Servant To A King

Name:  Erin
Location:  Reno, NV (elevation 4,412ft & population 389,872)
Family makeup:  Happily married with a 2.5 year old

Things I like:   Reading, Red wine, Snowboarding, Running, Camping, Traveling, and Family activities.  See if you can guess in what order!  I’ll give you a hint….I run because I need too.

My husband and I moved to “The Biggest Little City” back in 2003 just after I graduated from college (finally).  We’ve lived here for a little over 6 years now and it sure has grown on us.  Reno really is a wonderful place with so many things to offer.

The outdoor activities are endless here.   Twelve months out of the year there is always something to do.  I venture to guess it’s a lot like other places where you have skiing in the winter and hiking/camping in the summer.  But what makes this place unique is something we like to call, Lake Tahoe.

Photo courtesy of scubafusion.com

Our trips to Lake Tahoe seem to occur mainly in the winter.  We enjoy snowboarding and the resorts in the area are plentiful.  Our favorite place to strap on our boards is Northstar. It’s an easy exit off the I-80 and makes for a convenient day trip.  If we have a little more time, we venture off the beaten path and go to Homewood Mountain Resort.

Photo courtesy of Homewood Moutain Resort

Homewood has the best views of the Lake but it’s fairly small in comparison.  If you’re looking for something a little more posh, head over to Squaw Valley.  It’s the Hollywood of resorts.

In the summer we tend to stay closer to home.  In the past, we’ve gone to the lake and camped but since having our son, we choose to stay closer to home. There are plans to go camping this year.  But who knows.

It’s hard to tear ourselves away from Reno in the summer.  Even though the temperatures can reach over 100 degrees there are so many things to do on the weekends that we find we’re always busy.

Things like: (dates are 2009)
-     Sparks Farmers Market (Every Thursday night June 11 – Aug 20)
-     The Eldorado Blues & Brews Festival (June 27 – 28)
-     Artown (July 9 – 31)
-     Hot August Nights (July 31 – Aug 9)
-     Burning Man (Aug 31 – Sept 7 * I’ll be posting on this on Sunday)
-     The Best in the West Rib Cook-off (Sept 2 – 7)
-     Great Reno Balloon Race (Sept 11 – 13)
-     Reno Air Races (Sept 16 – 20)

The bonus is that everything is kid friendly.  We don’t go many places without The King.  He’s a really good sport and is adventurous in his own right so if the event is kid friendly, he joins us.

The King dancing at an outdoor concert

We also have a few great museums nearby.  The Nevada Museum of Art is downtown.  So is the Automobile Museum.  Carson City, which is about 30 miles south, has a Train Museum and a Children’s Museum.

To the east there is Virginia City which is like taking a step back in time.  The streets and buildings are all from the Old West and it’s not uncommon to see people walking down the street in period costume.  There is a train that runs regularly around the area where you can learn about the old silver mines.

Me running by the river

Not too long after The King was born, I started running.  I’m still waiting for the day to come when I actually enjoy it.  But in the meantime, I run on my lunch break.  It’s really nice because Reno has a river that runs right through downtown.  It goes for miles.  Since my office is a block away, I get to enjoy it daily.  On really hot days Wingfield Park is packed with people swimming, rafting and kayaking.

There are a lot of great restaurants in town too but we don’t seem to eat out much these days.  I’ll save the food post for another time. And there are always deals on hotels.

So to sum it up I love being a Reno local because:
-       The outdoor activities are endless
-       It’s only 3 hours drive to San Francisco (my very favorite city)
-       There is a major airport right in the middle of town
-       There are 4 seasons
-       We score good entertainment/concerts
-       There is decent shopping
-       The sushi is actually good (depending on where you go)
-       Lake Tahoe is just around the corner
-       It’s very kid friendly

All the more reason to come check it out sometime!

Join me each and every Tuesday as we hear from other locals from around the world.  If you haven’t already, make sure to check out yesterday’s post and enter the to win a subscription to Budget Travel.

Next weeks featured local:  Middle-Aged-Woman over at Unmitigated gives us the local view of Metro Detroit.  As a girl born and raised in Michigan, I am looking forward to her post.  In the meantime, check back daily for additional travel related topics and tips.  Thanks again for stopping by.

Did you know? (Courtesy of legendsofamerica.com)

Nevada is called the Sagebrush State, Silver State, and Battle-Born State.

The Virgin Valley in northern Nevada is the only place in North America where the Black Fire Opal is found in any significant quantity.

It is illegal to drive a camel on the highway (but we do have camel races in Virginia City)

Construction worker Hard Hat’s were first invented specifically for workers on the Hoover Dam in 1933.

While Samuel Clemens took the penname “Mark Twain” as a reporter working for the “Territorial Enterprise,” he began his writing career as a reporter in the Midwest some years before moving to Virginia City in 1862.

In Reno it is illegal to lie down on the sidewalk. (huh?)

Most of the state is desert but the Sierra Nevada mountain range near Reno and the Ruby Mountains near Elko have snow for half the year.

Nevada is the largest gold-producing state in the nation. It is second in the world behind South Africa.