I took the 395 into Reno. I did not want to stop here & was only looking for the Tourist Info office which was a pain to find. I realised the address in my guide book was incorrect after driving around the centre for a while. I phoned them and their offices were way on the other side of town. The lady was really helpful & I decided that I may as well go down into the Lake Tahoe area as the storm did not appear to be too bad.

However, I took the long route to Tahoe City (80 to Truckee & then 89 down into Tahoe City) because I was really worried about snow fall... all reports were saying storm coming in today & I'm nervous of being caught. The roads were actually quite fine.

I checked into the Pepper Tree Inn with a lake view... only the view was actually really from the corridor outside my door. No matter. I set off with purpose into the village to check out the lay of the land. I even managed to get to the thrift shop and purchase a second hand book for 50c - bargain!! The walk through town took me roughly 20mins and that was with the stop for my big purchase. This is a really small & very quiet place. I cannot imagine they have apres skiing here.

On my way back to the Inn, I chanced upon a little pub called Pete & Peter's. I decided to venture in even though it was only approx 4pm... what the hell I'm on holiday. Well it was like something out of a movie... the local hicks, all men, were sitting on stools around the bar. They all turned to stare so I could not escape, but my heart sank. No matter, being a fearless traveller I also pulled up a stool, sat down & ordered a pint of Blue Moon Belgian White Ale - quite nice too. I got chatting to Mark who is a bartender at another pub, but was obviously not working. Also met Alma... yes that is a female name... apparently he was named after his grandmother. Then there was Wyatt who had a mo on him to rival any YMCA singer... I overheard him speaking of the 340 hours of community service that he had just completed & something about losing his licence for 18 months. Hicksville? Perhaps, but very sweet people. I got a drink on the house from the barman (Alf). Then I got another from some girl called Jen (I think!) who was buying for the whole bar. I also noticed a drink advertised called "Irish Red Head" which was Jameson & Red Bull - yuk.

So after numberous drinks I stagger out & up the road to Rosies Cafe for a burger & chips.