Almost like the post card depicts. Was on my way to Fernley several years ago and as it was winter, I decided to climb the "hill" east of Bishop (Nintgomery Pass) and travel through Nevada rather than doing the Route 395 mountain climb. Got into Hawthorne in late morning and decided to stop for chips. at El Capitan Nope, slots only nowadays. Played some machine and hit a $300 win. The cashier was a lady counting packs of cigarettes (a local pastime, perhaps) and she cashed in my TITO. Very good start to a day that soon afterward saw me running over a thick wooden board on the highway in my rental car. The tire was OK but the rear fender didn't fare as well.

I later old the rental agency I'd run over a prairie dog. They have a big infestation of them, you know, on the south side of Hawthorne. Huge mounds, some with railraod tracks leading to them, so those dogs can travel in luxury.

Back to Hawthorne - don't thinkj there are any other card games still going on in the city. Just prairie dogs and may a woodchuck who mustd have tossed that board onto the highway.