caravanman
Engineer
Reno, Sacramento and Las Vegas...
I arrived in Reno by Amtrak train from Chicago on Sunday 7th September, tired and grubby after two nights on the train.
A long shower and a few hours sleep worked wonders, and so the adventure continues...
My hotel is part of a casino, which means that if you play your cards right, so to speak, you can get a room at a quite reasonable price... They assume you will gamble and so they more than recoup the low cost room price, but not so in my case!
This casino has the roughest looking players ever... you would think you were in a movie, where the inmates are ancient, sluggish, haggard zombies, forced to endlessly feed their machine masters ... Elegant it ‘aint.
My room was fine, good views out, and being right next to the Amtrak station, very convenient.
Food is a slight problem for me when I travel, I prefer to eat low sugar, low salt, low fat products, which is a challenge both on Amtrak and with many of the popular food offerings. I enjoyed a Vietnamese meal, and managed to find a good supermarket for fruit and such, as well as a nice Russian owned cafe, where I got good coffee, good conversation, and free wifi...
Downtown Reno is pretty ragged, many vacant properties, quite a few street people wandering about. Enjoyed a long walk down the main road, Virginia Street, and visited several alternative antique and quirky curio type establishments.
Weather very hot and sunny, so even the downtown felt cheerful.
Gathering of hot rods and old restored cars nearby... it's amazing what is allowed on the roads here, some very cool home made contraptions were too fast for my camera to snap.
The Truckee river flows through town, they have made the area nice in the recent past, but sadly it seems to now be lacking a bit of upkeep. Several folk swimming in the shallow water, nice that it is allowed, some places have too many health and safety notices.
A few days of relaxation, and my own room, and soon time to move on to Sacramento.
The main bus interchange for Reno is very close to the station, and I assumed my Greyhound would go from there too... Joined up public transport?? Not in Reno, the Greyhound depot is about 10 blocks away, quite a hike again with the cases.
Greyhound advise getting there an hour early, so I did. I was annoyed to find that I had to pay $15 for my second case... the info was on their website but not visible as part of the ticket purchase procedure. Seems silly that a guy with one case bigger than my two together got away free... never mind, I will know next time.
An elderly Philippine woman sat next to me, I remarked that it was good to have a slim seating companion, and she said that was why she had sat next to me too! She was very good company, widely travelled, and we had a long chat. I had been to Sacramento Greyhound some years before, so was surprised to find the Sacramento depot had since moved. Fortunately, my seating companion was taking the bus downtown, and pointed out my stop for the hostel.
I really like the Sacramento hostel, it is located in a 3 story Victorian house that has been “raised up” twice and moved on wheels to it’s current resting place.
Part of the fun of hostels, for me, is meeting fellow travellers, one never knows who the room mates will be...
I had an upstairs room, and an American guy of a similar age to myself was already in residence. He turned out to be rather selfish, and insisted in placing the only fan in the room so it blew directly onto his bed. I later overheard him on his phone trying to find some “radar to look through walls”, turns out he suspected his wife was cheating on him and wanted to spy on her! I hope she was enjoying herself, he was cold towards me too... probably too much breeze from that fan!
One big plus for me with hostels is the facility to use a kitchen to cook food, so after a visit to the supermarket I was quite well fed for the next several days.
Had a ride out to Folsom historical district on the tram, as well as other routes, and a look around the old town and along the river... weather very hot again, 100F degrees, about 38C. Too warm to walk far, at least for an old fart like me! One first for me here, I saw a guy drinking moonshine from a screw top jar!
Met some very interesting people at this hostel, one lady who “house and pet minded” and was also trained to do voice work, for radio and talking books, etc.
One rather loud lady who said she was a clairvoyant... not sure if she could tell I thought she was full of bull s*** or not... probably she could, as she was so “gifted”
A rather abrupt lady who was looking for a permanent place to live, and many more of the usual suspects one meets in hostels.
A most interesting Australian professional photographer was one of the guests, she had been working at a summer camp, and had her quality camera and other valuables stolen in the New York bus station... On reporting the theft, she was told it happens daily, and still there was no security on duty. Logic?
She managed to buy a used film camera with several lenses, her preferred shooting medium, while at the hostel for a good price.
Her being a very cool person, she invited a few of us out for a look at an art event and drinks and we walked to a bar. Sacramento has some damn fine places to drink, if this venue is anything to go by, and I had a most enjoyable time. She mentioned that I looked passable from the head to the ankles, but my sandals were not much of a babe magnet! Sadly for me, thankfully for the youngsters, I had to be up at 5.30 next morning, so I went back to the hostel early and left them unsupervised ;-)
Interesting Canadian guys in the room on the last night, attending a music event and doing a sky dive.
Amtrak bus from Sacramento station to Stockton, then train to Bakersfield. A young girl sat at the opposite table, and a guy heavily tattooed asked if he could sit there too... He never stopped talking, The girl had my admiration as she parried him with interjections of "awesome!", "cool!" and "wow!"
His story might be true, involving just that day leaving prison, having cancer, his kid, drugs, his drugged up wife, etc, etc... The young girl was highly educated, and managed him very well... glad he did not choose me to sit and talk to!
Bakersfield to Las Vegas by Amtrak bus, all in all a long tiring day’s travel again... Feel travel is taking a bigger toll on me than ever before... must be my age
To be continued...
Ed
I arrived in Reno by Amtrak train from Chicago on Sunday 7th September, tired and grubby after two nights on the train.
A long shower and a few hours sleep worked wonders, and so the adventure continues...
My hotel is part of a casino, which means that if you play your cards right, so to speak, you can get a room at a quite reasonable price... They assume you will gamble and so they more than recoup the low cost room price, but not so in my case!
This casino has the roughest looking players ever... you would think you were in a movie, where the inmates are ancient, sluggish, haggard zombies, forced to endlessly feed their machine masters ... Elegant it ‘aint.
My room was fine, good views out, and being right next to the Amtrak station, very convenient.
Food is a slight problem for me when I travel, I prefer to eat low sugar, low salt, low fat products, which is a challenge both on Amtrak and with many of the popular food offerings. I enjoyed a Vietnamese meal, and managed to find a good supermarket for fruit and such, as well as a nice Russian owned cafe, where I got good coffee, good conversation, and free wifi...
Downtown Reno is pretty ragged, many vacant properties, quite a few street people wandering about. Enjoyed a long walk down the main road, Virginia Street, and visited several alternative antique and quirky curio type establishments.
Weather very hot and sunny, so even the downtown felt cheerful.
Gathering of hot rods and old restored cars nearby... it's amazing what is allowed on the roads here, some very cool home made contraptions were too fast for my camera to snap.
The Truckee river flows through town, they have made the area nice in the recent past, but sadly it seems to now be lacking a bit of upkeep. Several folk swimming in the shallow water, nice that it is allowed, some places have too many health and safety notices.
A few days of relaxation, and my own room, and soon time to move on to Sacramento.
The main bus interchange for Reno is very close to the station, and I assumed my Greyhound would go from there too... Joined up public transport?? Not in Reno, the Greyhound depot is about 10 blocks away, quite a hike again with the cases.
Greyhound advise getting there an hour early, so I did. I was annoyed to find that I had to pay $15 for my second case... the info was on their website but not visible as part of the ticket purchase procedure. Seems silly that a guy with one case bigger than my two together got away free... never mind, I will know next time.
An elderly Philippine woman sat next to me, I remarked that it was good to have a slim seating companion, and she said that was why she had sat next to me too! She was very good company, widely travelled, and we had a long chat. I had been to Sacramento Greyhound some years before, so was surprised to find the Sacramento depot had since moved. Fortunately, my seating companion was taking the bus downtown, and pointed out my stop for the hostel.
I really like the Sacramento hostel, it is located in a 3 story Victorian house that has been “raised up” twice and moved on wheels to it’s current resting place.
Part of the fun of hostels, for me, is meeting fellow travellers, one never knows who the room mates will be...
I had an upstairs room, and an American guy of a similar age to myself was already in residence. He turned out to be rather selfish, and insisted in placing the only fan in the room so it blew directly onto his bed. I later overheard him on his phone trying to find some “radar to look through walls”, turns out he suspected his wife was cheating on him and wanted to spy on her! I hope she was enjoying herself, he was cold towards me too... probably too much breeze from that fan!
One big plus for me with hostels is the facility to use a kitchen to cook food, so after a visit to the supermarket I was quite well fed for the next several days.
Had a ride out to Folsom historical district on the tram, as well as other routes, and a look around the old town and along the river... weather very hot again, 100F degrees, about 38C. Too warm to walk far, at least for an old fart like me! One first for me here, I saw a guy drinking moonshine from a screw top jar!
Met some very interesting people at this hostel, one lady who “house and pet minded” and was also trained to do voice work, for radio and talking books, etc.
One rather loud lady who said she was a clairvoyant... not sure if she could tell I thought she was full of bull s*** or not... probably she could, as she was so “gifted”
A rather abrupt lady who was looking for a permanent place to live, and many more of the usual suspects one meets in hostels.
A most interesting Australian professional photographer was one of the guests, she had been working at a summer camp, and had her quality camera and other valuables stolen in the New York bus station... On reporting the theft, she was told it happens daily, and still there was no security on duty. Logic?
She managed to buy a used film camera with several lenses, her preferred shooting medium, while at the hostel for a good price.
Her being a very cool person, she invited a few of us out for a look at an art event and drinks and we walked to a bar. Sacramento has some damn fine places to drink, if this venue is anything to go by, and I had a most enjoyable time. She mentioned that I looked passable from the head to the ankles, but my sandals were not much of a babe magnet! Sadly for me, thankfully for the youngsters, I had to be up at 5.30 next morning, so I went back to the hostel early and left them unsupervised ;-)
Interesting Canadian guys in the room on the last night, attending a music event and doing a sky dive.
Amtrak bus from Sacramento station to Stockton, then train to Bakersfield. A young girl sat at the opposite table, and a guy heavily tattooed asked if he could sit there too... He never stopped talking, The girl had my admiration as she parried him with interjections of "awesome!", "cool!" and "wow!"
His story might be true, involving just that day leaving prison, having cancer, his kid, drugs, his drugged up wife, etc, etc... The young girl was highly educated, and managed him very well... glad he did not choose me to sit and talk to!
Bakersfield to Las Vegas by Amtrak bus, all in all a long tiring day’s travel again... Feel travel is taking a bigger toll on me than ever before... must be my age
To be continued...
Ed
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