Enjoyed rereading this from your book, Paul. I'm quite familiar with the Austin minimart gas station, especially since it's now the only safe and decent place to buy food. Toyabe Cafe got sunk by COVID and the stories and reviews coming out about the International Cafe are downright horrifying. The daughter told me it's a real shit-show. You know, Paul, when the bar tender walks into the restroom behind a woman, there's evil afoot. So sad. That was an interesting place.
Thanks, Sue. And, aside from my hot springs soaking buddy, also named Paul, you're the only one I know who can talk about Austin, Nevada with real authority. That's sad to hear about the Toyabe Cafe. Wasn't there another diner in that town or am I mixing the two of them up? I always used to stay at the Pony Canyon, but that's for another piece.
The only other one I know of was the International Cafe, which I mentioned in my comment. There was the Owl Club, one of four in the state, but we never went there. Went to the Owl Club in Eureka, though, and enjoyed several good lunches ... except one where the cook took a very long cigarette break in the middle of preparing our lunch. Weird, but a few years ago, I heard it from a very good authority (the sheriff) that the place was Meth Central.
Thanks, and yes, that's a good one. Hopper has a good one, as well. Not really night, but it feels that way in his. There's one in Wyoming I never got that I still think about. Might be time to get out there again and give it another try.
Great article! Thirty years ago, I worked the evening shift at a gas station on the outskirts of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I locked the doors, alone, at 11pm and didn't think twice about stocking coolers, mopping floors, and leaving at midnight. Not sure I'd want to risk my safety doing that in these times. I used to work a "clopen" every Friday night and Saturday morning. You are very correct about how different it is being the clerk stuck behind the counter while you help customers prepare for a day at the beach with their friends or family. It can get very lonely.
Thanks, Lisa! You can divide humanity into two portions - those who have worked front-facing jobs from behind a counter and those who haven't. Maybe that's not fair, as there are plenty of other difficult jobs out there, but you know what I'm talking about. Thanks for reading this.
Another great piece of writing, Paul, thank you. I've traveled too many times through the desert in the wee hours where the total darkness is pinpricked by a spot of light floating in the distance ahead.. It grows and grows until it is a pool of brightness of eternal flame mesmerizing the lonely moth. Another solitary gas station closed and locked with a harsh prison light left on. I read Exit Culture, thanks again.
Hi Doc! Thanks so much for the compliment. It means a lot to me. If not "everything," it means "more than you might think" and I appreciate it. We all toil away and put things out into the world and then live our daily lives, so to know you bought the book and enjoyed it, then took the time to comment here is something. I thank you. And yes, you could maybe divide the world up - although it's too divided already, but for argument's sake - into either: people who have driven by themselves in the desert at night with their own thoughts, awake and aware and on another plane. And then everybody else. All the best! ~ Paul
Enjoyed rereading this from your book, Paul. I'm quite familiar with the Austin minimart gas station, especially since it's now the only safe and decent place to buy food. Toyabe Cafe got sunk by COVID and the stories and reviews coming out about the International Cafe are downright horrifying. The daughter told me it's a real shit-show. You know, Paul, when the bar tender walks into the restroom behind a woman, there's evil afoot. So sad. That was an interesting place.
Thanks, Sue. And, aside from my hot springs soaking buddy, also named Paul, you're the only one I know who can talk about Austin, Nevada with real authority. That's sad to hear about the Toyabe Cafe. Wasn't there another diner in that town or am I mixing the two of them up? I always used to stay at the Pony Canyon, but that's for another piece.
The only other one I know of was the International Cafe, which I mentioned in my comment. There was the Owl Club, one of four in the state, but we never went there. Went to the Owl Club in Eureka, though, and enjoyed several good lunches ... except one where the cook took a very long cigarette break in the middle of preparing our lunch. Weird, but a few years ago, I heard it from a very good authority (the sheriff) that the place was Meth Central.
https://www.plan59.com/av/av275.htm
Thanks, and yes, that's a good one. Hopper has a good one, as well. Not really night, but it feels that way in his. There's one in Wyoming I never got that I still think about. Might be time to get out there again and give it another try.
Awkward not being able to post images here, having to post links instead, but if you scroll down here there’s a bunch
https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/an-empty-filling-station-under-an-illuminated-awning-at-night-surrounded-by-complete-gm1222084435-358485117?searchscope=image%2Cfilm
Great article! Thirty years ago, I worked the evening shift at a gas station on the outskirts of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I locked the doors, alone, at 11pm and didn't think twice about stocking coolers, mopping floors, and leaving at midnight. Not sure I'd want to risk my safety doing that in these times. I used to work a "clopen" every Friday night and Saturday morning. You are very correct about how different it is being the clerk stuck behind the counter while you help customers prepare for a day at the beach with their friends or family. It can get very lonely.
Thanks, Lisa! You can divide humanity into two portions - those who have worked front-facing jobs from behind a counter and those who haven't. Maybe that's not fair, as there are plenty of other difficult jobs out there, but you know what I'm talking about. Thanks for reading this.
Love this. Terrific in the choice of words and images.
Thank you, Glenn! I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Another great piece of writing, Paul, thank you. I've traveled too many times through the desert in the wee hours where the total darkness is pinpricked by a spot of light floating in the distance ahead.. It grows and grows until it is a pool of brightness of eternal flame mesmerizing the lonely moth. Another solitary gas station closed and locked with a harsh prison light left on. I read Exit Culture, thanks again.
Hi Doc! Thanks so much for the compliment. It means a lot to me. If not "everything," it means "more than you might think" and I appreciate it. We all toil away and put things out into the world and then live our daily lives, so to know you bought the book and enjoyed it, then took the time to comment here is something. I thank you. And yes, you could maybe divide the world up - although it's too divided already, but for argument's sake - into either: people who have driven by themselves in the desert at night with their own thoughts, awake and aware and on another plane. And then everybody else. All the best! ~ Paul
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=8853951cf4495cb9&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS833US834&hl=en-US&q=truck+stop+at+night+1960&udm=2&fbs=AEQNm0B3WNFCYvaBrNDHYAL-6rQS6KYCfg7rXRKIwBLvFbxOrU_ptJEeGAEeqTAWwzj5eCnSFVVcsbnlUyBulQ8oY49GRvSyEYzlnF9K0KrMpbybPLaeh8LFcvj-nwnNWnJ_TW4eI2OWRi7aqRYhD6b44H4wT0iiAAxH9ZI40N21s8sWcnlgbbsQJt5xr4m02mUZz3_2voyaXpi64m7MobUwdkVLJbADBSs9tAAWLIzwMQPJI6jilkk&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiA0PTzkZeKAxWIL9AFHco_LsgQtKgLegQIFhAB&biw=414&bih=720&dpr=2#vhid=iy3f6f24bsDGvM&vssid=mosaic