After several days in Elko, it feels good to be back on the road.
Cooking breakfast at a rest area.
A leftover image from the Stumble Inn. I got to meet the owner's dog. He likes to
hang out at the front door and watch the traffic go by. I miss Echo sometimes.
Another leftover image from the Stumble Inn -- to go with another don't start shit
sign below. In addition, I saw a good one in the Silver Dollar Club: "We reserve
the right to refuse service to anyone no matter who you are, who you think you
are, how much money you have, or who your daddy is!"
I checked the Internet, and the only trivia place in Northern Nevada outside Reno
is the Spare Time bowling alley in Winnemucca. I tracked it down and here it is.
I'll stay in Winnemucca and get a trivia fix.
I got excited when I saw the interesting looking Martin Hotel right across the
street. But it turned out to be a wonderful Basque restaurant, no longer a hotel.
Boy, it smelled good in there -- must be the garlic.
And right next to the Martin Hotel is this interesting looking place. It turns out that
some of the people in there are going to Burning Man.
If you fight in the Mineshaft, you are barred for life. But you can fight in the
parking lot and you are only barred for the night.
Two blocks down the hill, I found Winners Hotel and Casino with rooms for $42,
including tax. I checked the campgrounds on the way into town and they weren't
very good (camping on gravel). So I stayed here.
I could even get a job -- hiring in all areas. And 24 ounce beers for a buck.
Nice, big room at ground level.
They gave me a free dollar to gamble with, so I put $20 down for $3 black jack,
and I turned it into $32, plus a free beer while I was playing, plus a coupon
for another free beer. I was winning consistently when I quit -- $12 ahead.
I tried the nickel slot machine and turned $5 into $6, and quit. So now the cost of
my room is down to $29. Time to play trivia.
As I walk up to Spare Time for trivia, I look back at Winners Casino. See my
white van parked on the street, next to my room?
I walked up and played trivia three different times during the afternoon and evening.
The first time I checked out the place and had a double cheeseburger for lunch.
I like the board -- lots of different people on it. I ended up making friends with
Denny later in the evening. He's the only liberal I've met in these small, Western towns.
Walking back to my room with Winnemucca Mountain in the background. When I
leave Burning Man, I take my trash and disposables to the sanitary waste place
on the back of this mountain, but I've never stayed here before.
Eventually, in the late evening, there were enough people playing trivia (8) so
that the winner of each game got a free drink. Here my free one.
To Reno
I'll spend one more night somewhere near Reno and meet Gail at the airport tomorrow.
Back on the road, driving across Northern Nevada.