Our destination is Montego Bay — a gambling casino that, despite its name, sits at the edge of a dried-up primordial lake. We are on the "fun bus" to West Wendover, Nev., along with 50 other riders, nearly all of them Utahns.

It is raining and kind of gloomy as we enter the western desert, but inside the fun bus, spirits are high. We are sailing along I-80, through the surreal topography of salt and emptiness, toward the border and its faux Caribbean paradise. Already we have left behind our ordinary lives and are hurtling toward a place where we have no assignments due or laundry to wash.

In their towns of Tremonton and Centerville, Beth Ballard and Fae Francis are senior citizens. On the fun bus they're teenagers again, giggling about the penny slots looming on the far horizon. Ballard and Francis met because Francis' sister-in-law was Ballard's neighbor. The three were gambling buddies for years — coming out to Wendover since before there was anything on the north side of the street, says Francis — and when the sister-in-law died 10 years ago, the two friends took on the task of cleaning out her house.

They found her gambling money in a jar and decided the best way to honor their friend was to take the money to Wendover on her next birthday. They've been celebrating her birthday that way every September since then. And making other trips for fun, as well.

This morning Ballard got up at 5:30 to catch the fun bus in Ogden at 7:30, stopping in Salt Lake City to pick up more passengers at 9. There are several fun buses, including Le Bus and Donna's Tours, which make the round-trip to Wendover seven days a week, sometimes twice a day, sometimes six or seven buses at a time. For $12 you get the ride and a coupon book good for a free $10 buffet, $7 in cash and a free cocktail. You could theoretically take the trip, not gamble and come out ahead. On Le Bus, the bingo games start part way through the desert. For one dollar you can play three games, for the chance of winning $15. Technically, that's gambling, which is illegal in Utah even if you're in transit.

"The first game will be a blackout," says our "host," Bob Eva, talking through a microphone at the front of the bus. He begins to call out the numbers and we scan our cards, already feeling lucky.

"How about a whiteout," shouts a woman at the front of the bus, whose luck is lagging behind.

Later, after Jane Brown from Oley, Penn., shouts out "Bingo," Eva presents her with her winnings, then passes out Styrofoam cups full of soft drinks. Outside our windows the rain has stopped and the sun is shining.