PRINEVILLE, OR -- A pit stop before a camping trip was worth $30,000 for a Prineville man. Joe Martin says he and his new girlfriend, Dani, stopped at a Prineville gas station to get sodas before heading into the mountains. He had a little extra money and picked up the $3 Pirates Gold Scratch-It.
After they got settled at the campsite, Martin says he scratched the ticket and saw a three; he thought he’d earned his money back. Then he saw a bunch of zeros and realized it was a $30,000 winner. When they returned to the store and scanned the ticket, they realized he had really won, "I was jumping and whooping and freaking out," he said. "The clerk had me sign the back of the ticket immediately."
He plans to use the money to expand his glass art business, "We can get more artists and a better space now," he told Oregon Lottery officials.