One Last Reno Pic

One last River Walk picture and we have the crew of the Cameron Park (California) Round Table Pizza to thank for these pictures and the safeguarding of the family camera. The Missus left it behind in the restroom and the fine women of Cameron Park and those passing through, either turned it in or didn't take it. The Round Table Pizza crew kept it for us and I spent Sunday retrieving it.

They were duly compensated and I wish I could've given them more, but gas prices being what they are, I could only give them so much.

So if you are in the neighborhood and you do have your choice of pizzerias in that vicinity, I ask that you go to the Cameron Park Round Table Pizzeria. I can testify that their salad bar is fresh, even late into the night and their baby corn is better than Sizzler's. Junior says that their pizza is good as well.

There's Snow In Them Thar Hills!

So there we are, driving around Downtown Reno, on our way to Circus Circus. We did the loop, got the pictures of the mural, the River Walk and just past there, Junior points out this parking garage.

Note, the new condo building going up in the background. These are little shoe boxes of apartments and The Missus speculated that they are going to be "assisted living" units. I said that I couldn't imagine them being this close to the casinos.

There are different antique and classic cars on each level...

We moved the car and parked it right here, on the 1939 Mercedes Convertible Level.

Well, I don't have any pictures of Circus Circus. I heard somewhere that casinos don't like cameras. Of course that doesn't seem to be true, as we saw people using cameras once they got there and sadly, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the Chinese bicycle acrobats (one of the highlights of the trip). Unfortunately, they were the only act going on the family part of the casino.

I had in my mind that I was going to play thirty-five dollars and win another night's stay, but I have losing so much, that I didn't gamble. Enough with that cheese, time for my David Byrne impression...

Take me to the water, drop me in the river

Push me in the water, drop me in the river

Washing me down, washing me down

The last two pictures of the river for now. I have one more River Walk pic left for another day. So driving up there on Interstate 80 was a real bear. I decided to take Interstate 50 on the way back and that way, Procrastinator Junior could see Lake Tahoe as well.

You can't tell from these pictures that it was raining, but it was.

Is Lake Tahoe the biggest lake in the Western states? It certainly is the biggest lake in California or Nevada. Note the fog and rain in the picture below.

So, somewhere between Wagner and Cow Creek, the snow decided it wasn't going to melt. Lo and behold, snow on May 24Th.

Procrastinator Junior doesn't remember his last experience with snow, as he was barely two when it occurred and his one winter trip to Yosemite last year, yielded none of the fresh white stuff (the first time that it hasn't snowed at that time of the year, in ages).

Note that the flakes reflect the flash back at the camera and it gives them an aura. Also note these pictures are blurry, the result of having to set the camera on "night" exposure.

Hey, Tim Gallagher, there's Big Foot in the picture below!

Reno's Renaissance?

Reno calls itself "the biggest little city in the world?" To wit, wha? At any rate, the city itself seems not so big and like most cities of old, it was built around the river and it expanded gradually outward. Yes, it's no Vegas, but no city is. Besides, it's better than Carson City (which seems like the smallest capital of the western states) or Sparks.

Architecturally speaking, you have a mix of: Victorians from when the city's earliest days, brick hotels from the 20's and 30's, ugly government buildings and hotels from the 50's and 60's, closed casinos from the 60's and 70's, and a nice mix of modern condos...though not enough of them. There is no uniform revival as there was in Vegas, the funds aren't available now that the California Native American casinos have snatched up both the compulsive and casual gambling dollars.

As I explained to The Missus, if you haven't already booked a hotel in Reno and it is snowing heavily or raining, you are going to stop at California Native American casinos first. It's the safer drive, which is kind of shame because Reno has potential that may never be fully realized.

The picture below is pretty much symbolic of the city...

You think "oooh, 'Magic Underground?" The possiblities make the mind swim...

Then you go around the corner and you get this building. An escapee from either "Logan's Run," one of the "Planet of The Apes" movies or a Glen Larson production like "Buck Rodgers" or the original "Battle Star Galactica."

Take you hands off of me, you damn, dirty magician!

Cleanse your eyes with the condo building below, that is adjacent to Reno's River Walk.

Then there these mobiles all over Downtown. I've seen one just like this in Marin, made with oil drums.

What's this?



It's a fish.
No, it's a bicycle rack!
No, it's a fish!
No, you're wrong, it's a bike rack!
You are both wrong, it's a desert topping and a floor wax!

Let's move on to Reno's River Walk, shall we? If they built three more things just like this, they might have something special.

And who funded this endeavour? Why, Doctor Strangelove, of course. No, he only looks like Sellars in his famous role...

A sculpture...

The fountain. Ducks, eagles, falcons and fish abound.

The fountain empties here...

Going down the drain, just like my readership ; )

Reno Goes Vertigo

I've hung out in Reno, Nevada, just one time before and I really enjoyed myself.

The people were real mellow, but note that that was way back in '93 and the economy, plus drugs, have changed a lot of America for the worst since then. Still somehow, Reno seems to have kept both its cool and its mellow. While it isn't the hippest city in the world, there is an absence of pretension that is very refreshing and you won't find that in other city in the west from San Jose to Seattle. Even the areas that had bars on their windows, just had them here and there. Almost as if it wasn't necessarily to keep the riff-raff from getting in, but the hardcore gamblers from getting out.

This mural is just past the main group of casinos in the downtown area. We did a loop of that area and decided to swing back to Circus Circus after seeing a nice, but dingy neighborhood, where this painted wall caught my eye. Note that the absence of graffiti, something young a**h*les here, can't respect, as they will tag anything and everything.

I wanted to link the images together, but my camera isn't sophisticated enough for me to do that. So while they are in order, some of the images on the pictures repeat themselves.