The first night of the my trip was unnerving. Instead of staying in a KOA campground in Reno I had made reservations for a Hotel 6 room. Situated at a freeway exit, it was easy to find. They gave me a second floor, corner room in the back of the complex.
There was plenty of parking so I parked in an open area against the bushes. Having an old vacuum cleaner, cleaning supplies, a rolled up rug, and some other miscellaneous items in the bed of the truck, I didn’t want to park in a place that would suggest, “please take whatever you want from the truck bed.” If any of the stuff was taken it would have been more of a dissapointment in human nature as opposed to a loss.
Going up to my room I notice some guys watching me from two hotel rooms with the doors wide open. It crosses my mind that they’re just taking in the fresh air of this nice cool night. As I’m struggling with the key to my room one of the guys heads towards me asking if I need help. “NO,” I quickly say. Now I’m on high alert.
I get into my room and notice the strong stale smell. Yuck! It’s clean though. Back out at the truck while gathering the remaining items I need for the night, some guy, by himself, in a Town Car or Cadillac or something backs in and just sits there with the drivers window rolled down. What’s he doing? Then he gets out of the car, walks toward the back where the trunk meets the bushes and urinates. Major YUCK! Then a van with two people backs in and they sit there. They seem to know the guy in the car. Are they dealing drugs or what?
Once in my room again, I’m feeling really uneasy. I can report this at the hotel check-in desk. But what is she going to do? Instead I go back down to the car so I can move it to a different place. The guy from the Lincoln/Cadillac car approaches me looking for a cigarette. Acck! I drive around the parking lot but unfortunately there aren’t any spots that look better/safer. So I park it right under the door of my room between two cars that look like they’re owned by average people needing a place to stay for the night.
Tomorrow I head towards Susanville, California.
It’s 11:30 and I finally sleep.
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could . . .
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Yikes! That does not sound like a very nice sleeping establishment. And Mr. Public Urination should have his own cigarettes. Reno is the biggest little nasty town in the world. =D