Reno Vacation!

In the spirit of last year's Las Vegas Trip, we decided to use the Independence Day holiday for a short vacation. I had Friday off so I used the day to clean up around the house and try out the new pizza place near our house. The pizza place passed muster and I also managed to get most of the cleaning done. I picked Katie up from work just after 5pm and we were in Reno for dinner. While renting a car I again got upsold to a Mustang... maybe Katie should take care of those duties in the future?

We had a nice patio dinner at the Silver Peak and both enjoyed our meals and brews! That part of downtown Reno had live music going on by the river - it was a great place to spend an evening. After dinner, we checked out downtown Reno a little bit then headed over to the Grand Sierra, our chosen hotel/resort. For whatever reason we got a room upgrade (the "summit") which was on the 20th floor and quite nice. We were also pretty impressed with the resort - lots of restaurants, a bowling alley, a movie theater, a driving range, a go-kart track, a bungee jump, and stores in addition to the usual gaming accoutrements. Katie was happy that the hotel was dog-friendly, so we got to see lots of pups, including a little dachshund puppy & an Old English Sheepdog! We also happened to be there the same weekend as the West Coast Scrabble Championship which enabled us to see ballrooms of people playing Scrabble for the first time.

Saturday we had a nice day checking out the cities of Reno and Carson City. Mostly we just did touristy stuff, like checking out the various historic sites and what-not. We had a couple of nice meals at the Island Cheeseburger place in Reno and Briscola at our hotel. Island Cheeseburger actually had an incredible beer selection which I wasn't expecting. We really enjoyed our driving tour of both places!

On Sunday I got up early to hike Mt. Rose just outside of Reno, while Katie took a walk around the casino & checked out the pool. After I returned from this nice hike, we had lunch at the Lodge Buffet (Katie's first casino buffet) then headed down to Lake Tahoe to see that area. We were both blown away by the scenery of the lake and also how crowded it was! Lake Tahoe has a huge fireworks show on the 4th and we were right in the middle of it - think Spring Break atmosphere! We drove most of the loop road, stopping at various points to check things out. On the way home we drove by Squaw Valley and up to Truckee, CA - which was yet another scenic drive.

On Monday I picked up my sports bet winnings (I won both bets on Rafael Nadal and the BC Lions), which was the only bright spot amongst our gambling adventures. We had a nice lunch at Deli Towne USA, which may be the best gas station cuisine we've had yet. From there we took in a Reno Aces game at their stadium near downtown. The game started well for Reno but eventually the Sacramento Rivercats took control and won the game. It was a day game and we managed to get some of the few (and popular!) seats that were shaded the whole time. Despite being in the shade, we still managed to get a little bit pink! After the game, we hit the Trader Joe's (so Katie could bring back a few items) and had dinner at BJ's. From there, it was back to the airport, ultimately Boise, and work the next day.

Reno Pictures!