Destination: Reno, Nevada Distance from Point of Origin: 450 miles. Estimated (One Way) Travel Time: 8 hours. Directions: From the Stratosphere Casino head northeast on Las Vegas Blvd about 3 miles and turn left onto US-93/95, keeping on the left for 95 North towards Reno.Stay on US 95 for 385 miles and turn left onto US 50 for 26 miles. Turn Right onto SR 343 for 1 mile and turn left onto 1-80 W for 35 miles. Take Exit 13 to downtown Reno, Virginia Street. General Description: Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada. It has a population of around 220,500, and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area. It sits in a high desert valley at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Reno, known as The Biggest Little City in the World, is famous for its casinos, and is the birthplace of the gaming corporation Harrah's Entertainment. City residents are called Renoites. Reno is bordered to the east by the city of Sparks. The Reno-Sparks metropolitan area is informally called the Truckee Meadows, and consists of about 400,000 residents. Special Attraction or Points of Interest: The Truckee River winds its way through downtown Reno and Sparks. The Truckee and Carson Rivers provide outstanding adventure opportunities. Together they offer fabulous kayaking, canoeing, whitewater rafting, all the popular forms of open-water paddling and water-sports like skiing and sailing or an outing on a personal watercraft. Located nearby are Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake and Donner Lake, all are superb for enjoying the water. Primary Activity: Gambling Secondary Activities: Water sports and Photography. Elevation: Downtown Reno is around 4,500 feet; On the south western part of town, Bonnie and Paul are at 4,675 Best Time To Visit: Any time of year is good. Difficulty: N/A Facilities: Many. Estimated Round-trip Time: 17 hours. Definitely a two-day driving trip, plus whatever time you want to spend in the area gambling, site-seeing and taking pictures. |
05/03/2011 Trip Notes: Just before Mother’s Day, Connie and I visited Bonnie and Paul in Reno. We stayed at the Atlantis Casino, located at the far left of the photo above and shown close up below. They joined us for dinner at the Atlantis the first night, and Bonnie prepared us lunch and dinner over the next couple of days. We spent many hours talking, reminiscing and riding around taking pictures of the area where they live. Paul and I spent several hours placing pictures on the digital picture frame we were giving mom on Mother’s Day. We were both amazed at the quality of the panoramas and pictures Paul has taken with his new camera over the past several months |