Where has Farmlady been?

The Prospector and I went on a real vacation.... TOGETHER. We went to the biggest little city in the world: Reno, Nevada. We left last Wednesday morning, entrusting our animals (and our two spoiled Corgis, Carl and Cutter.) to a seasoned house sitter that came highly recommended. The hardest part was leaving the dogs. But... feeling very guilty about it, we did.
Then we drove off into the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

It was cold, clear and beautiful. The photo in the middle, above, is Hope Valley. This is the junction for Luther Pass north into Lake Tahoe. We continued East down into Nevada's Great Basin and the Carson Valley....

...down into sagebrush country. I love the east side of the Sierras. It's so different than the west side. No foothills... well, none to speak of. The high mountains of the Sierras just drop right into the high desert. It's dramatic and beautiful. With the late winter weather this spring, there was a lot of snow on the mountains and made the views even more lovely.
We drove into Minden, where we had lunch and then got onto a bypass that took us into Carson City.

The new freeway has these wonderful metal renditions of  cowboys, sagebrush and pack mules travelling across the overpasses. What a great "out west" idea!
We drove on into Reno and went straight to the train station.

Our oldest son, "M", decided to join us for the weekend. He also decided to take the Amtrak train from Oakland because he had never been on a train before and wanted to have the experience going over the Sierras on the train.
The train arrive a little late but what excitement. Never having met a train, in person before, I was overwhelmed by it all. I remember, a long time ago, when I was a little girl, my parents would take us up to Reno. The tracks were street level then and we would run across quite a few tracks to reach the other side before a train came. Now, they have tunneled the train below the streets.
The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) started laying tracks in January of 1863. This was part of the track from Sacramento that ended in Promontory, Utah and formed the first transcontinental railroad. For more history on the railroad and the town of Reno, go to Wikipedia here. The Reno arch photo is courtesy of Wikipedia too. I didn't get a good picture of the arch so I borrowed one from Wiki'.
Then the train pulled into the station.

It was very noisy and exciting. The train came to a stop.

and the platform filled with people waiting for passengers and others coming on and off the train.

We found "M", gave him a hug, grabbed his small bag and went back into the station. He loved the trip and we decided, right then and there, that we would take a trip on the train soon. Our son highly recommended it.

This is the inside of the station. They retained the old building and some of the fountains and light posts of it's past splendor. The whole place was really quite beautiful.
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We drove to our hotel, The Plaza Resort, across town near the Truckee River. This was our first view from the room. The weather was cold and clear.

This is the 18th floor.... through the window.... you can't go out on the small balcony.... They have the sliding door bolted.... That was OK! None of us wanted to walk out there anyway. That's the Truckee River park area at Keystone Ave. down there.
"M" had a room right next door to us with a door in between. This worked out well. We were able to have our privacy at night but could eat together, make plans and visit with each other easily. This is a timeshare that belongs to my mother-in-law. It has a small kitchen area so we brought food for breakfast and lunch.
We all took a nap and later went to our favorite casino, the Cal Neva.  It's old vintage Reno. You see the real cowboys and ranchers in this casino and the odds seem better. Yea, hope springs eternal.
We have "history" here. I saved my mother in law's life in the Top Deck Restaurant here a few years back. She choked on a piece of steak and I was able to give her the Heimlich method to dislodge the piece of meat from her throat. I had just finished a lifesaving course at the school where I was working. The casino big wigs were impressed with my skill. I was just glad that I remembered what to do. So was my grateful MIL.
The story is told every time we have dinner there.
We had dinner and did a little gambling. I ALWAYS leave a "donation" on the roulette table. If I ever won a lot of money the shock would probably kill me before I could enjoy winning.. But, we have fun and there are always the slots. They even have 1 cent machines now. You don't use coins anymore though. The machines only takes bills now and gives you a voucher when you "cash out". It's easier to play. You don't have to pull the handle anymore on most of the slots but you loose your money faster. Also, and I'm sure you who have sat in front of a slot machine for hours on end, will remember how dirty your hands got from the coins. The fingers would be black by the end of the night. They are still addictive machines but you don't get black fingers anymore.The drinks are still free and you can still buy a snow globe with the Reno arch inside.

This is an amazing place and of course doesn't hold a candle to Las Vegas casinos, but I still love to come here once in a while. It's prettier than Vegas and smaller. It's very easy to get around town and has a lot of things to do besides gamble.
The next morning I took my camera down to the river and snapped some shots of the area around our hotel.
This is the view looking south from our room....

This is our room from the river...

Yep, that a long way up there, but it's kind of a tradition with my husband's family to get the same room when we come up here.
We are in good company here. That's the Methodist Church, one of the old originals in town. The Catholic Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, is just around the corner on Second St.
I love these old churches. The Methodist Church is beautiful and has birds nesting in the vines on the side of the building....

...Hundreds of bird that you can see coming and going inside this huge vine. The sound is wonderful! It's Spring after all. There were happy birds.
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The Truckee River walk is a happening place. The river walk is a great place to walk, jog, ride bikes, walk your dog and meet friends. It's so beautiful. The river splits into two right at Keystone Drive, where the Kayakers practice in the water on one side and some other people have picnics in the park area.  

The river is very high and swift right now but in the summer you can swim here. Every block has a road or walking bridge over the river, making both sides of town very accessible.

This is truly a beautiful river. I still have a problem with seeing a river run to the east instead of west. That always takes getting use to.

Looking East, from the walking bridge.

Tomorrow we will visit the University of Nevada and the McCay Museum of Mining.... and Scheels Sporting Goods Store.... unlike any sport store you can imagine.
I've got to break this up so I don't put you all to sleep.
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AND......

God bless all of those poor people in the south that got hit by the tornadoes. I cannot believe the destruction. It's hard to believe that these twisters can do that much damage. A prayer for all of you.