REsNOw

Editor's note: I went to Reno and wrote some posts that I couldn't put up because I only had my work computer. Here is one.

As the plane headed for the ground, the moonlit sky illuminated the snow-covered mountains.

Oh shit, snow.

I actually knew it was coming. I can read ok sometimes, and I read the weather reports. Snow Sunday. Snow Monday. Cold. Good thing I forgot to pack a coat.

Sometimes it's good when people flake out. Like the guy at the car rental place who was supposed to get my compact rental car but took so long the clerk took pity on me and gave me the luxury version, a Chrysler 300M. Big engine, super heavy. Not intimidated by snow.

Dinner was El Pollo Loco, a chicken spot I went to just over a year ago on my last trip to Reno. Their "thing" is Mexican-style grilled chicken (it's "healthy", according to the signs), and they actually do it pretty well. Crispy skin, flavorful meat, though a touch on the dry side. However, that was easily rectified, as their spicy avocado and spicy chipotle salsas were both spicy (imagine that!) and extremely good. They even have whole fresh serranos on the salsa bar, and I made sure to grab one of those. The chicken was served with two corn tortillas, so I made up some tasty tacos. I got BBQ black beans and spanish rice on the side. The rice was good, but was helped out by the addition of the avocado salsa. The beans were very good -- black BBQ beans with smoke flavor and not too salty.

The bad? No brewed tea, so I drank Hi-C fruit punch.

My hotel has no wireless access, no business center, nothing. This is a pain in my ass for blogging, but an even bigger pain because I need to be distributing stuff for work via email. Ugh.