{"id":936,"date":"2019-06-25T10:12:03","date_gmt":"2019-06-25T14:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/larrykooper.com\/?p=936"},"modified":"2019-06-25T22:24:31","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T02:24:31","slug":"day-34-probable-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/25\/day-34-probable-cause\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 34: Probable cause"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Winnemucca, NV to Truckee, CA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lovely day. For breakfast went to The Griddle, a place near the motel that has a super-cool neon sign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sign, The Griddle, Winnemucca, NV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back on the road again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to visit Humboldt Sink, where the Humboldt River empties. But the access is by dirt road and I was concerned about safety. Got close to it. Total solitude, total quiet but for wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Salt on the soil, near Humboldt Sink<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Humboldt River, near Humboldt Sink<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Humboldt River, near Humboldt Sink<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cattle, Lovelock, NV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have now driven 6,000 miles since leaving NYC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly endless sagebrush gave way to cities – Sparks and Reno. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Silver Legacy Resort Casino Hotel, Reno, NV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In my short visit to Reno, a barista told me that it’s a big drinking and gambling town, but there’s also a big underground arts scene, and \u201cpunk\u201d music including basement shows in people\u2019s houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So about 4:15 PM I was back on I-80 driving and thinking about geography and the Donner Party when I saw an SUV behind me with colored flashing lights, so I figured I might be getting pulled over by the cops. So I went into a nearby truck parking area. I was being pulled over by a Washoe County sheriff’s deputy. He said he was giving me a warning for following too closely. I wasn\u2019t following anybody that closely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He asked for my license and the rental car agreement which he examined and said I was three days overdue returning the car. I told him that was National\u2018s mistake. He patted me down for weapons. He checked the vehicle identification number to see if the car was stolen and spelled my name and driver’s license number into the radio to see if I was wanted for anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also he asked me many questions. I told him about the trip. He asked if I just up and left one day. I told him I hadn\u2019t. He said a couple of times that I was \u201cfidgety\u201d. He asked what I did for a living, where I worked. He even asked if I owned the business I work for. I told him I wasn\u2019t comfortable answering that one and what does that have to do with what he was stopping me for? He said he just asked the questions to pass the time while they\u2019re looking me up. I told him no, I didn’t own it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said your wife let you take this trip? I said yes, I have a great wife.
He asked where I was staying tonight. I told him I wasn\u2019t comfortable answering that one either. He let it go. A few times he asked a question I had already answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then he said he was looking for things like drugs, guns, large amounts of money, did I have anything like that? I said no. He listed several drugs like meth, heroin, cocaine, marijuana. I said no to all of them. He asked would it be OK if he searches the car. I said no it would not be OK. He said if the dog he had in his car \u2018alerts\u2019 then that\u2019s probable cause to search the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order for the dog to check the car, Deputy #1 (Officer Nemeth, but I will call him #1) had to wait for another deputy, so the other guy can watch me to make sure I don\u2019t escape while deputy #1 takes care of the dog. In a few minutes deputy #2 showed up. He was a nice older guy with a \u2018SWAT\u2019 pin on. I asked him if he was on a SWAT team and he said yes. I said that must be exciting sometimes and he said \u201cit\u2019s difficult work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So deputy #1 let the dog (I later found out his name was Titus) go around the car. The dog made a noise when he passed the gas tank door. So deputy #1 said the dog \u2018alerted\u2019 and that is probable cause to search the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then deputies #3 and #4 showed up in a third car, because evidently I was the crime of the century in Washoe County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputy #3 asked me aside from getting stopped by the cops how\u2019s your day going? I appreciated that humor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So deputies #1 and #2 searched the car and all my many pieces of luggage and random plastic bags in it, which took quite a while. I had to look away from the car while they were searching it. So I chatted with deputies #3 and #4 about my trip. #3 said I was doing what Steinbeck did in Travels with Charley<\/em>. #3 said that #4 has been to lots of countries. #4 rattled off a long list of countries he\u2019s been to. He has taken cruises to them. He described how he had enjoyed St Petersburg, Russia and how they have a big gate to close off the harbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I was there for about an hour and they found nothing. Deputy #1 asked me if there were drugs in the car before. I said \u201cIt\u2019s a rental car.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So they said OK, you can go. As a parting shot deputy #1 said \u201cyour story was weird.\u201d They put stuff back a little haphazardly but it looked like everything was still there and OK. Also the engine had been on and idling for the entire time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Travel story!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

6,000 miles and the first time I was stopped by the cops. And after those nice things I said about Nevada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So on Yelp I would give the Washoe County Sheriff two stars. They get the second star because they didn’t tear up the entire car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back on the road, saw a sign for Peet\u2019s coffee and decided to go there. Peet’s turned out to be inside a place called Boomtown. Outside Boomtown, they have a western movie set \/ Potemkin village. I found out Boomtown is actually a huge Best Western hotel \/ casino. I love the way slot machine rooms look with all the bright neon colors. But I think casinos are sensitive about photography so I didn\u2019t shoot any.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went to Peet\u2019s and ordered a “Havana” coffee (which meant with cinnamon). On my way out I got lost and passed by the table games – blackjack, craps, and roulette. Of all of them, just one blackjack table was operating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the last Nevada exit, 80 follows the Truckee River valley south and it’s beautiful. Crossed into California. State #25, the last state on my trip, the Promised Land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had to stop for a state agricultural inspection. They asked me to open the trunk and I did, then they sent me on my way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Got to Donner Lake Village and boy is it beautiful, right on the lakefront.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Donner Lake, CA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nightfall, Donner Lake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nightfall, Donner Lake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

UPDATE 6\/25\/19:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My friend (and relative) Jack tells me you’re not legally required to consent to the dog sniff. In 2015 the Supreme Court ruled on the issue in Rodriguez v. United States<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winnemucca, NV to Truckee, CA Lovely day. For breakfast went to The Griddle, a place near the motel that has a super-cool neon sign. Back on the road again. I wanted to visit Humboldt Sink, where the Humboldt River empties. But the access is by dirt road and I was concerned about safety. Got close […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":965,"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936\/revisions\/965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larrykooper.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}