Lake Tahoe

May 24, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

Charlene at Lake Tahoe

Today we had the opportunity to visit Lake Tahoe, about an hour away from Reno. It was especially nice as the weather was beautiful. We have been in Reno/Sparks for 11 days and it has rained every day. In contrast, today was beautiful with sunny skies and clouds over the mountains.

The drive through Carson City to Lake Tahoe was nice, but fairly steep as we drove up the mountain. Lake Tahoe is known for being very deep and having a rich blue color. When we drove near the lake, we noted that the water was especially clear and was blue. It was very beautiful. Wikipedia says that Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the U.S., behind Crater Lake in Oregon.

We enjoyed a nice hike down to the lake’s edge. As we got closer, it was surprising how clear the water was. Charlene watched three people jump into the water after their friends had their cameras ready to take a photo. They immediately ran back onto the beach!

We have visitors!

May 22, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

John and Michelle joined us for a visit!

Sorry for the delay in updating our blog. Ed had to fly to Philadelphia to present a poster and give a lecture at a professional meeting. Charlene manned the fort in Reno and enjoyed a wonderful trip to a spa that Amy and Neil gave her for Mother’s Day.

On Ed’s return to Reno, we were extremely excited to have John and Michelle arrive for a visit! It has been absolutely fantastic to spend time with them as we have not seen them since they were in Tucson in December while they moved Michelle to Austin.

We almost did not recognize John. He has been following some guidelines to decrease meal portion sizes and he has lost 77 pounds!! He looks wonderful. Speaking with John and Michelle has encouraged us to try and lower our meal portion sizes too.

The weather in Reno has been a bit odd. It has been raining a small amount every single day since we have arrived. We have enjoyed the weather being cool, but would enjoy a little time without rain. It sounds like we are used to living in a desert. We’re are definitely not used to wearing long pants and sweatshirts at the end of May.

Reno, here we come!

May 15, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

The winning ticket!

After arriving in Reno yesterday, we decided to check out the area. Reno has many casinos and we went to Circus Circus. We walked around and realized there are three casinos sharing the same building so we could barely tell when we walked from one to the other. We went from Circus Circus to Silver Legacy Casino and then on to Eldorado Casino then back again. Circus Circus opened its midway at 1:00 and it was like being at a fair. No, we didn’t play any games. Charlene thinks they’re all rigged to make you lose. We found out the circus acts do not begin until 5:00 pm so that may be for another day. We did find a show for tomorrow night. We have tickets for comedian, Will Durst, talking about baby boomers called BoomeRaging.

As we walked around the casinos for the last time, Charlene spied a penny slot machine and told Ed, “Get ready, we’re going to gamble!” Ed was a good sport and we went to three penny slots. Charlene sat at one machine and Ed sat next to her at another. She took out a crisp one dollar bill and set it on her machine. She offered another dollar to Ed but he said he would rather watch her. We had to search for where to put in the dollar and then Charlene asked which button to push. Ed said either the “one-bet” button or the “full-bet” button. As her smile turned to a grin, Charlene pushed the full-bet button, in essence gambling the whole dollar!

As we watched the wheels go round and round, we watched as one gold bar appeared on the center line, then another, then another, a fourth gold bar appeared and then something else. We were trying to figure out what four gold bars meant with a fifth space filled with…….not a gold bar when we both realized we had won $9.60. Together we yelled, “Stop! We won. Let’s cash out!” The machine spit out a piece of paper showing we had won. We had to ask several people to figure out where to get our cash, and then suddenly we had $9.60 in Charlene’s hot little hand. Now that’s the way to gamble……either lose one dollar or win almost ten! However, we think our big gambling spree has come to an end. After all, we do not want the casino to have OUR money.

Show me the money!

Headed to Nevada!

May 14, 2015 / Ed Armstrong

A nice RV park to enjoy!

Today was a fun change in weather as the day progressed. We started the day in Vacaville (yes cow town) with a beautiful morning and we were wearing shorts and t-shirts. We hooked up the Jeep and drove east on I-80. As we were going through Donner Pass (over 7,000 feet), we found ourselves suddenly with SNOW flurries. It was not sticking on the ground, but snowflakes were dancing all around us. Having lived in Tucson for decades and decades, we cannot remember the last time we were in snow during May.

We stopped at a rest stop and it was 46 degrees outside! Ed ran out to the Jeep to get our coats. Seeing Donner Pass made us think of the families stuck in the snow in the 1800s where they had to resort to cannibalism to survive. The area was beautiful with gorgeous trees, Donner Lake and rivers near the road.

We cruised down through Reno and into our RV park. This looks like an enjoyable place to spend some time. Although a bit cool, we were again quite comfortable in shorts and t-shirts.

map to Sparks