasses can only do so much

Hand sanitizer

Staying Safe

First off: let me reiterate that EVERY SINGLE PERSON NEEDS TO BE MINDFUL OF WHERE YOU FLICK YOUR ASH AND DISPOSE OF JOINTS AND CIGARETTES.
Also, this should be a fucking no-brainer, but I’ve seen people doing this before in the area of the venue at that time of year:
DON’T SET OFF FUCKING FIREWORKS AT THE VENUE. YOU WILL LIKELY START A WILDFIRE AND ARE ENDANGERING THE REST OF THE PEOPLE AT THE SHOW. Firework embers can cause a house’s roof to catch fire. Catching dry brush on fire is far easier.
Next: secure your tents and tarps. Coming back from the first show of the run is always funny because some phans didn't secure their tents thinking "Oh, well it's not windy now..." and didn't realize that the wind picks up after the sun goes down in the second set and now their tent has blown kind of far away. BRING STURDY STAKES AND PLENTY OF THEM. This is why.
You can lock stuff in your tent, but likely locking it in your car is safer. And be smart about it. Don't leave a nice laptop sitting on your passenger seat. I haven't heard much about theft at the Gorge, but don't chance it.
Drink lotssss of water. It is high desert. Water evaporates more quickly at higher altitudes than at sea level. Even though we aren’t that high up, combine the altitude with the dry air and you can get parched pretty fast.
I debated adding this part, but in wake of what happened in 2018:
Remember that two people were assaulted in a hate crime at the 2018 shows. If you see someone clearly starting shit and that is only there to cause trouble, avoid them and maybe consider saying something to staff/security. We are all there to have fun. People that are there to cause physical harm to others or harass anyone are not welcome.
Security, medical services, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Department are on site to keep everyone safe and having fun. They will be out and about in the campground from time to time and will be at the venue itself. I think the only time I’ve ever had an interaction with them was when a sheriff’s deputy was walking the campgrounds and told my friend he couldn’t hit the bong in full public view and to please go do that in his tent.
I have typically seen an ambulance stationed on site for the weekend, but don’t take that for granted. Another ambulance is probably 20-45 minutes away, at best. Any hospital is going to be 45 minutes away. And if you need serious medical treatment immediately, you might be getting med-evaced by a helicopter. It is that rural. Be safe.
Cell phone service does work at the Gorge, but if it is an emergency and you dial 911, remember that you will likely be speaking with a state police operator elsewhere in the state. If you tell them you are at the Gorge, they may transfer you to a Grant County operator or continue taking the call.

Getting Out

Most all of you will be leaving the way you came. However, for those that are leaving early enough and feeling like they have enough energy to do some things, I have a few suggestions:

Go tubing on the Yakima or Snoqualmie rivers: they’re a bit chilly at this point in the year still, but worth it. Yakima is closer but a bit more of a difficult river to tube. Only go tubing if you feel comfortable and conditions are safe. You do so at your own risk.

Go for a hike: there are tons of hikes along I-90 in the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie Nat’l Forest. I recommend Snow Lake: there’s a ton of switchbacks, but it is fucking worth it. If you’re headed south, north, or east, there are also tons of hikes too. Down south, you can find some amazing hikes along the Columbia near The Dalles. Remember to observe proper hiking safety.

Do some more camping: there are tons of great campground up and down the Columbia and pretty much everywhere you look. Don’t just look at National Park and Forest campgrounds, though. There are county PUD campgrounds, state DNR campgrounds, state park campgrounds, private campgrounds, and all sorts of stuff.

Check out Wenatchee: it’s a small city more known for apple orchards, but it’s pretty nice

Check out Chelan: if you have some extra time and want to hit a real summer lake destination, Chelan is it. It’s fucking gorgeous up there.

Check out Leavenworth: this town is literally a slice of Bavarian alpine towns in WA. It’s not October so no Oktoberfest, unfortunately, but it is a nice place.

Check out Tolmie Peak: the view is "incredible, and all around, full 360°, not just Mt. Rainier." Screenshot the map beforehand as there is no cell service and be prepared for swarms of mosquitos Photo of the view

Drive through Idaho and don’t stop: seriously, you’re probably better off if you have to go through Idaho to just not stop if you don’t have to. Idaho’s slogan is jokingly “Come on vacation, leave on probation”. Enough said.

If you flicked a cigarette butt or joint roach and caught something on fire, you’re probably getting out via the back seat of a police vehicle

Head to Tahoe. Really, this is what we all want to be doing, isn’t it?

Q&A
Below this reserved for editing in any questions people asked that I may have missed.
EDIT: Hi, just wanted to say that I encourage donating to a charity, like Waterwheel Foundation or Doctors Without Borders, instead of gifting me Reddit silver or gold! That said, thank you to whoever gifted me silver!
Thanks to the following for contributing:

(Not sure what permissions are required, but this is totally okay to share on a future episode if you guys would like. I would honestly love it if you do!) ^_^

After falling behind a whole bunch after you guys switched to weekly episodes, I finally managed to get around to sort of binging a lot so I could finally catch back up. As such, I heard a bunch of viewer stories, and was reminded of a strange event (one of the few) of my own that I figured I would put out there and see what people's thoughts are on it.
I'd first like to preface this story with an important personal note by saying that I am a staunch Catholic and am very much in the Jesse camp of skepticism and just complete disbelief when it comes to paranormal/supernatural stuff, and will forever maintain that what happened to me has a logical explanation to it, even if I'll never be sure what that explanation is. "^_^
As a bit of important background info, I currently just turned 30 years old this past July (I'm officially old now. T~T) . My family annually vacations in Lake Tahoe California/Nevada ever year in August and has done so for the past ~20 years, since it's the best time for hiking as there's no snow on the mountains and the melting snow makes the numerous lakes & rivers as full and lively as possible. In the evenings, it has always been extremely common for us to head across the state-line to the Harrah's casino for some evening gambling at the video poker machines at the bar and some Blackjack or Pai Gow table games, but me and my two brothers (one older by about 3 years, one younger by about 2 years) would instead frequent the arcade at the Harvey's hotel/casino just across the street where we would play while our parents gambled. (As a dumb aside, in this arcade there is also a claw machine filled with just colored ducks that I tweeted out with the whole SGS tagged with the hashtag #DucksForDavis back in 2018 that Jesse liked, and I'll always be so happy for that, so thank you Jesse. That made my day. ^_^)
A tourist pamphlet book of coupons that we would get from our time-share gave us an additional $5.00 or so in tokens for cashing in $20.00, and this arcade offered a redemption prize of $5.00 in tokens in exchange for 500 tickets. This particular arcade also had a baseball themed timing-based ticketing game that would give you 3 plays per token and would pitch a slow, medium, and fast "pitch" that you had to time on the Jackpot light that would give [at a minimum] 25, 50, and 100 tickets respectively that would only increase upon more unsuccessfully attempts. Over the years of us playing that game, my brothers became good enough at it to the point where it was VERY easy to exploit and win significantly more than in $5.00 in tickets. For example, we would often win double-that or more by earning 1000+ or 1500+ tickets per every $5.00, so we essentially paid $20.00 up front and played for free the rest of our trip and would get the best prizes every couple of years after accruing enough tickets (we managed to get a Wii one year at ~20k tickets as I recall). So basically, we never had to actually spend any money at this arcade to play or win anything. I was never particularly good at this game myself, so I would most often just stand around and watch them exploit this clearly unbalanced game and proceed to play other games that I enjoyed after we had enough tickets in surplus to exchange.
I don't remember exactly when this particular event happened since all these trips have basically blurred together in my head, but one time within the last 10 years (I want to say 7 ago or so but that's really just a guess), I was standing next to this ticketing machine while they were playing like normal. There is an airhockey table just to the right of this game, and at the time we were playing I distinctly remember 2 teenage boys aggressively playing while I just watched my brothers exploit this ticketing game.
At a certain point, I just remember feeling SOMETHING strike me extremely hard and fast across my right temple and I immediately dropped to the ground. Like I straight-up just collapsed and slumped to the ground, clutching the side of my head in pain. My initial thought was that the airhockey puck had accidentally gotten hit into the air and hit me and that was what I felt. When I dropped to the ground, my brothers were very visibly concerned about what had happened to me and stopped what they were doing to make sure that I was okay.
I slowly stood up from my knees, rubbing the side of my head vigorously to help alleviate some of the pain, insisting that something had just hit me but that I was okay but was just hit by an airhockey puck. But when I glanced over to look at the airhockey table to the right of the game cabinet, I don't remember seeing anyone at the table and there was no evidence of any stray puck anywhere on the ground, and I had no lasting damage/pain/bruise on my head from this supposed 'hit' I took. It basically appeared that I was struck in the side of my head by nothing and I dropped to the ground randomly for no reason with no indication that anything had physically damaged me.
Because it happened so long ago and none of us REALLY paid attention to what had occurred or happened, neither me or my brothers can really remember all the exact details such as if anyone was playing airhockey that night or if anyone was at the table after I supposedly got hit by the flying puck, so I tend to take all of this with a grain of salt. I certainly don't believe it was anything supernatural or paranormal, but it was certainly a bizarre occurrence that stands out in my memory to this day.
Anyways! That's it. ^_^ Not something SUPER bizarre, and I don't believe that anything unexplainable, paranormal, or supernatural occurred that day, and I've never experienced anything like it since. I'm absolutely certain there's an explanation for what happened, even if it's just me mentally experiencing this for seemingly no reason, but I'm curious and interested to hear people's thoughts.

One of the members here asked this question: Anyone wanna share stories of times SO’s spidey senses were tingling and you had to do damage control?
This happened many many years ago, when I was new to the "being married" life. My wife and I went to South Lake Tahoe and we were sitting together playing roulette. It was decent occupancy...all the tables were full, but not so crowded that I could not get a view of people around and about. I caught sight of a blonde stunner walking past the craps table, and she turned the corner, the casino lane took her toward our table. I was trying very hard not to stare, but this woman was simply one of the most gorgeous babes I've ever seen. Imagine Tiffany Coyne from "Let's Make A Deal" (yes, I go gaga for skinny blonde Barbies!) 🔥❤️
As she approached our table, I wondered if she was an escort. Or maybe she was already with someone and was just browsing the scene alone while her man was gambling somewhere else. She casually gazed over our table and then kept walking at a slow but steady pace. And then she passed us and was out of sight. She never made eye contact with me, so I figured she wasn't looking for company. But with my wife sitting right next to me, maybe she didn't want to waste her time with me? I couldn't think about what numbers I wanted to bet anymore, lol...I was struck with a huge dose of sexual uneasiness...my mind was wandering and I began daydreaming about her. These lingering thoughts can be so pleasurable in and of itself, and I was shifting so much in my seat that my wife asked me if I needed to use the bathroom! I said no and we continued to play.
10 minutes later, I could see the blonde again...walking the same route as she did before. I was going to get to enjoy another chance of this eye candy, and as I looked around at the others, it boggled my mind how nobody else was really looking at her. When people are deeply in their gambling and smoking and drinking, I suppose sex isn't high on the list! But being the nymph that I am, I could not resist. This time, I made a conscious effort to stare. And this time she made eye contact with me! She gave a very quick and sweet smile, and proceeded to keep walking. Again, she went out of sight.
At this point, I was 50% sure that she was a high-priced escort. But there were too many unknowns to be 100% for sure. I needed more clues. I was hoping that she would walk around a third time, so that I can stare at her again and perhaps give her some flirty or inviting gesture to indicate that I'm interested. But she never came by again.
After about 20-30 minutes, I didn't see her so I figured she left...maybe with somebody else or went to play slots or her room. Who knows. But my wife wanted to play something else so we grabbed our chips and left the roulette table. She went to play slots and I went to cash in the chips. Near the cashier's cage, there was a hallway that led to the restrooms. And at a short distance, I saw the blonde...and she was looking my way. I took my cash and proceeded toward the bathroom...staring at this beauty all the way. She and I locked eyes and she just blurted it out, "Hey I saw you looking at me." I thought she was going to be mad for staring, but before I could say sorry, she asked me if I wanted company! I was like... JACKPOT!!!!!! She asked if I had a room, and I said yes. I gave her the room number and told me to meet me on that floor near the elevator. But first, I needed to go tell my wife that I will be playing in the slot area too, and I made up some bullshit thing like don't come look for me because I believe it's bad luck if I have someone next to me when I'm playing the slots. She said ok.
I took the elevator to my floor and when the doors opened, there she was! Did I fucking die and go to heaven? She gave me this soft hug and her body felt so nice to hold. Whatever perfume she was wearing was smelling very nice! I gently squeezed the small of her back toward me...I made sure she could feel "my excitement" in her crotch area. She was wearing a tight thin dress, so I knew she felt me. I held her hand and led her to my room. When we got inside the room, she confessed that she and her husband had lost a lot of money at Harrahs, and she was very pissed off at him. And she asked me if I would be willing to help her out. Well, at least she wasn't an escort, but nothing was going to stop me now. This was a Tiffany Coyne lookalike...and I'm fucking this woman 👉👌💦come hell or high water!
I don't want to go into details, but there was no clock watching or hastiness. We took out sweet time, and I enjoyed every inch of her body. I was so built-up that I couldn't hold my cum in anymore...and ended up shooting it deep down her throat when she was sucking. But I was still hard as a rock and we kept going. We did several positions for the next 30-40 minutes.....then she got on top of me to ride me...but after about 5 minutes into that, my worst nightmare looked like it was going to happen! Someone was trying to open my hotel door!
The blonde suddenly stopped riding me...I pushed her off me and jumped toward the door to hold it closed! My wife was on the other side saying, "Hey! Why aren't you letting me in?" The blonde was hiding behind the side of the bed...naked and looking worried...and I motioned her to stay quiet. I cried to my wife, I can't let you in! She kept trying to use her electronic key to open the door and I kept pushing it closed again, and she shouted, "Why not?" I repeated, "I can't! Go back downstairs! I'll meet you there!" She replied, "No, I'm tired! I want to come in the room!"
I was literally feeling like this is the end...I'm gonna get caught...it's over. But suddenly, the words just came out, "I can't let you in...it's embarrassing" She asked, "What's so embarrassing??!!" I told her, "I pooped all over the floor" She asked in disbelief, "WHAT?!" I told her that I think something I ate or drank gave me diarrhea and I ended up shitting my pants before getting to the toilet, and I just want to clean it all up before letting her in. I glanced over at my blonde friend, who was trying her best to control her laughing. "Can you please go downstairs and wait until I'm done?" My wife laughed and said, "Okay, I'll be at the roulette table"
The blonde and I resumed our fucking...it seemed more special after that incident...I guess we bonded being partners in crime? I didn't want to risk my wife coming back up, so I told her let's finish this and fuck me in my favorite position... the reverse cowgirl. When I was about to cum, I pushed her off and splattered her face. We both laughed so hard about what had happened earlier, and soon thereafter, we kissed and parted ways. Wish I had asked for her number...ah, my one regret!
Then, to cover my tracks, I did the unthinkable. I squatted and took a shit on the carpet by the hotel door! I rubbed the shit into the fibers and onto the tile leading to the toilet. I did a half-ass job with the cleaning, so as to prove to my wife that I did have uncontrollable diarrhea. Fuck, the room smelled awful! But it had to be done. I got a $150 cleaning fee from the hotel later, but that was one expense I was more than happy to pay! My wife never did suspect anything, and to this day, I still think that this was the closest I ever came to ruining it with her.
Such are the dangers of this lifestyle 😬

Okay, so it’s not strictly a road trip, because it starts in Hawai’i, but here are the dates, games, and routes for the trip:

Week Zero

Start in Honolulu
Work on that tan
Swim with sea turtles and shit
Saturday, August 24th - Hawai'i vs. Arizona

Will Hawai'i be fun again this year? Will Khalil Tate return to 2017 form? Will either of these teams play any defense whatsoever? FIND OUT IN WEEK ZERO

Week One

Fly to any of the three major Bay Area airports (SFO/OAK/SJC)
Do tourist stuff in SF
Get drunk in Napa
Sit in the some of the worst traffic in the country with a bunch of asshole millionaires who can still barely pay rent
Thursday, August 29th - San José State vs. Northern Colorado (FCS)

Let's be real, UNC will probably be favored. Buy a ticket at the gate when you arrive and sit in the sun with the dozens of other fans in attendance. Pat yourself on the back, you've now been to two of the worst stadiums in college football. Look on the bright side - everything has also been super overpriced so far!

Get in a car and drive to Reno
Take the scenic route and enjoy the beautiful views of Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada mountains
Gamble away all of your savings at the Silver ~~Nugget~~ Legacy while you try to forget about Karen taking the kids and the dog
Hire a prostitute, because its legal here and WHY NOT
Friday, August 30th - Nevada vs. Purdue

Purdue might be the best out-of-conference team you see on this trip and THAT is saying something. Nevada is looking to rebound from several mediocre years, possibly led by signal-caller Malik Henry of Last Chance U fame.

Week Two

Drive to Boise through the desolate deserts of northern Nevada and southeastern Oregon
Float the Boise River on an inner tube
Hike, fish, or drive somewhere and take a selfie for the #gram to prove how much you love the outdoors
Eat as many potatoes as your body has room for (Karen can't stop you now)
Friday, September 6th - Boise State vs. Marshall

Boise State looks to continue its streak as one of the Group of 5's top teams, but will be replacing starters at QB, RB, WR, and several other positions on offense and special teams. Quietly-successful Marshall hopes to be one of the few teams not named the Aztecs to come to The Blue and hand the Broncos a loss.

Drive through southern Idaho (the boring part) to Logan, Utah
You only have a few hours to explore Logan between arriving and kickoff - that's okay, that's all you need
Saturday, September 7th - Utah State vs. Stony Brook (FCS)

The Aggies were a surprise contender in the Mountain West last season until we (Boise State) ruined it by beating them at home (again). Under new/former head coach Gary Andersen, they'll be thirsty for blood against a fairly strong Seawolves side that made the first round of FCS playoffs last year.

Week Three

You have a week to get to Laramie, Wyoming - now is a great opportunity to detour north first and check out Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, which are only a few hours away
Camp for a few days then make the long trip across the Equality State
Arrive in Laramie, the roof of Division I college football (elevation 7,165 feet)
Saturday, September 14th - Wyoming vs. Idaho (FCS)

The Cowboys seemed directionless without Josh Allen in 2018, but they're playing the Vandals. Peter Dinklage could start at QB for Wyoming and I'd still take them by 40.

Week Four

This is the shortest driving segment and a great opportunity to check out the natural beauty of the Centennial State
Rocky Mountain National Park is only a few hours west
There are endless craft breweries between Fort Collins and Boulder (or Coors in Golden if you're into that)
Get high with Towelie
If you want a bonus football game, the Denver Broncos play the Bears at home on the 15th
Saturday, September 21st - Colorado State vs. Toledo

CSU is another MWC team looking to start fresh in 2019 but has a tough test against an explosive Toledo offense that will be coming off a game against FCS Murray State. Grab a ticket on the New Belgium Porch and enjoy what should be an offense-dominated game in one of college football's best new stadiums.

Week Five

You've got more time to kill - Colorado Springs isn't that far from Fort Collins
Drive almost to the top of Pike's Peak, one of the famous and most prominent 14ers
Tired of National Parks? Probably not - Black Canyon of the Gunnison is a few short hours away
Explore the Garden of the Gods, which sounds like another weed shop, but isn't
Talk about expanding the CFP so you have an excuse to drink more craft beer
Friday, September 27th - Air Force vs. San José State

Finish the trip by rooting for a service academy to lay down a beating on the 0-3 (probably) Spartans. Go home and revel in the fact that you've been to more Mountain West games in five weeks than most people attend in their lifetimes. Leave Karen a voicemail telling her all about your amazing experience in her absence. Finally, start planning the eventual trip to Albuquerque, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Fresno, to complete your journey around the conference.

Hello fellow redditors. I'm a forty something married father of two young kids and as I raise them and interact with other parents and their kids, I have realized that my parents didn't do the bestest of jobs raising me and my siblings. The were overly concerned about what family, friends and strangers thought of us. We were always told to make a good impression. They never gave us toys, they never played with us and they never let us be kids.
Raising my own kids now I realize on how they never allowed us to behave as kids. We never had toys. As a result I might overcompensate with my kids and seem to purchase every toy and stuffy they ask for. I must say I am overly jealous on how fun my kids are having it.
Some earliest memories of this that haunt me was going on a beach vacation and stopping by a quickie mart for sunscreen and snacks. Among the boogie boards, skim boards and snorkels were for some basic beach toys to build a sand castles I asked my parents if we could purchase the bucket and shovel and they would say, 'no we'll get those next time.' I would just sit there sitting on sand wishing for a shovel and bucket so I could make a fricking sand castle or even dig a hole for some water to pour in. This haunts me everytime I go to the beach.
The frustrating thing was my parents are pretty well off. Money wasn't an issue. I don't know why we never had toys, stuffed animals or other fun things that kids normally have.
The only time I remember my father purchasing a gift for me was a model plane that needed assembly. It wasn't a toy, it was the type of model plane that would need to be assembled with plastic cement and Testors paint. All I ever wanted was a simple toy, and this was the type of model for advanced model makers. My father purchased it because he was a ww2 war enthusiast and really wanted it for himself. I tried to assemble it, but never was even provided the paint to complete it. It wasn't a toy, it was a fragile model that would probably break if you looked at it funny.
The other thing my parents would do when I would ask for a toy we might come across at the store would be, "That one is too small, we'll get you a bigger one later." Eventually I learned not to ask for anything for fear of being rejected. I forgot about all this until now as I raise my own kids. "That one is too small, we'll buy you a bigger one." I can't imagine saying that to my kids.
I'm old enough to remember Disneyland when they had tickets for the rides. My parents took us to Disneyland but never bought us any tickets for the rides. They would say the rides would get us sick. The only thing we did at Disneyland was see the stupid free shows, the parade but absolutely no rides that needed additional tickets. Now when I go to Disneyland or any other amusement park, I gorge on all the rides.
The only other 'toy' i did receive was a mini slot machine from Lake Tahoe vacation. The only reason they purchased it was because it really was a piggy bank. I kept that stupid slot machine for years. It is still is at my parents house and I hate seeing it. We would go to Lake Tahoe during the summer. During the day we would lounge in the pool and in the evening my parents would go see some lounge lizard act and drop us off at the arcade with no quarters! I would just watch other people play arcade games or I would 'pretend' to play video games during the attract mode. My parents would pick is up at the end of the night and have a bucket of quarters, but those were for gambling. This was during the heyday of the arcade. I overcompensated and have my own arcade cabinet.
Just venting. Anyone else experience this. I know my upbringing wasn't that terrible in the grand scheme of things, but I would have loved some toys and to experience being a kid and do kids stuff.

Psychiatric Aspects of Extreme Sports: Three Case Studies: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5798939/
It's a dense lengthy study but a pretty mind blowing read all the way through, here's some highlights:
"For participants with severe hyperactive/impulsive attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), extreme sports can be fairly calming and can even provide therapeutic neuromodulation with “positive” reinforcement potential elicited by dopamine, serotonin, epinephrine, endorphins, and stress hormone hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation, which produces a state of optimal arousal.17,18 The dopamine and norepinephrine neurotransmitter surge may help to modulate behavior, reversing under-activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and dysregulation of multiple brain pathways involved in the attentional and impulse control processes."

"Geneticists have explored possible links between a propensity for high-risk activities and genetic markers. The putative connection of polymorphisms of the D4 subtype of the dopamine 2 receptor, a G protein-coupled receptor that inhibits adenylyl cyclase, with risk-taking, novelty-seeking behavior in humans and other living organisms is a link from a teleologic perspective.12–15 The work of Thomson and associates14 with skiers and snowboarders is especially intriguing. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter most associated with “action,” addiction, and substance abuse. There is a clear link between risk taking and the adrenaline/dopamine/endorphin surge experienced by extreme sports participants. This surge is like the phenomenon seen in gambling and risk-heavy professions such as financial trading, which continually entice participants back to their chosen “edge work.”

"Dan Osman was born in Orange County, CA, in 1963. He had a strong genetic and environmentally supportive background in risk-taking. His father was a former SWAT team officer and detective. His mother was a former world-champion rodeo barrel racer and a horse trainer. A paternal descendant of Samurai families in the Takeuchi Clan, Dan was trained in the Samurai Bushido code of ethics by his father and studied aikido and kung fu, but he did not feel worthy of the katana sword he received in 1994. Dan probably had untreated, fairly severe combined ADHD and as a child was nicknamed, “Danny I forgot.”40
When Dan discovered rock climbing at the age of 12, he considered himself a slow learner, taking 8 years to achieve the elite Yosemite grade of 5.12.40,41 Dan became known for his bold (some would say senseless), reckless climbing, ice climbing, free soloing, and speed climbing (to which his many YouTube videos attest).42 Because some ascending routes he pioneered were subsequently downgraded in terms of difficulty, Dan increased the challenge by working on speed free soloing, once racing up a 400-foot rock face, ropeless, in 4 minutes, 25 seconds. While bolting a new route in Lake Tahoe, he discovered his love of falling and began to engage in large roped falls. As time progressed, he became bolder and enjoyed mastering falling and associated fears and other emotions.40 Dan often encouraged others to attempt his feats, and when his 25-year-old friend Bobby Tarver died during a jump, Dan quickly dismissed the event as “pilot error.”43 Although Dan was often credited with being meticulous and extremely focused when it came to his rope jumps and solo climbs, the rest of his life was marked by impulsivity, disorganization, forgetfulness, illegal jumps, brushes with the law, and episodes of brief jail time.
Friends began to refer to him as being on “DANO time,” as he often arrived hours or even days later than expected. His father eventually told Dan that he would no longer bail him out for his continued minor legal infractions such as unpaid parking and traffic tickets. "

"In our opinion there is a notable difference between impulsive high-risk takers and cutting-edge, expert, pioneering extreme sport proponents. Both types of participants risk injury and death while exploring their outer skill limits. Highly trained extreme sport expert proponents have developed the skill set to manage the frustration associated with deferred gratification and have learned to channel rather than be driven by their impulsivity. Climbers such as those who may die on Mount Everest or while free soloing spend years and thousands of hours developing their skills to the point at which they feel ready to attempt a task that is at the peak of their perceived difficulty scale. They believe their level of preparation lowers risk despite the many variables that heighten risk."

"Using medications to manage any underlying Axis I psychiatric disorder such as severe bipolar disorder with psychotic features, major depression, uncontrolled substance abuse or dependence, or severe hyperactive/impulsive ADHD may enable safer execution and fine-tuning of the choices these athletes make while participating in extraordinary activities. Psychiatry and sports psychiatrists, in particular, must acquire a deeper understanding of this fascinating field."

...I myself was into rollerblading, skateboarding, & snowboarding growing up...eventually hurt myself a few years back snowboarding. Was being impulsive in the terrain park (while tipsy on 2 beers), chronically procrastinated treatment for my sports injury, had years of trouble with follow through on PT exercises, led to long term chronic pain that's finally being getting better since being diagnosed and getting on stimulants. It's crazy to realize all my struggles with this have been linked to ADHD symptoms. Stimulants have helped me a ton with follow thru on PT and keeping up with regular exercises but it's still a struggle. Some people seem to think I'm overanalyzing all of this too but I was just diagnosed at 32 and discovering the links to ADHD that have been in my life all along the way has been very eye opening!

I know I tend to post a lot here. I'm not good at remembering user names, but I have talked to a few of you in DMs, and a couple I have told this theory to. I was looking around Lake Tahoe on Google maps one day while researching this and I accidentally found this place, then did a little research, and a theory developed. I haven't seen it anywhere else, and the couple people I told said the same. So I will present it here. I'm not a nut, I'm not pushing an agenda. This is just from basic research I did on the place. If anyone wants to run with this and look into town records, by all means. Go for it. I am too busy in real life to do so. Here it is..
The "Paradice” Theory
Paradise, CA. Nestled in a lush pine glade next to Plumas National Forest. Population of around 25,000 people here in 2018; in 1968 it was a little below 14,000. Scenic and beautiful, it is a small town in Butte County above Sacramento Valley. Its first post office was established in 1877. For a very long period of its existence, it didn’t get its justice on maps, and finally incorporated in 1979. Before then, its existence was likely unknown to much of California.
Local legend carries to this day from its humble beginnings. A saloon started it all, where men came to gamble and drink. This saloon was named Pair’o’Dice Saloon. Back then, its railroads were its only identifier to the outside world, and an official 1900 railroad map referred to it simply as “Paradice.” Depending on who you ask, this legend is not true, but to its residents, it seems to be. Local legend swallows any town’s mentality, and creates believers when only faith is present. To these people, “Paradice” was home.
Paradise has its fair share of all the amenities most places can afford. There are schools, a police station, health care, fire station, shopping centers. It really is a humble place, small and quaint. They have their own library, which also keeps records of high school yearbooks and past town events. They even now have their own facebook to keep the same history tight knit and within their community.
But is it possible that someone in that community hid a dark secret? People believe the Zodiac may have died, and it is entirely possible. Though, if the public stopped listening to the things he wanted to make known and sensationalized, perhaps he just moved on and gave up his ways. After all, the one determining factor most Zodiac followers can agree on, he did it more for the fame itself than the killings. He was clumsy, didn’t seem to like or enjoy the killings, unless it was toward a woman. He failed in some of his killings, he taunted and did not follow through with his threats. When the public stopped caring, he may have slinked into the darkness for a few years, then tried again with a letter, and saw poor reception.
The possibility of Z’s hinting was strong. He was not going to give his name up, but he did leave so many clues that seem obvious red herrings, but perhaps he knew people might receive them that way. He seemed to be an avid follower of crime fiction and westerns. He loved the cryptic nature of his communications. He was a movie buff, comic book buff, and the likes. His weird symbols always seem to come from some sort of comic book cover. The strange symbol from the Avery letter, the Zodiac symbol itself, even his “BY KNIFE, etc” came from comic book covers. It was his favorite thing to do: create a mystery by literally just throwing out the first strange detail he saw in a comic, and watch it confound investigators and amateurs alike for decades. Because of the internet, we now get to find some interesting facts about any place we want. Let’s take a look at his possible Paradise.
Next to Paradise, in Chico, CA, there is a Navy Recruiting Office and an Air Force Recruiting Office, a short 20 minutes drive from home. Further south is Beale Airforce Base. The Zodiac was believed to be in the Air Force, specifically, due to his wing walker boots, size 10. In Chico, there is a place called Gates Resale Army Surplus, founded in 1944, in which to obtain military garb and footwear. These are geographical links, which are tenuous at best, as there are Naval and Air Force Bases all around California.
Some more generalities will take you to look into his psyche. Many researchers of Serial Killers see that they do not kill in their own locale. They in fact try and kill away from all signs of their locale, as to throw off their scent. Each kill was made near some sort of body of water. In Paradise, there’s a few ponds, and a lake, but not much water elsewhere. The Zodiac killed in a way that showed familiarity for some places, and unfamiliarity with others. The way he guided police to Lake Herman Road was unfamiliar, but killing Paul Stine a block away from his destination (and likely where his getaway car was) shows he was familiar with that area. It is possible he worked a job that required him to travel, so he’d have basic geography without getting lost, and thus possibly getting caught.
Riding by car, it is about:

2 and a half hour ride to Blue Rock Springs, Vallejo.
2 and a half hour ride to Lake Herman Road, Benicia.
3 hour ride to Lake Berryessa outside of Napa.
3 and a half hour ride to Presidio Heights, San Francisco.
3 and a half hour ride to South Lake Tahoe, CA.

If you believe in the Donna Lass theory, which thanks to Tom Voigt’s poor PR, we don’t have any for-sure way to tell is real or a forgery letter of Zodiac, then there’s another interesting point about Paradise. There is also a small community. A village of real estate, north of Paradise, resting just outside the Megalia Reservoir. This is a community known as Paradise Pines. It reaches north to Paradise Lake, and eastward toward the aforementioned Plumas National Forest.
By giving the “Peek Through the Pines” letter, we could be getting a literal glimpse into where the Zodiac is from, all the while believing it to be a direct clue to where he’s killing instead. He may very well be from the community of Paradise Pines, where one would peek through the pines to see the magnificent views of the national forest and nearby Paradise Lake; and eluding to us that he merely stalked Donna from near South Lake Tahoe. He said in one of his threatening communications that he would quit announcing his kills, and instead make them look like accidents and such. With Donna Lass disappearing, if this were in fact Zodiac, there are a few other locales that contain possible victims of his. All of these locales are also short distances away from Paradise.
March 7, 1970. Judith Hakari, age 22, from Arden-Arcade in Sacramento, CA. A short 2 hour drive away from Paradise. Like Lass, she was a nurse, and like Lass she was taken from her car. Unlike Lass, she was found. She was strangled with enough force to break bones in her neck, and her head and face were bashed in to near unrecognizable levels of brutality. When she was found, there was no sign of sexual assault. On April 10, a letter from Zodiac claimed 10 victims.
October 25, 1970. Nancy Bennallack, age 27. Sacramento, CA. A short 1 hour and 45 minute drive away from Paradise. She lived less than a mile from Hakari. She was found in her apartment, she was stabbed many times and her throat was cut so bad she was nearly decapitated (if you believe in the Riverside connection, she was killed in an identical way to Cheri Jo). She was not sexually assaulted. During this attack, the attacker was cut and his DNA has a profile built, and in a national database.
November 13, 1970. Carol Beth Hillburn, age 22. Sacramento, CA. Again, a short 1 hour and 45 minute drive away from Paradise. She had her throat cut and was beaten so viciously, her dental records were her only way to be identified. She was found nearly nude in a field where a car had dragged her before she was beaten to death. There were no signs of sexual assault. She was killed one month before Zodiac claimed in a letter his 17th (“+”) victim. A day before she was killed, she went with a friend to a club called Zodiac. As Z liked to use “holidays” and special days, the day she was killed was a Friday the 13th.
The Zodiac claimed to have killed likely more than the actual body count. 37 people in total. It would be a good indicator if Paradise had seen no homicides or maybe even one homicides from the period of 1968 to 1974 that the Zodiac may be from this locale, meaning he didn’t want to kill too close to home. It could also mean it’s just a peaceful place to live. There is literally no telling. Many members of law enforcement believed he was not from the Bay Area, while many believed he was. Conflicting opinions have been the bane of this case since its start.
Regardless what anyone believes, nobody knows truly anything of where the Zodiac resides; and all this talk of Paradise, of course, is just a theory.

On Friday, January 14, 1983, 62-year old Terri McClure traveled from her hometown of Reno, Nevada to Lake Tahoe to attend the wedding of her 31-year old son, Tim McClure. According to Tim, he accompanied his mother to her car after the reception and she left at 10:00 PM. When Tim and his wife showed up at Terri’s house the following day to visit her, they were surprised to discover she was missing. On Monday, January 17, Terri was found dead in the front seat of her vehicle in the parking lot of a casino in Carson City, located halfway between Reno and Lake Tahoe. She was shot twice in the head, the keys were in the ignition, the vehicle was locked, and Terri’s purse was missing. Police determined that she had likely been dead since Friday night. Tim soon became the prime suspect in his mother’s murder because of a number of suspicious things…
-there were issues with Tim’s alibi on his wedding night. Tim claimed that after walking his mother to her car, he went off to gamble alone for two hours before rejoining his new bride. They both claimed they went out dancing and partying together from midnight until 6:00 AM, but police were unable to substantiate their whereabouts
-Tim spent the weekend driving his mother’s route on the main highway from Reno to Lake Tahoe and claimed he was looking for her purse. Police found this odd since no one even knew Terri’s purse was missing until her body was found on Monday. Tim also claimed that he checked for Terri’s vehicle in all of the casino parking lots on his route, yet somehow missed the one lot where she was eventually found
-Tim also called to cancel Terri’s credit card, but the company produced a handwritten memo which stated that he called on Friday, January 14 and told them his mother was deceased… before she was actually murdered! Tim maintained that he actually called to cancel the card on Monday, January 17 and told them his mother was missing, but the employee wrote down the wrong date and mixed up his words
-six months before Terri’s death, she took out a life insurance policy for $10,000 which would be split between Tim and one of his sisters, giving him a potential motive for murder
-Tim and his wife both took polygraph tests. Tim flunked his test, but his wife only flunked one question: “Do you know who murdered Terri McClure?”
Investigators attempted to charge Tim with his mother’s murder, but the district attorney thought the evidence was insufficient to prosecute. The case went cold until 1989 when Tim actually called the “Unsolved Mysteries” Telecenter to request they feature his mother’s case. After the segment aired, this seemed to reinvigorate the investigation. Tim was finally charged with Terri’s murder in September 1992, apparently because the “Unsolved Mysteries” segment somehow helped open the door to new evidence being uncovered. However, in April 1993, the murder charge against Tim was dismissed with prejudice. “With prejudice” is essentially the equivalent of “double jeopardy” without a trial, meaning that no matter what new evidence may surface, Tim can never be charged with this crime again! What’s particularly frustrating is that two major pieces of information have never been released publicly...

The new evidence which prompted police to arrest Tim nine years after the murder. I found one article which claimed his ex-wife was going to testify against him, but refused to so. I also have no idea when Tim and his wife actually split up.
The reason Tim’s murder charge was dismissed “with prejudice”. Dismissing cases “with prejudice” is very rare and permanently closing the door on prosecuting Tim again would only be done under the most extreme circumstances. This may not necessarily mean Tim was innocent, as it’s also possible that investigators and prosecutors could have committed serious misconduct or screwed up the case so badly that it would impossible to put Tim on trial and secure a conviction.

Without knowing those two pieces of information, it’s hard to form a concrete opinion about Tim’s guilt or innocence. Nevertheless, I attempt to analyze this case on the latest episode of “The Trail Went Cold”:
http://trailwentcold.com/2017/04/26/the-trail-went-cold-episode-32-terri-mcclure/
Sources:
http://unsolved.com/archives/terri-mcclure
http://articles.latimes.com/1992-09-04/local/me-6296_1_arrest-slaying-mother
http://articles.latimes.com/1992-11-10/local/me-55_1_court-hears-mother-killing-case

My (25M) GF (25F) and I have been dating for over 5.5 years. We met first day of sophomore year in college, and started dating after becoming good friends in a few months. We've been together ever since, and graduating from school and moving to NYC separately, each with roommates from school. After 3 years of living apart (15 min walk away) my lease ended and I moved in with her and her roommates for this summer while her lease goes til end of August. We're scheduled to move in Sept. 1.
To give a very crucial backstory, last Fall was the lowest point of our relationship - she actually said she wanted to break up with me one night and I slept on the couch and said I didn't want to give up. The next day we had a normal Sunday, actually kind of happy strangely. We got to that low point due to the fact that she doesn't trust me. She's had trust issues with me for a long time dating back to college because I was secretive about when I smoked pot or that I occasionally packed a lip on a drunk night - dumb stuff. Last fall though, for some reason one night we were talking about not having secrets before getting married being important to us and all of a sudden my heart started to THROB . I couldn't stop it and my face got white and she saw me and asked what was going on. I could hardly speak and she got really really scared. It was because, for some reason I still don't know, recalled that I had made out with my ex 4 years ago when I was home for Christmas in college Junior year. I didn't tell her this though. I had just got back from a trip to Lake Tahoe with all my best friends like the night before and she kept accusing me of sleeping with someone on that trip because that was the only thing that could've made me so nervous and my heart pound. I vehemently denied this because it simplu wasn't true and would never do that to her and was genuinely hurt she could even think that I was capable of doing that to her. Eventually, after brutal days, we got over it and it just kind of eeked away...
But then, almost every time we were hanging out, watching a TV show or movie where the people are like making out or doing anything sexual whatsover, and my girlfriend is laying on my chest, my heart starts POUNDING again, just like it had the first time and she would always get so upset, same thing over and over all Fall. She was studying for a big test (for finance job) all Fall too, she was stressed and anxious while I enjoyed football season. So right before I go home for Christmas, we're having our last night together, trying to enjoy each other but it was just off. Felt like miles between us. I had even started to grow resentful at this point because I felt like i didn't deserve to feel so badly all the time and am a really great BF to her. We're sitting down that night and she starts breaking down crying, and finally she just says "I know there's something else. It FEELS like there is something else. Please just tell me and I promise I'll listen and try not to be mad" and then I started breaking down too. I knew I had to tell her if we were ever going to work. I finally told her that I had cheated on her 4 years ago one night when I was home from Christmas and made out (I'm from Pacific Northwest, family still lives there) with my ex gf from highschool. I truly was blacked out and don't remember doing it at all - i felt sick when my buddy told me what happened the next morning. She cries immediately but thanks me and we sort of fall asleep crying. I went home the next day for Christmas.

Christmas was awful. She really didn't take it well and blacked out for most of the 2 weeks. She made out with a guy from highschool too and told me about it Chritmas eve. She would black out and text or call me saying such nasty things and that she was going to live her life and wishes me the best yada yada - It was just a rough break and she really made me feel terrible a lot. We finally facetimed and had a long talk at the end before we came back. I told her i wasn't mad at her and that I was sorry and that I take responsibility for everything - the last fall, this christmas, everything. She basically doesn't know if she can get over it and we come back to the city. The first weekend we had, we went out for dinner and had a really weird date where we both cried alot, and she expressed that she still was so mad at me and didn't know how to not be and didn't trust me still and accused me of having more secrets - she still thought I had sex with someone in Tahoe or something. The next night she breaks down after an argument says she can't do it anymore and breaks up with me basically. I told her she was upset and this was a mistake and that we could really be special if we got through this because I finally had nothing to hide and understand the importance of trust and the damage i caused. She told me she could maybe one day forgive me but she didn't trust me and didn't promise she ever would. I told her i forgive her for everything she did all christmas and that I would prove her right day by day, being honest and telling the truth. We went to Miami together the next week (it was planned already) and had a really really great time. We kind of turned it back around on that trip I thought. I did tell her on that trip that I was afraid my heart might still beat whenever she was on my chest because I noticed it had happened once since I told the truth and was afraid it might still for no reason besides maybe PTSD - i still dont understand why it does now.
So we've been dating since and really the last 8 months have been great. I've been a hundred percent honest with her - mostly about dumb things like I dipped at a wedding one weekend or did cocaine with my friends once in Tahoe (she doesn't like drugs and told me never to do them which I respect and tell her if it happens once in a very blue moon). My apartment lease was up at the beginning of summer and moved in with her and her roommates for the summer until we finally move in to our own place Sept 1. There have been a lot of instances this summer where I've been made to feel like im not a good boyfriend or someone whos trustworthy. One example being that I didn't tell her that my best buddy and I were staying at a hotel one night when I visited him in Texas after we gambled at a nearby casino until the night of. She calls me and tells me how shady i am and that i make her worry every time im away. I was and am still upset about this and feel like its a complete overreaction and unfair to say i was lying - i told her i was at a hotel and staying there myself! This led to us texting angrily all day the next day and me not enjoying my last day with my friend before I came back. So this type of things has been happening occasionally this summer and every time it gets down to her saying I still don't trust you and I don't forgive you. And that she doesn't always think of me in a positive light.
My heart beat again one night and she accuses me again, says there's a reason it still beats. I'm at a loss. There is absolutely nothing else for me to tell her and no reason why it still beats- it's the strangest most frustrating thing I've ever felt because it really really messes stuff up for us and I can not control it. The more I think about it the more it happens. It doesn't happen nearly as often as it used to - like hardly at all now, but it still will once every while. So I finally tell her I can't feel this way anymore. I really am the best boyfriend in the world to her and I feel like such a bad guy all the time because of her and her unwillingness to trust me and think positively of me. I tell her that I've done all in my power to make up for it, and that I am able to forgive her for what she's done to me, and i need her to do the same for me. she says she doesn't know how to do that and that she'll work on it. long week, lots of talking and tears, really no progress.
Last night, she notices my iphone passcode is different and asks why. I tell her becuase it just made me change it for some reason and the new one is *****. She says how that's weird and hers never does that. She keeps saying its so weird and I'm finally like what are you getting at exactly? And she says she doesn't think that happened. I'm flabbergasted - after everything I said to her last week and all that we talked about and how important I emphasized that I can't feel like that anymore, the NEXT DAY she starts on about how I'm lying about why my iphone passcode (THAT I TOLD HER) had changed? That was last night. She eventually apologized and we've been texting all day about how we don't know if we should move in together, if she can't trust me how will we work, etc. I really don't know. We signed a 28 month lease, slated to move in together on Sunday. I don't know what to do. Move in and hope she's able to start trusting me? Or just continue to deal with it hoping it gets better? Call it all off? Fuck IDK
TLDR - GF doesn't trust me. I don't deserve it. Will it get better / should we move in?

Hi!
So 3 friends and I, from Europe, are planning a trip for 22 days / 21 nights the the South-West of the USA in July 2019. We already booked our plane-tickets and a rental car. There is so much to see in this region. And we are all first timers in this region of the states, for some it's even the first trans-Atlantic travel. So some help with the concept itinerary I've got now would help! We're planning on camping in tents most of the time and stay in hotels in the cities.
So here it goes:
Day 1: Arrive in Los Angeles and go to hotel and rest.
Day 2: Full day in Los Angeles
Day 3: Full day in Los Angeles
Day 4: Drive from LA to Joshua Tree NP, spend the day and night here.
Day 5: Drive from Joshua Tree NP trough the Mojave Desert towards Las Vegas and stay at a hotel over there.
Day 6: Full day in Vegas
Day 7: Rise early and head onto the Grand Canyon via the Hoover dam and Route 66, spend the rest of the day at the Grand Canyon NP and stay the night here.
Day 8: Maybe a early morning hike in the canyon. Now it gets tricky, we drive towards Monument Valley or to Page, can't decide yet.
Day 9: When we stay in monument valley do horseshoe-bend at page, maybe antelope canyon but I have doubts whether it is worth it. Head to Bryce Canyon were we will stay the night. We could fit an extra night at Page if it is worth the sacrifice.
Day 10: In the morning, a nice hike in Bryce Canyon, around noon head to Zion NP, stay the night there.
Day 11: Full day at Zion NP
Day 12: Morning in Zion, head out to Death Valley in the noon, spend the night in Death Valley
Day 13: Early rise in Death Valley, get out before noon because of the heat and head towards Yosemite NP, stay the night there.
Day 14: Full day at Yosemite
Day 15: Morning to spend time at Yosemite and drive in the noon towards Lake Tahoe, spend the night here.
Day 16: Full day at Lake Tahoe, not gambling but enjoying the nature and some activity on the water. This day could be sacrificed for an extra day at Page
Day 17: Enjoy the morning at Lake Tahoe, end spend half a day here and then drive off towards San Francisco to spend the night.
Day 18: Full day in San Francisco
Day 19: Full day in San Francisco
Day 20: Drive towards Monterey and the Big Sur, spend the night at the Big Sur.
Day 21: Drive from the Big Sur towards Santa Maria, don't really know what we could do here.
Day 22: Get up and drive towards Los Angeles, turn in the Rental and Head to LAX for our flight back home.
So this is a rough itinerary we've got now. We are planning on booking the stays in hotels in LA, LV and SF. I know we have to reserve a place at National Parks six months in advance, for Yosemite it is 15th of March online reservations madness. I read there is only first come first served at Bryce. Do you think we need to reserve for the rest of the places we're staying at?
Furthermore, do you think we are missing out on something or something is off on the itinerary!? Would love to have some feedback. Thanks in advance!

Back when I was about 11 years old, we were living in Palm Springs California. My father would move us about every 4 to 6 months. Why? Well, he was a drinker and gambler, so I think he was avoiding bookies. Anyway, we would start out in Santa Monica California, then move up to Redwood City California (near San Francisco), then over to South Lake Tahoe, then down to Palm Springs, and then back over to Santa Monica. This continued for many years, until we finally moved to Tacoma Washington, and my mom finally left my dad for good, then his roaming days stopped.
Anyway, at age 11, it was Winter, and during the Winter in Palm Springs, there were storms. Monsoons really. It would rain harder than anywhere else I've been, and the sky would turn black, and the wind would kick up really bad. I remember one night, the wind was particularly strong, and it knocked the shingles off the motel roof we were staying in (we lived in motels a lot...they were cheaper than apartments back then).
Anyway, after the shingles were blown off the roof, I looked over toward the mountain, and I noticed a large red "orb" forming in the black sky, near the mountain. Not on the mountain, but near it. Blood red orb. Suddenly, the orb BURST out towards the East, like a bunch of red "waves" real fast, and made a huge TRUMPET sound as it did it. Then I saw an orange orb due North form, and it BURST forth with "waves" of orange light to the South, and as it did that it made a huge trumpet sound. Then I saw a greenish/purple orb to the South form, and it BURST forth a series of waves towards the north, and, as it did so, made the sound of a loud trumpet. I was scared as hell, and looked at my Dad and called out: "Dad! Dad! What are those?" My Dad said, "Oh, just some atmopheric phenomenon". Of course, my Dad never went to college. He was a waiter and cook. He didn't know anything about the weather.
I've studied the weather, not in school, but online and in books for decades, and I can't find anything to explain the orbs, other than "ball lightening" which most think is a myth. Why was one red, the other orange, and the third greenish/purple? Why the sound? No answers. All I know, it was very very strange.
Now, move up from age 11 until age 54. I'd been taking care of my dad for four years straight, and he just died. I was his caretaker for four years, but did not get paid (he made too much money for the State to pay me anything). I got room and board for taking care of him. He gambled away the rest. He got $5,000 a month tax-free, for 32 years, and he had saved up "zero". He drank and gambled it all away. All of it. Well, after he died, I had nothing. No savings. Nothing. I had a car. I tried to get a job, but nobody hired me. One said: "We don't hire felons". He assumed I had no work history for four years because I've been to prison. Wrong. Never arrested. Anyway, I'm one week away from living on the street, and I'm in a sleeze bag crack-whore infested motel room in Portland Oregon; living on my last dime. I'm under so much stress, I've been up for three weeks. No, not because of drugs. I have chronic insomnia, which gets worse when I'm under stress.
So, after being awake for about a month, I go, using the last twenty dollars I have, and I guy some Nyquil, and I also buy two boxes of over-the-counter sleeping pills. So, I drink the entire bottle of nighttime Nyquil, and I open the two boxes and I take all forty sleeping pills. All at one time. And I wait.
Did I go to sleep? No. Did I get tired in the least? NO! I did get a super major headache, which felt like my frontal lobe was "ice". Like a migraine on steroids. But I was not tired in the least. So, I lay down and I try to go to sleep, and I hear what sounds like a trumpet sound, and I look over to the window, and drapes were closed, and I see these bright "lights" start flying around the big window, and they started to make LOUD sounds of trumpets blasting, and this continued for about five minutes, then the lights disappeared.
I know, I know, you're gonna say "hallucination". Yep, that explains everything. Was I hallucinating as a 11 year old kid, about the orbs over Palm Springs, too? Even my Dad saw that.

/WorldNews

elusive_newsman
Over 1,800 Muslim clerics in Pakistan issue fatwa against suicide bombings and label them un-Islamic
Comments || Link
ORDbutlasttimemedic
China builds ‘world’s biggest air purifier’ - a 328 feet-high tower that has helped reduce smog levels over an area of 3.86 square miles
Comments || Link

/News

matt123macdoug
[Title Post] Bannon Is Subpoenaed in Mueller’s Russia Investigation
Comments || Link
guyi567
[Title Post] Japan broadcaster sends false North Korea missile alert
Comments || Link
Digital517
[Title Post] 13 victims, ages 2 to 29, kept shackled in foul CA home by parents, officials say
Comments || Link

/nottheonion

Fanrific
Passenger turned away from two flights after wearing 10 layers of clothing to avoid luggage fee
Comments || Link

/science

drewiepoodle
Wildlife species are being exposed to high levels of rat poison in northwest California, with illegal marijuana farms the most likely source point. Study found 7 of the 10 northern spotted owls and 40% of the 84 barred owls collected tested positive for rat poison.
Comments || Link

/technology

habichuelacondulce
[Title Post] The Senate’s push to overrule the FCC on net neutrality now has 50 votes
Comments || Link
maxwellhill
Net neutrality advocates look to states after FCC repeal: 'As of Friday, California, Washington, New York, Rhode Island, Nebraska and Massachusetts have all introduced net neutrality. North Carolina and Illinois are mulling similar legislation.'
Comments || Link

/gadgets

overeasyeggplant
Wireless adapter for the Vive, walk into any wall you want!
Comments || Link

/futurology

mvea
Britain's Next Megaproject: A Coast-to-Coast Forest: The plan is for 50 million new trees to repopulate one of the least wooded parts of the country—and offer a natural escape from several cities in the north.
Comments || Link

/AskReddit

LeftHandSolo
Besides Applebees, what is the worst restaurant experience you've ever had?
Comments

/TodayILearned

Konkey_Dong_Country
TIL the US Navy replaced expensive and clunky periscope controls on submarines with Xbox 360 controllers, which reduced training time from hours to minutes
Comments || Link
QuietCakeBionics
TIL a group of 15 monkeys escaped a research institute in Japan by using trees to catapult themselves over a 17ft high electric fence one by one.
Comments || Link
eggsplorer
TIL monkeys can learn to use money. Capuchins that were taught to exchange silver discs for treats began budgeting for foods they liked, buying more of something when the price dropped, and started gambling. Eventually, rich monkeys even figured out they could pay each other for sex.
Comments || Link

/cooking

natethegreatt1
What's your tastiest cold-cut sandwich "recipe?"
Comments

/food

peach_es
[Homemade] Baklava
Comments || Link || Recipe

/Movies

altaran
"DON'T WORRY, HE WON'T GET FAR ON FOOT" first trailer (New Gus Van Sant film with Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara and Jack Black)
Comments || Link

/Sports

lessons_learnt
Hockey Training for 9 Year Olds in Russia
Comments || Link

/OldSchoolCool

FarkleFingers
Meet Vikki Dougan, the inspiration for Jessica Rabbit [1954]
Comments || Link

/pics

BookerDeWittsCarbine
A toucan's beak retains its bright colors even after death
Comments || Link
tforpatato
Double lenticular clouds over Mt Rainier, Washington
Comments || Link

/gifs

Jamtonisalon
Never forget this shot.
Comments || Link
rusy
Firefighter catches little girl thrown from third story during apartment fire.
Comments || Link

/Oddlysatisfying

mokoshakalaka
Present wrapping success!
Comments || Link

/MildlyInteresting

jakerhamster
The ocean molded this clump of bricks into a rock shape
Comments || Link
_jackkk
Photo I took of the Charles River looks like two different pictures
Comments || Link

/interestingasfuck

natsdorf
Africa's smallest cat is also the world's deadliest.
Comments || Link
molnix
Camel haircut
Comments || Link

/MostBeautiful

spicedpumpkins
"Winter arrived in Hamburg"
Comments || Link

/WaterPorn

hazyhue
emerald bay. lake tahoe
Comments || Link

/Aww

9999monkeys
Give her back!!!
Comments || Link
yeasurewhateverokay
Placed a large rock on the radiator to keep it from rattling, someone is a big fan.
Comments || Link
olah123
Hi there
Comments || Link

Something New

Everyday we’ll feature a selected small subreddit and its top content. It's a fun way to include and celebrate smaller subreddits.

Today's subreddit is…

/counting

Its top 3 all time posts

skizfrenik_syco
999k...This is it everybody, the end of the road to 1 million is finally here!
Comments
theKunz1
99K Counting Thread. This is it!
Comments
Z3F
100k Counting thread. We are now in the land of six digits.
Comments

Lake Tahoe Basin: 5 things to know before you head to casinos

can you gamble in lake tahoe

can you gamble in lake tahoe - win

Hype decks and popular series of playing cards

Hell's Kitchen S20, E1: A Vegas Anniversary

S23 E09 - Rolling The Dice

The Phishhiker's Guide to the Gorge

I don't know what to title this, so I'll just go with "Arcade Weirdness". XD (Okay to share!)

My tale of almost getting caught -- can anyone here top this?

In 2019, you could go on this road trip and go to EIGHT Mountain West games before October

Week Zero

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

DAE resent their parents for not letting them behave like kids?

Anyone here into extreme sports growing up? Found this fascinating study with lots of links between them & ADHD/impulsivity...

Paradise, CA

The 1983 Murder of Terri McClure: Was She Shot by Her Own Son on His Wedding Night? (New "Trail Went Cold" Episode)

5.5 Year Relationship at a Crossroads and about to move in together

Questions about itinerary South-West USA road trip

Large orbs in the sky and sounds of trumpets

[Tuesday, January 16 2018] Bannon Is Subpoenaed in Mueller’s Russia Investigation; Japan broadcaster sends false North Korea missile alert; 13 victims, ages 2 to 29, kept shackled in foul CA home by parents, officials say; The Senate’s push to overrule the FCC on net neutrality now has 50 votes

Something New

Today's subreddit is…

can you gamble in lake tahoe video

can you gamble in lake tahoe top

Fireworks at Sokokis Lake, Maine