« May 2005 | Main | July 2005 »
June 28, 2005
The Hidden Jewels of the Sierras
What many people don't know about the Sierras in the Reno-Tahoe area is that there are countless alpine lakes available for your fishing, swimming or boating pleasure. Most visitors come here to see Lake Tahoe, but some of the true charm of the area can be found at the lessor known alpine lakes.
Alpine lakes are filled with snow run off, meaning the water is extremely clear and pure, and the lakes are most often surrounded by pine trees, making for a beautiful backdrop to your summer adventure.
This past weekend, the hubby and I camped at Bullard's Bar, which is in the California foothills of the Sierras. The water in the reservoir was about 72 degrees this weekend, and it was a beautiful turquoise color. Just look:
There was excellent mountain biking around the circumference of the lake, which we took advantage of in the morning. Then, after a quick lunch, we launched our boat and did a bit of water skiing and open water skiing. Truly a perfect Sierra summer day!
Speaking of alpine lakes, another beautiful one is June Lake, which is right outside of Mammoth. We went there last year, and spent a good amount of time on the beach and swimming, where you could see hundreds of fish. Here is a picture of June Lake:
And finally, another great Sierra alpine lake is Lake Davis, located northwest of the Reno-Tahoe area. Last year, we went camping near this lake, where we enjoyed biking, hiking and swimming. Here is a shot I took at Lake Davis:
Whether you're into backpacking, hiking, swimming, boating or fishing, I encourage you to explore the Sierras and find those hidden alpine lakes. You'll be glad you did!
Posted by AdventureGrrl at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2005
Getting That Adrenaline Pumping
This is a guest entry from a bike and dirt bike rider..
What an absolutely beautiful weekend in the Truckee Meadows! The weather was perfect for my Saturday morning ride - not too hot, not too cool. I got on my road bike near Arlington & California and rode down past the Truckee Whitewater park which was already alive with kayakers. I rode out Mayberry up to 4th street and on towards Mogul. Once I got up the hill in Mogul, I hopped on the new installation of the Tahoe-Pyramid bikeway that goes from Mogul to Verdi. The path is beautiful and makes that stretch so easy, I didn't have to ride on I-80 at all, which made my ride much more pleasant and enjoyable! After my ride, I got out my town bike and cruised down to the Farmer's Market on California Avenue. The selection this Saturday was amazing - there were fresh zucchini, yellow squash, corn, cherries, nectarines, strawberries, basil, and flowers. And the best part - almost all of it was picked the day before, it doesn't get much better than that!
Sunday was another gorgeous day. We loaded up the dirt bikes and headed out to Peavine for some trail riding. We were all geared up and ready to get going, I was adjusting my Camelbak when my knees buckled and the trailer rattled - it was the craziest feeling! We knew right away that we had just felt an earthquake and sure enough, we heard on the news later about the 4.3 earthquake centered in the Tahoe Basin. With our adrenaline going, we took off and rode all over the mountain, to the top of Peavine where the radio towers are and back down the other side into a beautiful meadow with an outer space type rock formation. It's amazing that we can ride so much great terrain right outside of Reno - the forests on the way up and the views from the top of the mountains are breath taking.
Posted by AdventureGrrl at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2005
Tallac Historic Site
This past weekend, I took my in-laws to Tallac Historic Site in South Lake Tahoe (it's located 3 miles North of the Y on highway 89). Yes, the physical adventure was toned down for Adventure Girl, but it was still a very enjoyable and educational excursion.
Tallac Historic Site is where California's early rich and famous built their elaborate summer estates in the late 1800's and early 1900's. There are three estates on this property, including the Pople, Baldwin and Valhalla estates.
It was a cool, but sunny day, and the Lake looked amazing in all of her blue glory. Here are a few shots I took of Lake Tahoe.
We did a 1.5 hour tour of the Pope estate, which was led by a very knowledgable volunteer. Here are some pictures of the Pope estate, which was the summer home for the Pope family in the early 1900s. By the way, summer homes back then were only used in July and August.
This is the Breezeway, which connects the kitchen with the main house. Back in the early 1900s, big houses had the kitchens separate from the main house so that a kitchen fire wouldn't take out the entire house.
Inside the Pope estate, this is Mrs. Pope's bedroom. The staff at Tallac Historic Site has gone through great pains to make sure the house was restored to its original and authentic glory. This room is a great example of their work.
This bench was right outside of the Pope estate. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be sitting on that bench right now instead of in front of a computer!
Posted by AdventureGrrl at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2005
A Truly Rocking Weekend
This past weekend was jam packed with music and great food - another side of America's Adventure Place.
The weekend started with dinner dinner at Cafe Andreotti in Harrah's Reno, which was some amazing Italian food. They had an incredible pianist playing during our meal, and it was a very romantic setting. We just discovered this restaurant gem, and I guarantee we'll be back.
We then checked into our hotel room, where we saw sunset over the Sierras as the lights of downtown Reno came on. It was very picturesque. This is what it looked like (pics taken with my camera phone, so excuse the quality)...
There was a free concert going on in Harrah's outdoor plaza, which was right below our room. We enjoyed the tunes of John Eddie from our hotel room, and after a few minutes, we decided we had to go down and check out the concert in person.
Later that night, we went to see the Harrah's topless review show called Bareback. My hubby was extremely excited to see the show (go figure), and I had thought it would be mildly entertaining. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they also featured some men in the show, making the show much more than mildly entertaining for me -- something for everyone (except the kiddies!). The show featured country songs and dance routines. There was also a great comedian during the intermissions. He did spitting image impressions of Jack Nicholson, Michael Jackson and John Wayne. My
Sunday morning, we slept in, and then had breakfast at Cafe Napa in Harrah's.
During the day on Sunday, we swam at the outdoor pool and took a nap, getting ready for another big evening. After dinner at Asiana, featuring Chinese, Thai and Japanese cuisine in the Reno Hilton, we went to see Maroon 5 at the Reno Hilton's outdoor ampitheater.
It was a great night for an outdoor concert. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and we got to enjoy the sun setting over the Sierra Nevadas while we waited for the show to begin.
Oh, and did I mention that my husband is friends with a member of the band?! That's right. That's how I managed to get my hands on BACKSTAGE PASSES. And can you believe that right as I discovered we had backstage passes, I realised that my camera phone had completely died?! I went to the gift shop to purchase a disposable camera, because I definitely wanted to document such a momentous occasion.
The show was really good, and ended with some incredible fireworks over the stage. We then went to the backstage access line, and found all kinds of groupies waiting to get in. I had my Backstage Pass proudly stuck to my shirt.
A band representative then came up to the line (where I was about 5 people back from the front), and started lettting in hoards of scantily clad groupies. He'd pick one in the crowd, and then ask how many friends she had, and then girls would pipe up saying six, or eight, and all of those girls that didn't have official backstage passes like we did were let in.
After at least 30 groupies were let in, they started asking for people with passes. That is when the hubby and I were let in, and we went and found the drummer, Matt. We hung out backstage for at least 45 minutes, and I watched the groupies in awe - it was truly a whole new sub-culture for me.
After so much excitement this weekend, I had to go back to work on Monday to recover! Come check out the gaming and nightlife adventures in Reno-Tahoe for yourself!
Posted by AdventureGrrl at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)
June 06, 2005
Pro Wakeboard Tour Hits Reno
This past weekend, the Pro Wakeboard Tour stopped in the Reno area at Sparks Marina. It was a beautiful day, filled with scantily clad people and some great wakeboarding tricks.
I even discovered 'wake skating', a sport I didn't even know exists. Wake skating is when people stand on a contraption that is more like a skate board and is not attached to their feet. Talk about challenging!
I also learned that my favorite wakeboard trick is called the Tootsie Roll.
Here are a few shots from the wakeboard tour.
One of the wakeboarders was quoted in the paper saying that this was the most scenic stop on the tour. Now you can see why.
Posted by AdventureGrrl at 05:09 PM | Comments (0)
One Adrenaline Packed Adventure at the Drag Strip
This past weekend, I headed out to the Reno-Fernley Raceway for some heart pumping drag racing.
The raceway is about a half hour drive East of Reno. It is a beautiful drive. We arrived shortly after 6:00, and after I got my 2000 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Ram Air checked by the tech inspector, I was off to the races. Literally.
It was me against my brother in his 1985 Mustang. It really wasn't a fair race against him, but he had been drag racing before. I had not.
Our first race, we pulled up, and I winged it as I figured out how the starting lights (aka Christmas Tree) worked. My reaction time was really slow, but once I got going, I punched it and let it ride.
And then I was thinking, "Where does this race end?"
There was no distinct line to show me where the race was, so I just kept going. That is, I kept going until I saw the pavement was about to end.
Yes, my first 1/4 mile race was almost a 1/2 mile.
Luckily, for the second race, I had someone point out the finish line, and I slowed down once I hit that line.
The drag strip is very nice, and believe me, it will truly get your blood pumping. Here are a few pictures from Friday night's race:
Here is the line up of the night... Trans Am versus Mustang. One of the oldest rivalries in the car business!
And this is what happened every time.... That's right, I spanked him! He beat me out of the hole every time, but every time I was able to come from behind and beat him... SIGNIFICANTLY!
Posted by AdventureGrrl at 04:53 PM | Comments (0)
June 02, 2005
Now That's An Adventure
Here is an Adventure that was submitted to our blog by Mike:
This past weekend, I went dirt bike riding across the vast Nevada desert. Seeing the majestic mountains and wild horses running free was amazing.
Following the Pony Express Trail, I found antiques along the way. We had a bar-b-que in the quiet desert mountains as the sun went down. Now that's an adventure!
Posted by AdventureGrrl at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)
Downtown Reno At It's Finest
Here is an Adventure that was submitted to our blog by Tanna:
Wow - I enjoyed downtown Reno this past weekend. All of the flowers are in bloom, everything is so green and the river is flowing at top speed. After watching a movie at the Riverside Theatre, we took a walk upstream to watch the kayakers at play. The Truckee River Whitewater Park had about 15 people working the course - it was fun to see them using this great resource.
Afterward, we enjoyed a hot dog from the street vendor - had to be the best dog west of Chicago! We then walked along the river, enjoyed the art work, decorative water falls and a latte at the Riverside Coffee Shop. Not sure of the names on any of these; however, it was beautiful. While not a huge adventure it was alot of fun!
Posted by AdventureGrrl at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)
Food, Music, and Hiking in America's Adventure Place
I had a great Memorial Day weekend here in Reno-Tahoe, America's Adventure Place. Here are the highlights:
- Had an incredible dinner of lobster and filet mignon at MonteVigna in the Atlantis Casino Resort. This was coupled with a Frog's Leap Zinfandel, lobster ravioli and shrimp scampi for an appetizer, and black forest cake for dessert. I am so going to have to spend a few extra hours in the gym to work it off!
- After dinner, we enjoyed the Mark Chesnutt concert at the Atlantis. The place was packed, but it was a small room, so it was very intimate. Mark Chesnutt truly has an amazingly talented band.
- The next day, the hubby and I took our three dogs on a hike at Davis Creek, which is a short 20 minute drive south of Reno. It was a beautiful day, and I really enjoyed the fresh smell of pine trees in the forrest. The trail winds along a mountain stream, which was more like a raging river due to all of the snow run off. After the hike, we let the dogs swim in Davis Pond, where they entertained a few families as they retrieved a six foot long stick from the water.
Posted by AdventureGrrl at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)