New2view's Blog   Life on The Blue Marble

Perhaps this should be entitled ‘Amazing Car Show’ because that was the point of this experience.

It was near sunset when I landed right behind a classic airplane  called ‘Waco’, from Washington State. My Mooney airplane sppeared slightly intimidated 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, his wife, and friend. I accepted his kind offer to share a cab into town. Such immediate private pilot friendship and trust is common and very gratifying.

Entering a typical Reno 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, not having any interest in gambling, (or his wife)!  When they returned I went out looking for an overnight place to stay. As it turned out there were ‘no vacancy’s’ everywhere that night. So getting a little desperate I ventured into a large 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. Actually it was said as a joke! 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 early in the morning to an audience of giggling cleaning women in the laundry room!

It had been slightly more than a whim to visit the famous Harahs’ Reno car collection, a truly amazing collection of literally hundreds of cars.  Some were even ‘one-of-a kind’ creations by brilliant inventors that had never reached production stage, mainly due to financial limits.  All the cars were located in several large hanger-like garages.

So taking a shuttle bus that day from Harahs’ cassino bus stop, a tour group of us went to the car collection, a truly amazing experience. I doubt even Jay Lennoe’s famous car collection today would compare! But this was in the 70’s and I understand that amazing collection has since been eliminated as part of Harah’s family estate.

Without doubt this was another of my adventurous flying experiences.