Weekend in Reno NV

I drove to Reno for the weekend.

Have you ever been to Reno? It’s very different from Vegas to me because it actually feels like a real city.

Anyone who has been to Vegas can understand that feeling– The Strip in Las Vegas is like being at Adult Disneyland, a magic fantasy land with no clocks or easily accessible exits. Everything in Vegas is huge and excessive.

Reno’s downtown, on the other hand, had character and flavor. The buildings around me weren’t just casinos–there was a colorful mix of wedding chapels, pawn shops, bars, and tattoo parlors.

I visited a new friend named Emily who just moved to Reno this past December for work. We had never met before but the friendship came highly recommended by her best-friend and my long-time friend Hayley.

You might remember Hayley from my weekend in Wilmington or from when I visited Ashley Schaeffer BMW.

I loved Emily from the time I stepped into her house and she asked if I was hungry or wanted something to drink. To celebrate this new love we got tattoos downtown. We made a video for Hayley and Drew, but you can watch it too if you want.

Those tattoos came after a big day in Reno. First we went downtown and walked around like the tourist I was.

We met these folks who were dressed up for a charity event.

Then we walked along the river past shops and restaurants…

…where we saw a kid who had caught some fish.

We walked into some casinos, pawn shops, and Reno gift shops.

After downtown, Emily and I took a tour of a famous brothel called Mustang Ranch. It was about 45 minutes from Reno. Click that link to read the story.

The tour of the whore house made me hungry so Emily took me out for Chinese pastries.

TRAVEL TIP: Here’s a tip to make some extra cash. You can hang out in front of any grocery store that sells pumpkins, solicit customers leaving the store to buy one, and pocket the cash.

“Do you want a pumpkin? Halloween is right around the corner…”

On Saturday night we went back downtown to get those tattoos you saw in the video, and we end up at a bar afterwards singing karaoke. Emily picked the song.

After singing the Spice Girl’s song Wannabe, I turn to Emily in the karaoke bar and say, “Before I give this mic back there’s something I want to say. Emily, since the day I met you I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”

I pull out a $13 ring I had picked up at a gift shop earlier that day and ask, ” Will you marry me?”

Emily keeps me in suspense for a minute–then says yes and the crowd goes wild.

One guy bought us a shot of whiskey but everyone else just looked at us like, “Why would that guy ask that girl to marry him in this bar after singing that song?” No more free drinks were coming so we dipped out of there.

A fake proposal in Asheville would have meant free drinks all night. No-one cared in Reno. Marriages were a dime a dozen in that city.

A girl came up to us as we were leaving and says, “Congratulations! I just got married today… but no-one in my family here knows. I haven’t told them yet.”

“Cool. Congratulations to you too.”

On Sunday we visited Lake Tahoe.

Driving up to Lake Tahoe from Reno was beautiful. My camera doesn’t do it any justice.

Did you know that the Lake Tahoe is on average 6,225 feet above sea level? The lake stretches 22 miles long by 12 miles wide and is 1,645 feet deep at some points making it the world’s 10th deepest lake.

The Washoe Indians called the lake Da-ow-a-ga, which means “the edge of the lake.” Some believe Tahoe is a mispronunciation of the word.

If you’re wondering why the lake is so blue.. it’s because the thin, clear mountain air allows the lake’s pure, crystalline water to reflect the blue sky above.

And if you’re wondering why Lake Tahoe is so clear it’s because most of the snow or rain falls directly into the lake, or drains through lakeside marshes and meadows that act as water filtering systems. Preserving and restoring the basin’s wetlands is essential to protect the clarity of the lake.

Lake Tahoe never freezes because the lake’s water is always in motion. Each winter, the cold water on the surface sinks, while warm water rises from the deep. This mixing motion keeps the lake from freezing over, even though air temperature often falls below freezing.

I learned all this from reading this sign:

You can learn a lot from reading signs. I should have jumped into Lake Tahoe like a polar bear but I didn’t.

We had lunch and then head back into town for some evening plans.

Emily’s roommate Jenny is a glass blower and invited us to her friend Rob’s studio to see them in action.

Jenny was working on a vase.

Glass blowing takes a lot of patience to learn. I’ve heard briefly.

Thanks everyone in Reno for the fun weekend.

I would definitely go back. Especially with views like this on I-395.

I had taken the same route driving up to Reno but it was dark when I was driving through the national parks–I didn’t realize what I was missing. I decided to take the same way back so I could see it in the day time. I’m glad I did because this was the most beautiful area of the country I had ever driven through.

There was a time where a sign read “elevation 5,000 feet” and there was a snow capped mountain in front of me that I couldn’t see the top of. Then just a couple hours later I’m scaling down the mountain towards Mono Lake.

I couldn’t figure out how to end this post so here’s a video of Martel the cat.

the end.