Visitreno

[BC Dave]

Events as remembered by BC Janice

January, 2009

Monday, 12th

Left at 5:45 in the morning, to drive to the Bellingham, Washington Airport. Boarded the plane at 8:00 am. The crew on Allegiant Air had a draw and I won a prize bag full of souvenir junk.

We arrived in Reno around 10 am and picked up a rental vehicle, which turned out to be a Ford Escape. The weather was totally gorgeous. Drove to the Silver Legacy, put away our baggage, and went to the Eldorado Buffet for lunch. Talked to a friendly couple and they gave some ideas on where to shop in Reno. Later we walked to the Cal Neva and at 6pm we had to have a rest.
Went out again at around 8pm to the Silver Legacy’s Sedona and Dave had soup and I had chicken. We walked around and watched a bicycle show at Circus Circus that was put on by the Imperial Acrobats of China girls. They were amazing, even astounding, like rubber flying around on those bikes. Later they were behind us on an escalator coming up to the mezzanine. We were looking back at them, smiling, when we hit the end of the escalator and almost tumbed down on top of them. We may not have appeared as coordinated as they as we struggled to regain composure. Later, we walked around Circus Circus and won a little playing "Wolf Run".

Tuesday, 13th

Up at nine and out by ten. We drove to Ross and Wal Mart and did some shopping. Had a hamburger at Wendys and then drove to Atlantis. I lost $30 there. We then went to John’s place and visited Charlie and Higgins, for about an hour. That little Charlie sure likes his snuggles, I think John taught him that. Both John’s birds are precious and good entertainers. They danced and hopped around and played throw the sock. The three of us went to the Peppermill for happy hour and drank beer in the Fireside Lounge. Later, we played Video Poker and John had a couple of good wins. John gave us a tour of the new part of the PepperMill and we were quite impressed. We had a late dinner at Biscotti’s and had a good laugh at the expense of their "crooked" dishes. A new modern design, called ”totally warped”, that John was having some trouble with.

We were back in our room at the Silver Legacy by midnight.

Wednesday, 14th

Up early and off to Carson City. It is so nice out again. The sun is shining and no need for coats at the time we arrived there. We went to the Railroad Museum and it was so interesting. A Mr. Bryan Berry gave us a tour of the old trains and told us of their history. We spent a few hours there and near the end, Bryan gave us a ride on the handcar. Dave got a video of it and we had a good laugh. It was such fun and so interesting at the museum. I would recommend it to everyone.

We then drove into Carson City with plans of ice skating but after walking with the sun going down, we were too cold to skate. We walked the main street, went over to the Legislative Building and took pictures of some of the sculptures there. One was of Kit Carson, who we found to have a fascinating history.
We headed over to the Carson Nugget and gambled and had dinner in the restaurant there. Did not win there but our money lasted a long time. The Carson Nugget may be the last refuge of the famous $5.95 prime rib dinner. Dave had it and was very happy with it. Back to Reno and around 11pm we went for soup and salad at Tivoli’s in the Eldorado. Called it a night at the “early” hour of 1 A.M.

Thursday, 15th
Up early and had the breakfast buffet at the Silver Legacy. It was very good. Drove to John’s place at noon and the birds were happy to see us again. We played and snuggled (with the birds) then the three of us drove up to Virginia City. Walked the boardwalk and stopped in the Delta Saloon for a beer. I walked to the leather shop and John and Dave eventually caught up to me. Dave had had a couple and when he walked in, he asked the store’s cashier, “Are you twice as big as when I as last here?” (He was referring to the store’s floor area, but it didn’t come out right.) Fortunately she took it well and we all had a good laugh at Dave’s expense.

Back to Reno and to the PepperMill for dinner at the coffee shop. We played video poker for a while. Dropped John off around 8:30 as it was well past his bedtime.
Back to our hotel, showered, and packed our cases.

Friday, 16th

Up early and went to the Eldorado Buffet for breakfast, it was excellent.
We stopped at Ben’s discount liquor store near by the Bonanza to buy some tequila for Dave’s friend back home, as it is less than half the Canadian price there. We arrived at the airport around 10am, returned our rental car and checked our bags, went through security and to the gate to wait for our flight. After about a half an hour there an announcement that the flight was delayed. About half hour after that it was announced that the flight was cancelled.

Allegiant Air had called a couple of hotels for us. The Atlantis offered $39 and the Sands offered $45. A no brainer, even for a former Sands loyalist.

We loved the Atlantis, the rooms were big and everything so clean and bright. The check in was fast and friendly and they called the room to see if we were happy with our accommodations. Watched a movie in our room called Religulous. It’s was a documentary on different religions. Very funny, and very interesting.

We’ve never stayed at the Atlantis before. They’ve got some nice restaurants there and lots of places to sit and relax.
We had dinner at the Purple Parrot coffee shop. Played poker on the Virginia Street sky bridge and won about $40.00.

Up early and had breakfast at the Purple Parrot and waited to see if our flight was going to go today. We finally were told to go to the airport and we did leave at 3:30P.M. Our flight was normal until we approached Bellingham but we circled for half an hour or so before it was decided that the conditions were to poor to attempt a landing there. Damn ice fog! So they flew us to Pasco. We didn’t know where Pasco was but we did not want to stay there as Dave needed to get back to work. Although the extended vacation was fun it was definitely time to get home. We were tired. It wasn't Allegiant Air's fault at all (it's better to land safely 300 miles from home than....well.... the "alternative"). We rented a car, bought a map, and drove from Pasco thru Yakima, Ellensburg and on to Bellevue, Seattle and then Bellingham to pick up our car. We arrived home at 3:45 A.M. Sunday.

[john]

Great report, BCJ! It's good to see you posting on the board. I really enjoy hearing about the sightseeing trips (and, of course, big win trips). Thanks for sharing some of the things Nevada has to offer, other than gaming. You didn't mention a trip to Shooters. Did Dave decide to protect you from that?

Charlie and Higgins send their love.

John

[BC Dave]

Nope, we didn't venture in there. Janice wanted to go, thinking she might bump into Jerry or Hawk, but I advised that sometimes even scaryer characters lurk in there. (Like the guys I sometimes come to Reno with).

BC Dave

[hawk]

nm

[Dave]

Great trip Report you guys. Glad you had fun.
Man you ended up putting on some miles driving
on the way home. I actually went to college in good
old Ellensburg. Good you made it home safely. I would
really like to try to fly Allegiant sometime out of Bellingham.
Were there very many people on your flights?
Thanks for the report!
Dave

[BC Dave]

Hi Dave
The Allegiant flights, so far, have all been comfortable and very economical. Our flight down was not full. It was maybe 75% full.

After our return flight was canceled however, comunication from the airline got really poor. At the airport, an Allegiant representative gave us a number to call that turned out to be pretty useless. Once the number was dialed, I was given 3 automated options. None of them applied to our situation. There was no indication that staying on the line would eventually connect us with a live customer service agent. I hung on anyway for 20 minutes (twice) but hung up in frustration both times. We heard about the rescheduled flight home on Saturday, by word of mouth, while having breakfast at the Atlantis. I have written Allegiant Air a letter of complaint about that (poor customer information) and I'll let you know the gist of their response.

The return flight seemed less populated than the flight on the way down. It could be that some of our fellow passengers were unaware of the flight.

I have no other complaints about Allegiant. Their decision not to land in Bellingham was obviously well founded. Our car, the sidewalks and pavement were all very icy when we arrived there, in our rental car, early Sunday morning.

Ellensburg seemed like a nice place.

[stan_allen]

But for the shoddy treatment of the airline, I'd say the two of you have knocked it out of the park yet again.

Love the bit about the malfunctioning escalator navigation.

Glad to see you are also Silver Legacy supporters, though I will probably be banned from going there again - not by the hotel, as one could be forgiven for instantly concluding - but by Mrs. Allen, who is convinced that a flea infestation we suffered was caused by the Legacy. We have no pets or children, so it was well-nigh impossible to identify the source. I am convinced that they arrived before I even left for Reno, but who am I to argue with the boss? I'll probably be at the Atlantis next time, and I can think of harsher punishments.

Anyway, thanks for the report - it's always good to see our regulars supporting our favorite city!

[BC Dave]

Hi Stan;

"Ball outa the park" would normally apply to Jerry and his erotic baseball bat avatars. But I like what it implies so don't mind borrowing from Jerry this time.

We always been happy with our accomodations at the Silver Legacy and have seen no bugs. Lv Bear reported fleas at the Silver Club, did you venture in there?

[Zydeco]

Casino Player Magazine had feature on Allegiant Air. Was hoping that they would find their way to Port Angeles one day, but to no avail.

Great trip report.....I read that the Atlantis was re-done. Any comment on that?

Thanks also for the notes about Carson City. Visiting in April and looking for something different!

[jerry]

Just thought Dave needed to see my avvie on his thread. Oops, it's BCJ's thread - I stand corrected. Is that Kee-rect?

Janice, I too will dance, jump around, and chase the sock if you "snuggle" me as you did Charlie. John also taught me that.

Nice TR, thanks for taking the time. Kinda makes me want to go back -- sooner rather than later.

"Ball outta the park, eh?". Maybe this will be the year. Last year I had 16 inside the park home runs.

You two are certainly adaptable. I can't believe that Allegiant dumped you in PASCO. The only way that is in the vicinity of Bellingham is that both are in the PACIFIC NORTHWEST. Surely they could have used Seattle instead. Guess it was cheaper for the airline to dump you in Pasco.

Again, enjoyed the TR. Definitely looking forward to my "snuggle".
(I think I chose the correct "Dirty Old Man Logo".)

[BC Dave]

Actually I had already missed a day of work and staying in Pasco would have meant missing another. We got the second to last available rental car and actually enjoyed the drive to Bellingham over the Cascades and thru Snoqualmie pass.

I'm still unsure of the rationale behind going all the way to Pasco instead of Everett or Seattle but it's possible they were as badly off as Bellingham.

Me and my friends (who think Shooters is the world's best bar) should be back in town around the end of April.

If you get there before me give Charlie a snuggle for me n' Janice.

[stoneman]

You were lucky to get thru Snoqualmie Pass. They have been hammered in January. In the news a lot, closed a lot too.
One of my friends from up there visited Snoqualmie Falls about that time and said the water was coming over the falls so heavily that it was splashing back into the air higher than the Falls themselves. Nasty!

I enjoyed your TR. Can I make that a "Group Snuggle?"

[BC Dave]

My worst fear was that we would drive all the way to the pass and then be required to have chains. We were very lucky... saw a few puffs of snow and a wee bit of fog, but by and large it was clear and dry.

Charlie is in charge of snuggles and Higgins stands by with his 500lb crusher beak just in case things get out of hand.