Biker Weekend - Day 69

I headed out early this morning, with not much on the agenda. And that's what happened, until I got to Elko.

The first and only stop for the day was Pyramid Lake, NV. It was less than an hour from Reno, and was from the Scenic Drive book. It was scenic. What I want to know is where are all the people. This being my first trip since school let out, I would have expected crowds of people arriving all day. But I had the lake to myself, spare a few fishermen, who I dared not approach. Beautiful lake, but no Lake Tahoe.

Nonetheless, the drive was short and sweet. The best thing they had at the lake was a wildlife preserve where they are helping secure the breeding of white pelicans. But that area was not accessible, so I just took in the views, snapped some pictures of the scenery and headed out for Elko, NV, about 250 boring miles on Route 80. There aren't many options when crossing the desert, so the main route is the only route.

I arrived at Elko around 4PM. It was shortly thereafter that it dawned on me that the enormous quantity of Harley's I'd encountered during the drive was abnormal. After all, Biker's are the second most dense population of Road Trippers (the densest Road Trippers are, of course, AARP members - dense pun intended.) I drove half way through Elko, before I was forced off the road, routed on a dirt path, and herded into a stand-by location. A moment later the parade of bikers crept along the road, loud as hell, flags waving, honking it up, and clearly pleasing us unsuspecting travellers.

Bikers are the nicest group of people you'd ever want to meet. If I were stranded on the road, I don't think I'd trust anybody as much as bikers. They're real people. CuzJoe, sell all those cars, and sign up for a Harley Davidson.

Four blocks were quardened off for the street fair. I've been to a kajillion street fairs, half of them in Hobken, but also many others. They're all the same with standard artists, similar vendors, and smoking food stations. I now know they're not all the same. A biker street fair is so much better. The people-watching alone is fantastic. And every booth was a booth I never saw in Hoboken. Leather, belt buckles, helmets, boots, tattoo artists, decal specialists, bike polishing experts, and the Copenhagen Snuff Corner. Just a riot end-to-end.

The food vendors were so bizarre and tempting that it almost made me feel bad that I went to the Road Food recommendation and had an awesome dinner. Basque food seems to be big in Nevada. The book had led me to a Basque restaurant, not knowing what to expect. From what I can tell, the Basque cuisine is like the German, specifically Herling, cuisine, only it tastes better.

Just before I got a menu, a tureen of soup larger than Pho in SF was placed in front of me. I had read about this, so I dug in. It is a Basque soup which reminded me of what I think a lentil soup would taste like if I ever tasted one. I ordered some wine and perused the menu. Every single dinner comes with: the aforementioned Basque soup, a LOAF of bread, iceberg lettuce salad, about a pound of spaghetti in red sauce, fingerling potatoes, vegetable of the day, and of course what you order. I ordered the pork chops with applesauce. The vegetable was steamed green beans and were bland. I engulfed most of the rest. I gained 10 pounds and it was worth it.

I ended the night with a little blackjack and lost a hundred. But I played the night away with a variety of bikers from all over, and a few members of the military who are have been in Iraq and are clearly insane. Good random meets.

On the way out I decided to play $20 in the slots. 20 minutes later, I was cashing in the voucher for $400. So up $300, not bad. And I no longer am concerned about being in a casino with my gambling addiction. The addiction has been diagnosed as an online issue only...I can easily walk away from a real casino.

Fun night, and heading off to bed now. Got some walleye fish stories to contend with tomorrow.