We're Back!

To make a long story shorter… after all, I was working as a wrangler for only one week a year; I will return to it later. Let’s just say that the first year was great! I enjoyed it thoroughly and was asked to return the next spring. And for 9 more years.

Back in Reno, life was fine. Since Solari & Sons had no competition for the majority of jobs, we rarely went without work. And when I got back I had a new project to start; Harrah’s Hotel Tower expansion. Harrah’s didn’t want to miss out on the remodeling frenzy that had gripped the town, but they were short on space and already had a 24 story hotel on Center Street. They had begun a casino expansion on Lake Street with a new Sports Book casino and the only place left to add on for hotel space was directly over the top of the Seafood restaurant on the corner of Second and Center. This expansion would tie into the existing hotel and add a dozen or more rooms per floor.

It had been decided that the expansion would never shut down the restaurant or the casino below it. These were located in what was called the Dondero building. The two-story structure had been absorbed into the Harrah’s building without ever demolishing it in its entirety. When we entered the ceiling space above the restaurant and the casino, we actually walked across the old roof of the Dondero building. Looking over the edge of the ‘roof’, we could see that the walls of the old building were enclosed by false walls in the casino. And this roof top area was also used as the spot for security to set up their monitors; the camera feeds that watched all the gambling below.

Needless to say, it was a tight little corner to have to build a very tall and tiny high-rise hotel. To erect the steel, they had to dig deep into the corners of the Dondero building without bothering anyone. Concrete footings were poured in the dark of the basement and behind walls. And it was our job to follow along behind that work and repair any damage that was caused.

Once the steel reached the level of the third floor, it was time to bring in a crane to erect the rest of the building. But not an ordinary crane; the site already took one lane out of Second Street and the city wasn’t going to allow any more than that. A very special Manitowoc crawler was brought in and it was able to stand its mast vertically and use the jib section almost as if it were a tower crane. But, as it squeezed itself into position, next to the manlift, it had to ‘squirm’, rotating the tracks on one side while braking the other. This action actually broke the concrete walls down in the Dondero basement and that caused flooding from groundwater.

But, we were soon moving upwards and onwards. Steel flew into place and we sprayed fireproofing on it just as soon as the concrete deck was poured. A few days after that we were doing the layout and building walls. Electricians and plumbers were right behind us. Progress!

And then we got to the 5^th floor…

Dreaming

On the highway and on our way to the first camp.

It was only going to take us about an hour or so to drive the distance; the riders would take all day to reach the same site. A couple of the catering trucks would meet them at noon for their lunch break, while the main kitchen truck followed us and would setup in the same location. Well, almost the same location. It was always important for the kitchen to be upwind of the mangers and sometimes there was some bickering about where we were going to be located. Especially if there was a good sized tree to be used for a ‘deadman’ for one end of the mangers and that tree happened to be close to where the kitchen was going to be.

A note about our camp sites: About half were on private property; large ranches were preferred. The board of directors for the ride had chosen the various sites and had used their friendship with many ranchers and horsemen to secure us a good site. But…not all sites were created equal and the board members were not always knowledgeable about our requirements. Trying to fit 150 horses, mangers, kitchen and all the assorted vehicles that came with that, into a ‘scenic’ spot was sometimes very difficult!

Once we entered the area, we tried to keep the motor homes from crowding us; telling them they had to wait on the road, at least till we were in place. Some riders had begun bringing large motor homes with them so they could enjoy the comforts of home after a hard day in the saddle. TV and a couple of cold brews after a hot shower. This was an expensive way to go; as they had to pay their own way plus pay for their drivers’ meals and his bar tab. When I was involved in the ride, there was a limit of twenty motor homes and no more. Even with just twenty of them, they could crowd the campsite down to a painful minimum. The riders that chose to rough it and camp on the ground were our kind of guys!

Now it was time for us to set up the camp… all over again. Our goal each time was to have the camp ready and waiting for the riders at least an hour before they arrived. That would give us time to get cleaned up as best we could, enjoy a quick lunch and maybe even a nap in the back of the bed truck.

Did I mention the toilets? As it turned out, the only flush toilets we would see were at the beginning and at the end of the ride, a week later. In between we had to use pit toilets; hand dug by the wranglers. Being the new guy, I was included in the toilet digging chore every time. Once a deep trench was dug, we placed long and narrow 5 sided boxes with toilet seats screwed to the top of them over the trench. I’ve said enough…

And since we (wranglers) hated these toilets, we were always hoping that some minor county official would happen by someday and see them in use and then, in our dreams, he would put a halt to their use. “What do you people think you’re doing? You’re going to have to rent portable toilets and immediately!” Just a dream of course.