Overnight in Reno...

We went on an overnight trip last night to Reno, Nevada. Ted's friend from High School, Scott, loves making films, and about 5 years ago, he remade an old Twilight Zone episode into a 40 minute feature, "The Shelter". He was showing the film at a high school (Hug High School...mascot, the Hawks...fun to say, Hug High Hawks) in Reno today, so we thought it might be fun to drive up and see the film, and maybe play in the snow. News flash: No snow in Reno. It was in the 50s. Anyway, we drove up yesterday afternoon, and found our hotel. We stayed at the Siena, which was NOT the best deal, economically, but still very reasonable, and had a lovely spa right there on the premises. We had a very lovely dinner (lobster bisque for M, shrimp and asparagus risotto for me, and duck ravioli for T) in the expensive hotel restaurant, and then Maya and I took a soak in the jacuzzi while Ted went and had a drink with Scott.

This morning, we went to see what there is to see of Reno. News flash: Not much. If you're like me, and you find casinos vaguely depressing, with the sense of desperation and the perfume of cigarettes and scotch, and you don't have time to drive far enough for skiing or snowmobiling, and you're not really interested in the car museum, there isn't much else. So we looked for a place to have breakfast that wasn't in a casino, gave up, and had buffet at Harrahs. We decided to drive around Reno and see what else there is to see. The University looked nice, and there were some cute houses. I LOVED the fact that there was a self serve (meaning pay at the kiosk, from the comfort of your car, using a credit card if you wish) car wash. The birds had a crap fest on our car, which WILL NOT DO. Then we went to view the film. Then we went to Sonic for lunch...do any of you have Sonic near you? This one had a drive in, with a girl on rollerskates and a coin-belt who came out and served us our food. Do they all have that? It was pretty cool. Then we drove home.

Things I noted:
Donner Pass is quite messy, weather wise. Maybe that's why the Donner Party got stuck there. It was 55 and nice in Reno, and 50s and nice in Auburn and Sacramento, but in the pass, it was snowing, raining, and so foggy you couldn't see the car in front of you. That was the only snow we saw, by the way, up in the mountains between Nevada and California.

If you don't want to gamble and do the night life (aka, if you're there with your 10 year old daughter), there isn't much to do, other than maybe an $80 manicure/pedicure combo at the spa, which we OBVIOUSLY skipped.

The food at the buffet wasn't nearly as gross as I always make it out to be. Other than the fact that they were serving mussels at 10am, it wasn't bad. Overpriced, yes. Bad, no. The pie was even better than the pie place that we go to here, the Hickory Pit.

Although at first, when we were driving to Reno, looking at the snow in the pass, thinking of snowmobiling and making snow men, one night seemed like not enough time, it turned out to be PLENTY.

Glad to be home. Looking forward to Easter tomorrow with Ted's family. We do a pot luck brunch, and we're bringing champagne and waffles. Mmmm. Hope your Easter/Passover/Springtime celebration is lovely, and that it includes all of your favorite things.

Too bad it will be too cold to wear my Easter outfit. We'll have chocolate instead. ;)