Nomad Life - Day 91

After a pretty restful sleep, I woke up (with alarm) at 0430 and started teleworking in my room at the Carson City Motel 6.  Actual meetings started at 0600 and, during one short break, I made breakfast in the room.  Otherwise, I kept at it until my East Coast colleagues had their lunch break (0900).  Unfortunately, the WiFi quit on me again - fortunately, I was able to use my iPhone hot spot to stay engaged when the work meetings resumed at 1000.  Even better, the Internet returned before we were finished (1300).  I ate lunch in my room and then kept working until 1430.  Work day completed, I got ready to go out for some exercise in the pleasant weather (50s, clear, light breeze).  On the way out, I stopped at the lobby to report the information about the Internet (the clerk shrugged) and to get my hotel receipt.  My first stop was at the Prison Hill Recreation Area (arrived at 1500).  In the parking lot, I met a mountain biker and he told me a lot about good trails in the area.  When I asked about the Stone Mound and Labyrinth, which I'd read was in the area, he admitted that he hadn't ever visited it.  With his help, though, I eventually located it.  A website said that it was a relic of Native Americans but I'm skeptical.  Still, I walked the full circuit of the labyrinth before departing.  From the same area, I also got some great views of Carson City and the ranches near the Carson River.  Altogether, I hiked about 1.3 miles at Prison Hill before repositioning to the nearby Korean War Veterans Park (arrived there at 1545).  This latter parking lot gave me access (by a series of meandering paths) to a more northerly section of the Carson River Trail than I'd hiked yesterday.  Once I found my way through the large field within the park, I walked all the way to the Carson River Park (where I'd been the at dusk the previous day).  The trail in this area (including Buzzy's Ranch) was, apparently, a migrating bird sanctuary and I found lots of new species.  Perhaps most surprising, I watched several huge crowds of Canada Geese going North (why not South?).  Overall, I hiked another 2.7 miles - it got dark while I was finishing (1650).  With my 10K steps achieved, I headed back into the historic area of Carson City (near the Capitol) and found the marker for the Pony Express that I'd missed the night before.  By then, the sun had completely set and it seemed much colder - however, the temperature gauge said it was still almost 50 degrees.  Maybe the wind picking up was the culprit?  Taking my friend, John B., up on another of his suggestions, I next drove to the nearby Casino Fandango.  For some reason, it was tough to find a spot to park (and it was even harder by the time I later departed).  Once inside, I had to avoid the ubiquitous smokers in this area (many more, compared to many other stops I've made on the trip).  After walking through the casino floor I sat down at the bar inside Duke's Steakhouse and ordered a beer from the adjacent Craft 55 venue.  There were a lot of good things to choose from on the menu but John had said this place had the best steak in the area.  Throwing financial caution to the wind, I ordered a 6 oz medium well Filet Mignon (with Bearnaise Sauce and Crumbled Gorgonzola to dip it in), minestrone soup, beans and carrots and a baked potato.  All the food was excellent and I really gorged myself.  When I went to pay (1815), I realized that I didn't have one of my credit cards.  Panic set in until I realized I'd last used it at dinner the night before (at Red's Old 395 Grill).  So, after paying for my meal with a different card, I called the restaurant to ask if they had my card.  The girl I talked to said "no" so I hurried back to the Motel 6 to try to see if I'd left it there (on the desk or in some other clothes).  After checking everywhere in the room (and looking on my bank website for unexplained charges; there were none), I deduced that my missing card was, in fact, at Red's (despite their claims).  This meant that I was not surprised, when I called back, that the girl said "I've been trying to call you back because I found it!"  With a wave of relief in my heart, I returned to Red's Old 395 Grill and got my card (1835).  On the way back to the Motel 6, I stopped at a Valero Station to get gas - I had a lot of trouble making several different pumps work but eventually was able to fill my tank (1900).  With my evening winding down, I returned to the hotel and did some preliminary packing of the car (to avoid having to do it in the cold morning).  I also took care of blog entries and checked the weather forecast for Carson City and Lake Tahoe (to determine when the best time to depart my hotel in the morning).  During this time, I also concluded my (unsuccessful) attempts to meet up with my old Navy friend, Dave M., while he was in Truckee.  He'd initially had a three day window but, sadly, he told me this evening that he had to depart early because of the weather.  I'll admit that I was exhausted (mentally and physically) by the time I turned out the light at 2215.  It's been a great week in Carson City but I've got a big drive across the Sierras in the morning!