Having Reno/Lake Tahoe Sledding Gambling Fun With Spencer Jack & Jason

A couple days ago I blogged about Spencer Jack and my Favorite Nephew Jason being masked bandits in Seattle.

Jason had emailed me some photos of Spencer and himself on top of the Space Needle and on the Monorail.

I replied back, asking a question or two about a subject or two.

Jason then replied saying he and Spencer Jack were about to leave for a couple days on a Thanksgiving getaway. And that Spencer was getting impatient to leave, and pacing, whilst Jason wrote his reply to me.

So, last night, as in Thanksgiving Evening, incoming email from Jason and Spencer Jack contained multiple photos, with the only text being something like "You can probably guess where we are."

Well, the first photo told me they were at a location with casinos. Vegas? But that photo did not look much like Vegas. Reno? I had no recollection of Jason ever going to Reno. Some other gambling/casino mecca? Of which there are many in the western states.

The next photo confirmed Spencer Jack and Jason were at a gambling mecca.

Jason at a slot machine at an airport. The only airports I have been in which have slot machines are McCarran in Vegas and Reno-Tahoe International.

The next photo narrowed the guessing, eliminating Vegas, with the win going to Reno.

I replied back to Jason, saying I figured the location to be Reno when I saw the above photo and recollected a giant silver mining feature in a Reno casino, the name of which I could not quite remember, other than it having Silver in the name, and that it was attached to Circus Circus.

Jason replied back, clarifying the name as Silver Legacy, and that it also connected to the El Dorado Casino.

That had me trying to remember when last I had been at that location. I think it may have been 1996. I'd been to Moab, mountain biking, then west across Nevada on the World's Loneliest Highway, then a stay in Reno, at Circus Circus. I distinctly remember going to the El Dorado buffet and over eating worse than I have ever over eaten. And then having trouble slowly waddling back to my room at Circus Circus, where I collapsed til I recovered.

Now that you are continuing to make me think about it, my last time in Reno may have been later in the 1990s. We rented a big ol' Cadillac for a roadtrip to Yosemite, with one night's stay in Reno on the way. The route from Reno to Yosemite routed by Lake Tahoe and then Highway 49 to Yosemite. 

That roadtrip, I think, is the last time I was at Lake Tahoe, which is relevant to the next photo.

That would be Spencer Jack standing on a dock, or deck, on Lake Tahoe. If you drive the entire length of the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe you come to a spot with incredibly HUGE boulders. I suspect Spencer Jack and Jason did not drive that far, because I doubt they would miss that photo opportunity. Or the opportunity to climb on those HUGE boulders.

I have never been at Lake Tahoe during the skiing/sledding time of the year. Later Thanksgiving evening Jason sent another email. That one had a video attached showing Spencer sliding down the hill you see above.

One would think if it is cold enough for snow to stick in quantities sufficient for sledding that it would be too cold to do any swimming. One would have thought wrong, apparently, if one thought that.

I am guessing that Spencer Jack and Jason are staying at one of the Lake Tahoe casino resorts, and the one they are staying at has a heated outdoor pool, with only Spencer willing to brave the cold air to get in the warm pool.

I have no information as to how long Spencer Jack is keeping his dad in Nevada. If they had consulted me regarding what to see in that area I would have suggested driving the switchback road up the opposite side of the Reno valley to Virginia City. I have always had myself a mighty fine time in the Nevada version of Virginia City.

Upon first seeing these photos from Jason and Spencer, and temporarily thinking they must be in Vegas, my quick impulse was to call Jason to tell him his Favorite Aunt Jackie and her first husband, my Favorite Brother-in-Law, Jack, were in Vegas, celebrating their 40th Anniversary. I figured we could find a way to track down the location of the Arizonans. 

Back when I was Jason's age, and younger and older than Jason's current age, I would often escape a lot of the holiday season by heading south, to Reno and Southern California.

I recollect the last time I did a holiday season escape was Christmas of 1994. That time it was straight down I-5 to Anaheim. Disneyland on Christmas day, then other Los Angeles area fun during the following week, including going to the Nixon Presidential Library, which turned out to be the highlight of that trip.

Then it was on to Vegas for a couple nights, then Flagstaff, with the South Rim of the Grand Canyon a snowy two days before the New Year. Then on to Moab, seeing Mexican Hat and the San Juan Inn whilst crossing the San Juan River from Arizona to Utah, thinking that the San Juan Inn looked like a cool place to stay, not knowing, at the time, that less than a year later I would be staying there after four days of houseboating on Lake Powell.

After Mexican Hat it was one night in Moab, waking up there on New Year's Day. Hiked around Arches National Park in the snow. Then on to Canyonlands National Park where from Islands in the Sky I saw mountain bikers far below. I said then that I was gonna get me a mountain bike when I get back to Washington and return here to mountain bike. It would be two years later I would do so, riding miles of trails with a group called MudSluts.

Weird to remember back to when I used to go places, lots of places, a lot of the time. And now, here I am, in Texas. I have not been out of Texas for over a year. I have not been to the Dallas/Fort Worth zone in over a year. I have not been further than 50 miles from Wichita Falls in over a year.

No wonder I have a constant feeling of being borderline stir crazy...

The First Day Of July Dawns With A Texas Drought Disaster & Snow At Lake Tahoe

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the world on the first day of July it appears to be yet one more cloud free morning in Texas.

Currently chilled to a relatively pleasant 77 degrees. Heading to a scheduled high of 101 with the Heat Index making it feel like 106.

I did not realize til reading the news this morning that we are in a very very bad drought here in Texas. The worst in decades.

The Agriculture Department has designated 213 Texas counties as drought disaster areas. 32 counties in Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma were also declared drought disaster areas.

It was a noticeably dry spring this year. And so far summer in Texas has also been dry, for the most part. And HOT.

Meanwhile out west, in locations like the mountains around Lake Tahoe, snow continues to fall, well past the time snow usually ceases. Up in my former zone in Washington, the Skagit Valley, perpetual dampness seems to be the ongoing theme, with 4th of July celebrants anticipating using umbrellas to watch the annual Sedro Woolley 4th of July Loggerodeo Parade.

June zipped by at an unseemly pace. I anticipate July to zip equally fast. With August quickly arriving.

Soon we will be at the cooler time of the year when going swimming is a bit of a chilly challenge, which will not be the case when I go swimming in just a few minutes.

Talk to you later.

Lulu's Tone

No, this is not about how well-toned Lulu is. I was going to complain about my latest Wal-Mart nightmare, but Lulu trumps Wal-Mart. But, to dwell on Wal-Mart for a second, I don't know why I keep going back. I guess it is convenient when I don't have an incident. Wal-Mart's up in Washington aren't as nightmarish as the Texas ones, maybe because up there they are unionized with the workers paid way more and thus more skilled people are willing to don the blue vests.

Anyway, did I mention I've known Lulu since we were little kids? So, we've known each other a long long time. Lulu has aged more gracefully than I and has developed much more highly evolved social skills than I have managed to develop. Lulu is the epitome of grace and good manners. Lulu collects people. Some are quite interesting. In the past couple years she added this guy named Dick Balch to her collection. Yes, you in the northwest, that Dick Balch, the sledgehammer car smashing infamous car dealer Dick Balch. I had a memorable dinner at an Indian restaurant in Tacoma with Dick Balch. He did not disappoint. Waiter's were harassed, the manager was harassed, big tips were spread around, much hilarity ensued. After that fun, tasty, filling dinner Lulu made us go to Frisco Freeze for a hot fudge sundae. Frisco Freeze is a Tacoma icon. When a politician from Tacoma, Booth Gardner, became governor, he'd send people to get him a Frisco Freeze burger when the craving for grease got too strong.

I keep digressing from Lulu's tone. So, years ago Lulu and I did what is now widely considered by the cognoscenti to be the world's first blog, that being "As The WWWeb Turns with Lulu and Durango". It basically was Lulu and I bickering at each other via email, with photos illustrating what was being bickered about. The bickering got out of control and soon that blog died. The memory has somewhat faded but I think Lulu had tone issues even way back then, all those years ago.

Despite Lulu's serious issues regarding my tone the two of us have managed to travel well together over the years as evidenced by these photos. The one at the top with Lulu showing off her leg is at Crater Lake in Oregon. The photo where Lulu is guzzling Coors beer is at Lake Tahoe. The last photo is Lulu standing next to me at Boot Hill in Virginia City.

Today Lulu's tone issues popped up again. I don't quite know what she's talking about but apparently there is a certain tone I use when I write something about her. Perhaps there is some distortion on my part that I'm not totally aware of. Or maybe I don't quite mention all the facts. I don't know. But it's totally given me a real bad case of writer's block. I'm now overwhelmed with concerns about my tone. I'll probably get over it. But right now this tone concern is even affecting me when I talk on the phone, like today my mom called me and I couldn't stop worrying that my tone might be bad. Just a sec I'll snap a pic of myself so you can see how disgruntled I'm looking over this tonal failure of mine. And then I'm going to bed and hope a good night's rest restores my tone.