Truth in Advertising. Reno

Reno. How they came up with the name for this place someone may know, but I have my own theory. Someone mis-spelt Repo, cause this place was filled with nothing once you got off the main drag. There were 'for sale' signs off the mini-strip if you can call it that. Reno is a laughable attempt to re-direct those from Northern California to a Casino other than Vegas.


I knew full well I wasn't going to Reno for the Casino experience. And well the only reason I stayed there and not Lake Tahoe as the original plan conspired was cost. $38 plus tax a night versus $140 a night for what was available on line. Of course Tahoe would of also required the hiring of a vehicle for 2 days. Which doesn't run cheap.

Anyway enough of that, what was it like? It was Geriatric Gambling House after gambling house. Damn every single Camper van/RV has converged upon Reno. After gambling my whole $3 gambling budget in the casino I took the time to just walk around. As I do. I got the reward out of it. I found a really good all you can eat sushi place up the other end of town for lunch.

The final day I took a $59 Lake Tahoe tour. This was to be a much more affordable option than hiring an SUV from the car hire place . Especially when the only vehicles left were a 4-wheel drive, and a convertible.

Now when I say Lake Tahoe Tour most people would assume that it would entail a day of say, Lake Tahoe. In most cases you'd be correct. But no, not with this crappy tour company I was with. The Lake Tahoe tour was yes indeed a tour to Lake Tahoe with photo opportunity stops, but was didn't stay there. In fact we had left Lake Tahoe by 11:30am. The next 6 hours of the tour actually entailed 2.5 hours at Carson City the capital of Nevada, and an hour in Virginia City, and 2 hours of highway driving to and from these cities before returning to Reno. Furthermore the tour's sole purpose seemed to be have us gamble at the Carson City casino. Awe come on, we were staying in Reno, we'd already found gambling. Argh!


Anyway I recovered the trip a bit by walking around Carson City to their state legislature, and then the main street. I had a really interesting chat to the guard in the legislature building on the government process there, and their common existence of the gerrymander in relation to electoral boundaries. Yes, it may have looked like I was time wasting a bit. That conversation ended abruptly when he got called away to attend to a domestic violence dispute on the grounds. Ah gotta love America. Another truely American moment that was.

Anyway next stop was Virginia city. A very tacky touristy spot to visit. They've recreated the whole Western theme along their main street. Heck it's all they've got going for themselves now. The Silver mines went broke long ago, and well it's so dry and barren there is nothing else to see or do. The shops were good for about all of 20 minutes, but alas we had an hour. Of course we also received the complimentary casino bonus coupons as we got off the bus! I wasted a good 20 minutes watching the worst ever production of a western gunfight. We're talking really, really bad. But heck I only paid $4 to get in, and $1 tip. Considering the price paid, and the lack of other attractions, I felt unnecessary to ask for the 20 minutes of my life back.


Anyway that was Reno and Lake Tahoe. It's not as bad as I make it out to be above really. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy walking around and seeing it. It was just how I saw it didn't work perfectly. Oh well. Next city please.