New2view's Blog   Life on The Blue Marble

It was at or near sunset when I landed right behind a classic biplane Waco from Washington State. My Mooney airplane was slightly intimidated by the Waco as I parked alongside it. The Waco is a true classic bi-plane with radial engine and great performance.

When I checked in to airport registry I met the friendly owner of the Waco airplane *, from Washington State, his wife, and friend and accepted his offer to share a cab into town. Such immediate private pilot friendship and trust is common and gratifying.

Entering a casino he asked me to look after his wife(!) at a bar while he and his friend were going to do some gambling. So we had a drink together. I had no interest in gambling, or his wife, so when they returned I went out on my own looking for an overnight place to stay.

It had been slightly more than a whim to visit the famous Harahs’ Reno car collection, a truly amazing collection of cars, some were even ‘one-of-a kind’ creations by brilliant inventors, located in several large  garages. 

As it turned out there were ‘no vacancy’s’ everywhere that night. So I was getting a little desperate. Finally I ventured into a decent hotel and asked the desk clerk if he ‘had a rollaway for the laundry room?‘  To this very day I do not know where that idea came from, but apparently he assumed I was a tour bus driver and the idea was not totally unknown to him, for a modest fee that is!

Needless to say it was a very odd experience to wake up with an audience of chuckling cleaning women in the laundry room!  In any case a shuttle bus took us out from Harahs’ cassino bus stop to the car collection, a truly amazing experience..This was in the 70’s and sadly that amazing collection has since been eliminated.

Another episode in my adventurous, perhaps somewhat outrageous, flying experiences.

* http://Visit WACO airplanes here!