First a tip of the hat to Carson City, NV. When originally wanting to stop at Lake Tahoe it was just too cold so I ended up driving about 20 miles more and downhill several thousand feet to Carson City. Just for some perspective, when you make the final decent to Carson City, it is down a hill that is about 6 miles long, a nice coast. For the guy that I passed a couple of days later going up it on a bicycle and who had calves that resembled fire hydrants, it seemed like a lot of work. Ah the Yin and Yang of life! Anyway, geography not being one of my strong suits I didn’t remember that it is actually the capital of Nevada until reading the sign that said so on the route into town. Was planning on staying a day maybe two but ended up there for a full week. Carson City itself was pleasant enough, but if that was the only destination in the area I would have been gone quickly. However it is a excellent jumping off spot for Lake Tahoe, Virginia City, Reno, Gardener, (possibly the wrong) Tonapah, plus the general area is teeming with good roads to ride a motorcycle on and great scenery.
Reno, NV is somewhat legendary in my mind. Not sure why, maybe it was mentioned in a lot of westerns I watched as a kid or maybe from being in the hotel business for a long time. I remember some folks in that business comparing it to Las Vegas by saying “there’s no comparison” or calling it a “cow town”. Anyway I had to go see it. I spent two days wandering around there and it is true that there is no comparison to Las Vegas for shear size and pizazz. Most of Reno is low profile except for the casino area downtown which you can see from miles away, very much like Vegas in that sense except it only has a handful of large casinos. To me it seemed a little tired and well worn, but well maintained. I didn’t check the room rates, but if you wanted to go somewhere where you can gamble and be entertained, Vegas is probably a better and fresher option. In general there is no shortage of casinos in Nevada and some of the nearby states. If you’re going to gamble, once inside a casino they vary in size but seem mostly all the same to me. I’ve been to Las Vegas 7 or 8 times and was there for a full month once opening a hotel, but I’m still not sure what draws people to one casino or another.
Out of curiosity I did stop at one casino closer to the highway and not on the Reno strip to take a look around. Where I parked you needed to take an escalator up and then cross over a main road on a walkway. The walkway was enclosed with glass and about three or four times as wide as a normal pedestrian walkway. As soon as you get up the escalator there are already slot machines and an Oyster Bar restaurant and the area was called the Sky Terrace. It pretty much just overlooks the highway and parking lots and if you squint you can see the mountains in the background. Listen, I think it’s a great use of space and for people that don’t like too much height or distracting views while they’re eating seafood, this is probably magical. As I look down my nose a bit as I write this, I would love to see the numbers on this Sky Terrace. I’ll bet it makes a ton of money and if it does then I wish I thought of it first.
One of the days spent in Reno was May 5th, Cinco de Mayo. I was riding around on the main streets looking for some good Mexican food to celebrate. There were the usual chain fast food restaurants and a couple of suspicious sounding places like Patty O’Tools Tacos and Mort’s Kosher Mexican Food, but I was looking for the real deal. Since I’ve been through this drill a whole lot of times here’s a pro tip. Using this Mexican food quest as the example, stop for a moment and go through your best attempt at creating a logical sequence. Casinos need a lot of employees to operate, most aren’t paid enough to live in the best neighborhoods, there are a lot of Latinos in this industry, they need to eat and live and like their native foods. So start driving away from the main streets and look for neighborhoods ranging from a little less fancy to a bit run down and a lot more ethnic and once the billboards and business signage starts turning from English to Spanish, you will know your getting really close. It only took about 10 minutes and I was in the thick of a Latino neighborhood. Found a fairly busy restaurant were nobody looked like me, there was a bit of a line of what appeared to be locals and the guy behind the register spoke English with a heavy Spanish accent… bingo I win! The food was delicious and finger licking good, plus the price was reasonable.
Also as part of this pro tip, but more for traveling outside the country, typically the smaller the menu selection the better. If you make 15 or 20 things they are probably okay. If you make 5 things they are most likely all very good. If you make one or two things all day long, 6 and 7 days a week and are still in business, you have mastery over those items. This is what it is like in many other countries where there’s more street food and open restaurant fronts. Plus when out on the street searching for food you can also rely on your nose and a lot of times watch the preparation. Here in the US we’re too closed up and germaphobic in my humble opinion.
On to Virginia City, what a great place. The reason for going to Virginia City besides its historical value, was because I remember watching the western show Bonanza on Sunday nights at home as a boy. For those old enough, can’t you just hear the theme song rattling around in your head now? The Ponderosa ranch owned by the Cartwright’s on the show was near here and I can still remember Hoss and Little Joe saying “Pa, we’re going to Virginia City” in some of the episodes. Okay, I know, grow up already. Have to tell you though, when I stopped in the visitor information center there were some folks in there asking questions about how far the Cartwright’s would have lived from here and talking about some of the episodes. Be it Bonanza or just because you’re in the area you should check this place out. The town is definitely worth a few hours of exploration on foot and the area is full of great roads and scenery. There are many historic landmarks, buildings that look like you would expect in a western town, little museums and just walking around checking out the shops and places like the Bucket of Blood Saloon was fun. There’s also a relic in one of the bars called the Suicide Table where three of the previous owners of that table lost big and then killed themselves. Lot of folk lore around these parts and some of the locals hang around town in vintage clothes, some on horseback dressed like they are from back in the day. Again it’s off season right now and the town seemed busy, so once the summer hits this place is probably hopping. Virginia City seems to be a great place for young and old.
Getting to Virginia City from Carson City is a nice ride and at one point on the way there’s a fork in the road, one for cars and one for trucks. I looped back around and took them both and either one is worth the ride and view. If you’re coming to Virginia City from Reno there’s only one way to get to town, coming in over the mountains. Excellent ride and one of those that you probably want to do “too fast” especially on a motorcycle. I actually did this route three times while I was in the area and after getting a feel for the road I opened up the throttle a bit on the last trip coming south from Reno. Although I was really cutting the bike loose, leaning into the turns and pushing pretty hard, a Mustang came roaring up behind me and I let them pass. The driver waved a thank you and was gone in a flash. I’m usually a conservative rider now a days, but every once in a while I still let ‘er rip when I feel comfortable with the road conditions. It was just one of those perfect days, on a perfect road and what could go wrong? On the last mile before getting to Virginia City, a pick up truck was coming from the other direction and had his hand out the window making a motion to slow down. I did. In short order coming around a tight turn I saw flashing lights and there ahead was a pick up truck that was driven by someone who was probably feeling it today too. However, they didn’t make this one turn and the truck was now creased up against the guard rail. It looked like everyone was okay and the driver will probably come away smarter, with a story to tell and a sizable insurance deductible to pay. The incident reminded me of something Hunter S. Thompson wrote about pushing your limits on a motorcycle. It was something to the effect of “on a motorcycle (or car in this case) the only way to truly know where your limits are is when you cross them and crash.” I think I’ll stick to my more conservative riding style. Remember, stay safe out there kids.
Today’s side note is about my needing to practice compassion and remembering to help others along the way a little bit more. Spending almost my whole life in the NY Metro area, you get a bit hardened to the human condition. No doubt in other places too. I see people looking for a hand out and I’m usually suspicious right away. So the night before leaving Carson City and heading west I happened to stop in a farm supply store, because we don’t have a lot of those in Paterson, NJ. and I was curious. When leaving I drove out of the back exit that was next to a McDonald’s. Standing in the back parking lot was a guy I’ll guess was about 60 years old with a shopping cart of his valuables. I drove by. The next morning before leaving town I had a craving for a Egg McMuffin, so I went back to that same McDonalds. Standing in that exact spot, not looking for anything or trying to get people to give him cash, was the same guy and his cart. I went in and got my sandwich and ordered an extra one. I went outside and walked over to the now startled guy. I asked him if he would like some breakfast and he said “really”? I gave him the bag and it kind of caught him off guard, but a moment later in return he grabbed me and gave me a king size hug while thanking and blessing me over and over. It helped to remind me that for sure some folks can use a little breakfast on occasion or a helping hand once in a while. All I can tell you is that it was well worth the couple of dollars for that hug.
So as I break “camp”, saddle up and get ready to ride off into the sunset, all in all it was a good week in the Carson City, Reno, Virginia City area with a lot to do and a lot to see.
Campers: There are lots of camping opportunities in the area and even Virginia City itself has an RV park right in town. I’m experimenting with how little I can spend on overnights on this particular trip and this week I spent $0.00, so it is possible to do this area on the budget plan.
Bikers: Excellent riding in this area. As mentioned in a previous post, I recommend staying off the couple of main highways and almost every other road is a good ride with great scenery.
Stretch: The stretch this trip was at least making an attempt to be a little more aware and observant of folks that might need a little compassion and help. It’s a combination of stretch since this isn’t a natural thing for me to do yet and it’s also part of the philosophy I’m working on to help others along the way. It’s only a sandwich this time but it’s still progress (no matter the amount) in the right direction.