road trip

Had to bake some chocolate chip cookies to sweeten the deal for Mumsy, who agreed to dog-sit Q-Tip for a night...

the foolproof bribe

Why? Because the girls went to Reno!

The drive up the mountains was quite enjoyable, though I am guilty of napping even though I was supposed to be co-pilot.

perhaps the home of Rainbow Brite?

driving along the Truckee River

just about 15 more minutes to Reno!

We felt the heat once we left the Bay Area but the desert-like terrain of Nevada only amplified the need to roll down the windows.

Pulled into the Grand Sierra Resort, which I found to have a good mix attractions and amenities:

cowboys and slot machines!

The view from our room was pretty nice...

the "beach."
Most of the area around the pool is covered in sand for a beachy effect.
Besides a pool with fun music you can hear through the windows on the 12th floor,
there's a sanded volleyball court, cabanas, and a hot tub.
Really? A hot tub in the summer?

On the right is a reservoir that offers driving ranges.
The parking lot behind the building is actually the resort's RV park!

There's also a small underground shopping area within the resort that offers outdated clothes, cheap sandwiches, a movie theatre, and a 50-lane bowling alley! Not bad!

Now we all know that the casinos along the Strip offer celebrity-chef restaurants but I think this humble watering hole in Reno can be proud of its Italian eatery, Briscola.

the pasta special of the night... artichokes, haricots verts, pine nuts, pesto,
and a few heirloom tomatoes tossed with flat pasta.
Sausage added because this pasta special is vegetarian.

But by far we got the most pleasure from people-watching at the lounge/club with a live band... some of the resort's guests were characters all their own!

On the left we have Spazzy from Minnesota. He was a mashup of the dance from
"Walk Like An Egyptian" and my old chihuahua having a seizure,
all without spilling a drop of his beer.
On the right is a solo dancer, an nice old man who was having the time of his life.
And in the center is Stripey, a 62 year-old grandma who alternated between dancing a mean jive
and taking dips in the "beach" pool in her bikini.
She is very proud of her bikini. You can see it through her cover-up.

The only thing that could have made our stay better would be seeing the fictional cops of Reno 911! in action. That and winning a hefty jackpot at the slots.