Hi JW,
Thanks for the welcome. We live outside Pittsburgh Pa.

but vacation 2 weeks every summer out in Orange County, California

with some freinds that live there.
The large indian reservation casino's that we've been to are all first class properties. Spas, swimming pools, restaurants, shops and luxurious accomodations, just like the big boys in Vegas. The big difference is you can't walk out of one casino and right into another like you can in Vegas and you don't get free drinks. The casinos in California are spread out all over the state. We consider Pala and Rincon north east of San Diego, Chumach near the scenic town of Solvang and Morongo out near Palm Springs to be really nice places to stay and play. Really 1st class accomodations just like in Vegas.
Then you have the many smaller indian reservation casinos. From a distance, look just like big warehouses. But, once inside you'll find insulated, air-conditioned well lit gaming areas. You'll usually find two or three large slot rooms, a snack bar and clean restrooms. What's really neat about these smaller casinos is the slot's themselves. You'll see some of the new machines you find in Vegas but then you might see a few older machines that you haven't seen or played in years. You won't see a high-rollers area in the small casinos. They are unique and very charming places to stop and play on a day of site-seeing the State of California.
One day in the future we hope to relocate to the warm climate of Southern California, but for now all we can do is enjoy and explore during our 2 week vacations there.
George