Reno - The Adventure Part 2

It was finally time for us to see what Reno was all about!!!

                                        Night 1: Casinos- 

We were definitely hungry, so we decided to go see the casinos in Midtown and eat there.

 The casinos were pretty cool! They are all connected, so you kind of just wander around

and don't realize which casino you are in. In the center of the Silver Legacy there is an awesome huge engineering structure with gears and such. I was pretty fascinated by it! 

  We decided to go eat at The Buffet at Eldorado. By far....the BEST buffet we have ever been too! The options were amazing, the taste of everything was definitely no disappointment. Their mac & cheese was AMAZING!!! I highly suggest it if you ever go to Reno.




 After dinner we decided to wander the casinos a little more. We ran into Circus Circus and had to take a photo op with the big elephant. I also found my missing Ruby Slipper!!!!

As we walked into Circus Circus we immediately turned into little kids when we saw the arcade!

We pretty much spent every dollar bill we had in our pockets to play games. We ended up winning 500 tickets between the 2 of us, so we redeemed them for a little mister (which did not work at all), a little can of old tootsie rolls, and a little purple light up ring. But it's not about what you win, its about having fun! We were lucky enough to see an acrobat juggling soccer balls and another fascinating trick with a balancing stand.

Right before we called it a night, we had to take a picture in this huge blue chair.


 

                                       Day 2: Lake Tahoe

Day 2 was the day to went to Lake Tahoe for the first time!
But first we had to get breakfast at Black Bear Diner. Always a good choice!

And we were off! It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get there. When we hit the California border, we hit a check station where they had to check for fruit crossing the border. I guess in the past some fruit got by with fruit flies and they populated which killed a lot of the produce.



On the way, we stopped in Truckee, California. Truckee was super cute. It was an old town with a lot of cute shops. I loved it!

  I stopped in a store called the Cooking Gallery. It was literally a small Truckee version of Spoons N Spice!!! They even sold a lot of the same unique items and brands. I was freaking out!

After Truckee, we finally hit Tahoe! I instantly fell in love. It was way bigger than I thought. It felt like we were driving around the ocean

 The town was way cute there too. It was a mixture of log cabins, hipster cali, and old town.

I noticed a lot of the houses had specially made wooden bear statues in their yards. My favorite was probably the house that had the bears sleeping on the roof.

We stopped at Safe Way (their grocery store) and picked up lunch and drinks for the beach.

Originally we were suppose to go to Kings Beach which is a good beach. But Sand Harbor Beach is THE beach to go to. It's usually IMPOSSIBLE to find a parking spot there. Luckily, we went on a Friday (not a weekend)  and it was windy, so there were actually parking spots to my parents surprise. We found a spot and set up. The water was beautiful!

It was super super windy, so we didn't stay long. At one point, the wind literally blew my mom away with her umbrella. Travis had to run after her and save her. Haha. We then headed back home and lit a fire in the backyard, enjoying the night and some acoustic music.

                                    Day 3: Virginia City 

 

I woke up a little early that day because the sun rises before ours does in Utah. I got up and decided to start Part 1 of this blog in the little loft my parents have upstairs. It was a super cozy spot to just sit and write. My mom then woke up and we decided to bust out the Bloody Mary stuff she had bought a few months ago. Delish!

Before heading to Virginia City, we stopped for some breakfast at Peg's Glorified Ham & Eggs. This place was pretty good! The french toast was awesome! I recommend this place for breakfast if your ever in the area as well.






















 Virginia City was pretty cool! It's an old mining town that has been turned into a tourist spot. Basically it just runs up on single street with a bunch of shops and saloons.

 

 

It started to rain, so we decided to head out. We took a detour through Carson City because of an accident on the freeway. Its funny because growing up in Vegas, you learn that Carson City is the state capitol. Never did I think I would ever go to Carson City. As we drove through, my elementary schooling ran through my brain saying,  "Carson City is the Capitol of Nevada and the state bird is the Mountain Blue Jay." Haha

 After we got back to Reno, my parents were beat, so Travis and I got dressed and went to the Peppermill Casino. 

 

This Peppermill was way cooler than the one we are used to in Wendover. We decided to eat at the Island Buffet. This buffet had a cool environment but was not nearly as good as the first one we went to the first day. We were lucky enough to go on the seafood night. They served crab and oysters. The oysters were probably my favorite of the night. They also had chili verde in the mexican section. Screw tacos and burritos, I just grabbed some tortillas and chili verde and called that section good! *drool* The fruit section was to die for as well. I had fruit instead of all of the dessert they offered.

Everything else was pretty mediocre. All in all review wise, Eldorado Buffet was the winner.

We then decided to go see the casino lights downtown. We got lost but points to me because I found my way home in a strange city WITHOUT GPS!!!!!!! *bows* Thankyou thankyou!!!

                                                                           Day 3 - Final hours

Dreaded day. We had discovered how much we like Reno. Even to the point where Travis had said, if it weren't for somethings in SLC...he would highly consider moving to Reno. It's a mixture of farms, with casinos right there, nice parts like Summerlin in Vegas and of course the grungy parts of Vegas near the Casinos. The wild life was amazing. My parents backyard is literally a mountain with jack rabbits, squirrels, birds, hawks, quail and more. There are wild horses, and we even saw a golf course that had a bunch of marmots. I now know what a marmot is! It's like a beaver/groundhog type thing. My dad even has beavers living outside his work, building dams and everything!











Before we left, we went to a store called Junkee. It's a clothing exchange/antique store. I guess this is the store all of the Buring Man people go to for their outfits. And I could see why when I walked in. It was amazing!


Well....that time had finally come....it was time to head home....it was super sad leaving. I don't do well with goodbyes when it comes to them... So sitting there on the train, waving to them outside the window was hard.... As we were leaving Reno we luckily got to see some wild horses on the side of the tracks.



Dinner time came around and we decided to try dinner on the train. Dinner can range from $11-$20 depending on what you get and they come around and get reservations because there is not alot of room. Each table is set up as a 4 seat table. You share a table with another couple to accommodate everyone. We were sat with a nice older couple from Boston and they were telling us all about their train experiences over the years.

It's kind of a place where you are forced to be sociable with people. I am definitely a socially awkard person and it got me out of my little bubble.

As we settled in for the rest of the drive, we decided to watch the rest of Harry Potter.



Thanks for the awesome time Reno,  See you on the flip side!!!

Reno - The Adventure: Part 1

 

Hey guys! 

This past week we took a trip to Reno, Nevada to see where my parents live for the first time since they moved there. We decided to take the Amtrak California Zephyr there because A: its a long boring drive, B: it's relatively cheap and C: I really really wanted to have the experience of riding a train for the first time. And I am sure glad we did!

Now, when I say cheap I mean, it was only $87 round trip for 1 ticket. That's pretty awesome!

The California Zephyr runs daily between Chicago and San Francisco, coursing through the plains of Nebraska to Denver, across the Rockies to Salt Lake City, and then through Reno and Sacramento into Emeryville/San Francisco. 

Our train was scheduled to come into the station at 11:30 PM but the train has a tendency to being late because things can happen like having to stop and check engines or coming into contact with a freight train that needs to pass on the same track. But when I say late...I mean like an hour late at most maybe. This being our first train ride ever, of course our train was late by almost 7 hours! Seriously?! That would happen to us right? We did find out the reasoning was a freight train had gone off the tracks that the Amtrak was driving on as well. So basically it took 6 hours to clean that up.


But alas! Our Train finally came in at 5:30 AM! 
I quote, "We felt like Harry Potter when he was looking for platform 9 3/4 and he finally laid his eyes on the gleaming steam engine of the Hogwarts Express. . .except there's no steam engine and it's not gleaming at all." - Travis

 

We found our seats but had to be super quiet because people were sleeping. We decided since we were up all night tracking the train, that we would catch some shut eye too.

 After we woke up, we decided to wonder the train and go get some foodage. We learned quick that you have to learn to walk with the train because its so bumpy! Otherwise you will fall right into someones lap.
The doors to each cab are pretty cool. It's a big metal door that you have to press a big black button and the door slides open. It reminds you of a spaceship because it opens so fast and makes a suction noise!

We headed up to the skycap. The skycap is basically a big dining/hangout area that you can go to so you don't disturb people sleeping in the seating areas. It also has huge windows even on the ceiling so you can have the full scenic experience. 

Travis and I thought there could be nothing better than watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone on our first train ride. We took our portable DVD player to the skycap and started watching it. We noticed a little red headed girl next to us who was secretly watching it, so we invited her to watch it with us. She was super shy but her mom convinced her to sit next to us and watch it. She had never seen it! She seemed really into it but she stayed pretty quiet. It was also kinda of hard to hear it because of all the noise but at least she got to see some of it. Maybe she was making up her own story in her head. Who knows :)

Towards the end of the ride, we did cross paths with a freight train, so we had to maneuver and stop the train so they could get by. But alas, at 3:00 PM Reno time, we finally made it!!!!

My parents greeted us at the station. It was really good to see them!

We got into the car and they took the scenic route home so they could show us the town. The part we drove through was kind of rough looking, but once we crossed the bend, it was like we were in another world. Downtown (or Midtown as they call it) was pretty cool. The casinos are all right there in the same spot and the little shops around there are pretty cool too. There was an awesome little river that went through town too that people were fishing and swimming in.

After we checked out that area for a little bit, we went home and got all freshened up to hit the town.

This is the end of side one. Please flip the tape over to continue :)

Hidden Mickeys - The Secret World of Disney

Hey Guys & Dolls! 

So, if you know me, you clearly know I love Disney & Disneyland :) 

As you may remember, from a previous post, my sister and I participated in the Neverland 5K. (which was AMAZING!) When we went, I made sure I looked for the "Gotta See" secrets of Disneyland, which they have a bunch! It's a much better experience if you know what to look for. 

So, while I was at work, I was looking up a packing check list for our upcoming trip to Reno to see my parents. My co worker mentioned going to Disneyland soon, and that I was going to be her go to person for organization for her trip. I mentioned the little list I had on my phone from my trip to Disney with all my tips and told her I could easily make a list for her when she goes.

After I got done typing it up, I decided, what the hell...why don't I just share it with all of you as well! Thus, this blog entry. So, let us begin!

 
Ride # 1:  Indiana Jones - The King of Secrets!

•  Fast Pass should be used to avoid long lines, but if you must wait in one long line, make it Indiana Jones Adventure. The waiting area is an experience in its self.
• When you approach the DO NOT TOUCH POLE sign in line, do the opposite and pull the bamboo pole.It will make the ceiling look like it is caving in.
• If you pull the rope on the well where it says not to pull the rope, it prompts an unseen worker to "fall" and voices will cry out from the well.
• There is a skeleton that occasionally will wear Mickey Ears.
• When you are in the projection room, look behind you above the projector. In the rafters, you will see the Eeyore parking sign from the original parking lot that stood in this very spot years ago.

  Ride #2 Pirates of the Caribbean 

-  In the beginning years of the park being opened, there many real human skeletons throughout the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The designers were displeased with how fake the fake bones looked, so they called in for reinforcements! Slowly over the years, the real bones have been taken out but there is one real human skull and crossbones located over the bed in the Captain’s Quarters just above a fake skeleton dressed in pirate attire.

Ride # 3 - Matterhorn

There is a secret employee basketball court underneath.

                                                           Ride #4 - Snow White's Scary Ride 

 - If you rub the brass apple above the brass book in the line for Snow White’s Scary Adventure, a loud clap of thunder will sound off as well as a chilling cackle from the evil witch. *Bonus*- If you watch closely at the window above the Snow White ride, you will briefly see the Evil Queen in the window looking out at you. But be patient, she only makes herself noticeable every so often.

Ride #5 - Jungle Cruise

Skippers sometimes have free maps of the ride that they will give out to guests if asked.

 Ride #6 - Mark Twain Riverboat

If you ask a cast member if you can pilot the boat, you will be guided to the wheelhouse where you will be able to “steer” the boat, even though it is on a track. The you ring the bell, and blow the whistle and then sign the exclusive guestbook. The guestbook has only been signed by lucky ones who have been able to drive the boat since the mid-1950’s. You will also get a “Pilot’s Certificate” for steering the S.S. Mark Twain. Be sure to be discrete when asking, you don’t want the rest of the boat to know about your secret!

 

 

 Ride #7 - Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin - "Ink & Paint Club"

 Knock on the door and say “Walt sent me” and you will hear Jessica Rabbit’s voice begin singing for you. Also, half way through the line, there is a special big metal door. A gorilla will come to the door and say a smart remark to you if you knock on it!

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Ride #8 - Mad Tea Party

Rumor has it, the purple teacup is the fastest one.

 

Ride #9 - Haunted Mansion 

Want to make a quick exit from the Stretching Room? Look for the wall with the small gap in the middle, those are the doors. Stand next to them. You will be the first one out of the room.

Ride# 10 - Radiator Springs (California Adventure) 

-Make sure you get your Fast Pass early. The line is never ending.

 

The final tip for the rides:
Disneyland now enforces Fast Pass return times, but there is a 15 minute grace period. So don't discard your fast passes if you are a little late.

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Alright! Now we can move onto Basic Park Tips!

• Try the left sided lines. Most people are right handed and will veer towards the right sided lines.

• Buy your mouse ears at the beginning of your trip, so that they can be features in all of your pictures! 

•  Get your Honorary Citizen pin from City Hall on Main Street. Beware, they will quiz you on Disney Knowledge!

•  Secret Character Gate: Northeast corner of Main Street, between Main street Cinema and Lincoln 

• Download the Wait Time App to help organize your day.Not only will you get wait times for all the rides, but also a map of the park. This will help you locate all of the important bathrooms.  
• To maximize the battery life on your phone, put it on Airplane mode while on rides like Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion, & Pirates of the Caribbean. 
• The best place to take a photo of Sleeping Beauty's Castle is on the right hand side, not the front. You not only get a good shot but it will include the water.
• The Mad Hatter sometimes plays "Musical Chairs" with the kids at Coke Corner on Main Street once daily. This usually occurs at 2:30 but times are subject to change & is not listed in the Times Guide. Ask a cast member at Coke Corner and they will be able to tell you the exact time for that day.
• If your balloon pops, show a cast member and they will replace it.

• There is a light in the top window of the Main Street Firehouse that never goes out. Walt Disney supposedly use the apartment above the firehouse with his family on a regular basis. After he died, the park kept the light in the window at all times to continue his presence in the park. The apartment has never been changed since the family lived there. 
• The rides don't close when the park closes. You can still get in line for a ride a few minutes before close. The lines also tend to be shorter. 

The best time to get your souvenirs is after the park closes.The shops on Main Street stay open after close. 

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 Food/Shows  

• Lunch rush is from 11AM-2PM/ Dinner rush is from 6:30PM-8:00PM

• Looking for a quiet and less busy place to eat? Try the Hungry Bear Restaurant in Critter Country. 
• Want a photo with Mickey? Head towards Toon Town towards closing. The line for photos is the shortest.

• Blue Bayou Reservation line - 714-781-3463 
• Parades - Head towards Tomorrow Land & right before you enter, turn left and follow the path to King Triton's Statue.
• Fireworks - Bench in Central Station by the Walt & Mickey Statue

Fantasmic - Go to the second showing. The crowd is smaller.

World of Color (California Adventure) - About 1 hour before W.O.C, head to the general seating area. 

 

 

Hope you guys find this helpful for your next trip to the Happiest Place on Earth!