Reno, Vegas Junior.

Over the past few weeks, people who had originally confirmed for Reno began to drop like flies. And so, by the time Friday came around it was only Alex, My, Ya and myself heading East. This weekend I was really looking forward to line-dancing, gambling, and working out in Reno. As it turns out, we did little to none of what I planned for.

When we got to Reno on Friday, we stopped at Walmart to pick up party supplies before checking in at Grand Sierra. Upon arrival, we settled into our cowboy-themed hotel rooms and the party began. We were supposed to go to the Mustangs Dance Hall that night, but as it turns out it wasn't a club at all. No, it was a stage in the Johnny Rocket food court. What a BUST! And to top that, their line-dancing night was Thursday.. go figure. We ended up having a super-crazy pretzel party in my room, and it was SO fun. I don't even think line-dancing could have topped the pretzel party. Insanity. We also wandered around the hotel and visited another room before ending up in the casino. While the others went to the tables I sat down at a slot machine nearby and started jamming buttons. I put in $20 and ended up with $38. It was already 3, and I was exhausted, so I called it a night.



Saturday morning was less painful than it should have been, thanks to hydration! On our way out of the casino, Alex and I realized that everyone on the trip with us was in couples! And to top that off, we ran into Jimmy and his girlfriend in the parking lot. While it was coincidence, it wasn't surprising - I totally called it! The night before, I said I BET WE'RE GOING TO SEE AT LEAST ONE PERSON WE KNOW HERE!

For lunch, we went to Hiroba sushi buffet! There we spotted Anh Yong from Arrested Development! I tried to secretly take a picture of him but I couldn't get a good one. The sushi was delicious, and totally worth the wait. I felt guilty because we wasted about 2 rolls, totally over-ambitious. After sushi, we went to get more party supplies - PRETZELS! When we got back to the hotel room we caught the "Hole In The Wall" tv show and it was freakin' hilarious. We made a run to Costco to pick up some things and then it was time for dinner.



We had made up our minds to try Zozo's Ristorante, but when we got there they were completely sold out for the night, WOW. We have to go the next time we're in Reno. Instead we had Kinders BBQ, which was still yum. After Kinders, we went to Nu Yalk pizza because we passed it on the way to Zozo's and we thought the name was funny. That was THE BEST PIZZA I'VE EVER HAD. Alex described it as "pizza on a cracker" - the crust was paperthin and soooo crunchy, I looove thin-crust pizza and that was the thinnest crust I've had to date. Stopping there was a great idea.


When we got back to the hotel, other folks were just going to dinner at one of the restaurants downstairs. I'm glad we didn't go as they ended up having a terrible experience. Anyhoo, to kill time we played the "who do you think is most likely to..." game and that was pretty fun. Later, when the others finished their dinner, we went to Jewell's room and started partying. I ended up not being able to hang with the big kids, and went back to my room to sleep around midnight.

Sunday morning we checked out. We were heading to some bakery/breakfast place in Reno, but we turned around when we decided to eat Boiling Crab instead. On the freeway, we saw a billboard sign for Tahoe Burgers. A few minutes later, we exited to get gas and ended up right next to Tahoe Burgers. We decided to try it! The burger and curly fries were tasty, definitely a step up from what I would normally consider fast food. We hit the road, and two hours later we were at Boiling Crab in Sacramento. It was what I'd expected it to be, delicious! I love me some whole shrimps, shell and all :) We hit the road again and hours later (traffic) we were back in the Bay Area. We stopped at Church's Chicken when we dropped My and Ya off, and then headed back to the city.

In summary, this trip was everything I didn't expect it to be. I didn't do any of the things I was planning to do but I ended up having a fantastic time. There were SO MANY funny moments, in the car ride there and back, that I will probably remember and giggle at years from now. Alex and I had some really interesting conversations at the hotel and on the way back to the city. Even though I ate a lot instead of working out, the food was well worth it. This trip ended up being spontaneity at its best, from the pretzel party to the Nu Yalk pizza, to Tahoe Burgers and everything in between.