chipperThe trip up to Reno was uneventful. The weather was good enough that we got off of of US-395 and followed the old road where it loops away from the freeway. Lisa saw numerous lots of land that might have interested her, but they probably are too expensive, given the look of the area. (Lisa adds, "Besides, there was no railroad track.") Returning to the freeway (which was already in progress), we continued north. To the west, we could see the massive supports for what looks like a new road that will run along the ridgeline. I don't know if this is a US-395 replacement freeway or what, but it's sure big.
Hitting Reno, our first stop was the NAPA store where we bought a new set of wipers for the pickup. Boy, do we wish we'd done this when we were there getting a starter last weekend. The trip to Tahoe and back was complicated by not being able to keep the window clear.
Then it was back to the Holiday Inn, where we are in almost exactly the same room as last weekend, albeit one floor lower. After getting settled in and relaxing for a while, we went back over to Sparks. Because we hadn't exactly been in a hurry today, enough time had passed that it was already late enough to have dinner, so it was back to John's Oyster Bar for us.
After dinner, we went across the street to the Silver Club. Lisa went to play nickel video poker while I headed to the blackjack table where I had won $131 last weekend. I started off down a bit, got a very timely blackjack, and was only one win away from being ahead enough to hit my quit point when the cards went very cold and I quickly spiraled down. I bailed out after the house won seven straight hands and I was down $144. I wanted to hold on enough money to not have to hit an ATM for the rest of this trip. I can be somewhat philosophical about having only been down a net $13 playing blackjack (including dealer and cocktail waitress tips), but it's still annoying that I'd been up $97 this evening, $3 short of my quit-while-you're-ahead point, when things went pear-shaped. It didn't help that they had a loud live music act playing. I really don't like playing blackjack where I can't hear the conversation around me. When the dealer talks to me and I only see lips moving without hearing any sound but the band, it throws off my game. Not that it likely would have made a difference in this case.
After reclaiming what cash I had left from my chips, I found Lisa cheerfully playing through her nickels. She had started with $5 and still had quite a few left. I sat with her and she played for another half-hour or so before finally running out of them. She got at least as much entertainment for a lot less money and stress than me. According to the club card, and including the new-player bonus, I have about 2300 points in their program, also including the 90 points Lisa earned playing video poker. What this will get me, I do not know, for I have beenn unable to find a redemption guide for their affinity program.
After a brief stop for groceries, it was back to the hotel, where Lisa took advantage of having a larger bathtub and considerably more hot water than she normally has in the trailer back home in Mehama for a long bath while I got caught up on e-mail and such. Luckily for me, there were no further requests from work while I was traveling today, probably because most of the people who might generate such requests were traveling as well, usually a lot further than I am, because most of them are from back east. (This is a welcome change from me having to go to Chicago for such meetings.)
Lisa brought the map book in from the truck with her. She's got ideas about where we will be exploring tomorrow, weather permitting.