Wasn't sure quite where to put this, since it isn't really a field report and mostly observations from my August trip this year.
My original plan had involved driving out to Nevada over about 4 days, with some personal interest stops on the way, then join up for LPIN Gathering. Due to a work related delay, that plan went out the window. I basically reversed the plan, since a couple of buddies had said they wanted to go out to West Texas with me, unfortunately they both canceled out. If I'd known that I would have stuck to my original trip profile and had an easier time of the return route, reducing it to smaller bites of road on the way back. this would have also permitted the Parumph stop I had originally planned. I would probably also have been much less tired on my first couple of days in the Reno area.
After about ten days visiting with family and friends, I headed for Reno, by way of Monument Valley, Arches and Dinosaur Parks/Monuments. Arriving in Reno on the 8th of August, I proceeded to the Wildhorse and Mustang (see my report on JayLynn for more detail). I spent most of the time at the Wildhorse recovering from about 12 hours on the road and coming up with a planning change to deal with not having been able to shower and change. I did take a couple of tours and though I got price walked, did get to see some of the changes. The Sybian room seems inrigueing, at least as a preliminary warm-up, some of the appliances are rather astounding. Finally checking into my hotel in Carson at about 2AM, I called it a night.
The drive in had some odd moments. I came by way of Ely and Fallon, since I had wanted to check on some opportunities at the railroad museum in Ely. Crossing over from Utah, I had encountered some sort of bicycling event, with all female riders heading in the same direction, which made for pleasant viewing. There was a rather cute blonde who was picking up something out of the road, around a blind curve next to where they had parked their support van, who almost became a hood ornament. She did have a nice smile, even if her judgement was less than stellar. Halfway between Ely and Fallon, descending the mountains, I stopped for gas at a chevron station. The Shell would have been a better choice since the Chevron was not a pay at the pump operation and the operator did not know how to run a credit card. Fortunately I had cash other than my fun money.
I spent most of Monday checking out my old field localities from the Fish and Wildlife days and doing things that aren't available on the East coast. It was nice to see how well the Truckee was looking and I really enjoyed indulging my taste in hole-in-the-wall Mexican food joints.Later that afternoon I went over to the Love Ranch, which I still remember as Kitty's. I talked to a couple of the girls on the day shift and took a tour. Between residual fatigue and having the couple of ladies that most interested me departing for photoshoots, I ended up not partying there. There was one Phillipina lady who was aggressive to the point of being annoying, I kept waiting to be told that she loved me, no shit and that I should buy her a Honda. Finishing my beer, I left as soon as I could gracefully do so and went up the hill to the Bunny Ranch.
The Bunny Ranch was nice, particularly considering what it was like when I used to go there and I took a tour with, I think, Cami Parker. She was cute, pleasant and my preferred body type, but the $800.00 opening bid was way above my price range, so I retired to the bar to have a couple of beers and watch the show. One thing that was different on this particular visit was that the girls don't mingle. In the past, there always seemed to be a number of ladies who were more than willing to just sit or stand at the bar and talk to whatever guys were there. I don't know if it was declining an $800.00 party and thus demonstrating that whaling season was not at hand or it is a peculiarity of the day shift, but they seemed pretty standoffish and formed little groups in other parts of the bar and parlour. I often make my party decisions based on conversations I've had with a lady earlier in the day or even week (see Phoenix field report), so with me, anyway, taking the time to be freindly can pay off, later. While I was there, several of the girls tried to order delivery pizza, only to be told by Pizza Hut, that they didn't deliver to the Bunny Ranch anymore, rather rudely, it seems, since the previous tip was perceived as inadequate. This created quite a stir and eventually brought Dennis Hof to the parlour, where he held court. I seemed to rub him the wrong way, though I'm not sure why, perhaps because I was drinking beer rather than partying that day, but since the individual beers cost about 2/3 as much as a six pack, he was still making a buck off of me and didn't if I might be, as I was, developing a feel for possible later adventures. He was quite expansive with three guys who had partied while I was there, having pictures taken with them and buying them drinks.
I will freely admit that the whole "Daddy" thing really creeps me out, so maybe this was reflected in body language or possibly just the fact that when he did say hi, my return greeting was casual and perhaps insufficiently enthusiastic. He seems a likable enough guy and runs a nice establishment, but it's not exactly like meeting a Medal of Honor awardee or someone who has made a major scientific breakthrough.
After Dennis left, I took a tour with a girl who had apparently appeared in a couple of the Hustler franchise videos. Recieving a quote for $2,500.00 for sex and $500.00 for a back rub, I decided to call it a day at the Bunny Ranch, since the objective was a party and not a permanent purchase or long term lease, either of which which would have been too crowded in the Jeep, anyway. The last time I was there, there seemed to be plenty of attractive ladies who worked in the the $300 - $500 range and were at least happy to converse. Maybe the evening shift just operates differently, next time I'll come by later and see if there is a difference.
Returning down the hill, I checked out the KitKat and Sagebrush, taking a tour at each, but between fatigue and having bruised myself earlier that day, didn't party. I will say that the general feel of the Sagebrush has improved since the last time I was there and I really enjoyed talking to Alexis, the subject of Ironman's many videos. I will almost certainly go by again, next trip, my opinion of the place having improved enormously.
Tuesday brought the Phoenixx adventure, as covered in my field report.
Wednesday, I had originally planned on stopping by the MLBR and meeting Anna Suvari, but between time compression and my Monday experience at the Bunny Ranch, I decided to head on up to Wyoming and then back East. This was fortuitous in that I ended up having to replace an alternator on the way back, so the unexpended party funds came in handy.
Overall a fun and satisfying portion of my trip, even if I didn't do as many parties as I had wanted to, the pair that I had were positively first rate. Phoenixx has made me a definite fan of the VIP room (or whatever the correct terminology is) party and I plan to explore this further in the future. One lesson learned was that my original route plan was the correct one, since it would have placed the bulk of the driving into the first few days and made the rest a series of much smaller segments (Kansas seems to go on forever). I also felt like some sort of weird weather god, since I got rained on and faced stiff headwinds, a problem in a Jeep, during the whole trip. I plan to be out again, next summer, fonances permiotting and hope to make at least one trip between now and then, over a long week end, traveling via airline (I refuse to call airline travel flying, since it's more akin to a somewhat faster bus ride than actually flying, Fred knows what I mean).Hopefully I can reach the point of coming out there 3 or 4 times a year.
Also, thanks to IB for corrections and additions, such as the photo links made to my field reports.
One final note: Phoenixx told me that the ladies at Mustang and Wildhorse aren't allowed access to LPIN sites other than their house sites, apparently due to harrasment somewhere. Since she asked me to tender a report, I'll have to cross post to the Mustang board for her field report.
