Lake Tahoe Snowshoe Hikes
Experience Date: 12/31/09, 1/9/10 and 1/16/10
Stars: 5
Well, I was unlucky enough to break my wrist while learning to snowboard at Squaw Valley on January 3…bummer. This unfortunate turn of events left me starved for fun outdoor weekend activities to replace my dream winter as a Squaw snowboard bunny. Fortunately (for me) many of my friends don’t have a resort season pass this year and we began spending time snowshoe-in’ the Sierras.
The Tahoe Rim Trail Association puts together planned snowshoe hikes for various Saturdays and full moons throughout each season. Though we’ve tried, my buds and I never seem to get to the location in time to hike with the group! So I guess you could call us the Tahoe Rim Trail groupies, as we’ve now unsuccessfully hiked with the group, but had a great time on our own, at two separate Tahoe locations: Mt. Rose Meadows and Page Meadows. I just always seem to be at least 30 minutes late to anything…
Mt. Rose Meadows (Ophir Creek Trail)
On Mt. Rose Highway 431, just southwest of the summit
Any hike at the Mt. Rose Meadows results in a gorgeous view of Lake Tahoe. Following established snowshoe trails, one can expect to hike anywhere from 1 to 3 hours easily up an incline through the trees to get to the view. So far this season, we’ve hiked it twice – once on New Year’s Eve in the moonlight and a second time January 9.
New Years Eve ~ Photo by KC Mares
This is a very awkward position to be casted in! Thanks for the support, buds!
Our Snowgal
I highly recommend snowshoein’ Mt. Rose Meadows for the Tahoe view alone! Always different, the lake is beyond beautiful.
Page Meadows
From Reno, take I-80 to 89 to Tahoe City (then keep going around the lake). Around 2 miles from the highway junction turn right on to Pine Avenue. Then turn right on Tahoe Parks Heights, drive .07 miles to the top of a hill and 4 way intersection. Take the middle road, Big Pine, and proceed 0.25 miles to a left hand turn onto Silvertip Drive, follow till the end of the road where it dead ends to the meeting spot.
Diana, Holly, Patrick, Matt, Crystal & Jessie
Such Cutie Pies
Hiking Page Meadows on January 16 was fun, as our group ambled through the snow aimlessly paying no attention to the established trail but happening to find our destination anyway. (I do NOT recommend this method!) I was a little disappointed that the hike did not result in a splendid Tahoe view (you come to expect it living here!), but from what I have read Page Meadows is very pretty and alive with wildflowers in the springtime. We met quite a few cross country skiers on our trek, so this area I assume is quite suitable for both sports.
Three more weeks until I get my cast off…
Door Art
Have you ever looked around your apartment and thought…plain white doors are so 5 minutes ago?
Well a random series of events led me to think this exact thought. And the thought turned in to my very first “Door Art” project. Exhibit A:
There is no Exhibit B...
But, “What does it take to get there?” you may ask. “Can I afford it?” “Do I really have enough time, enough talent?”
The answer: Hell yes, you do. Because I’m sharing my secret to creating fabulous door art.
Door Art: The Idea is King
Get some Supplies
What you need-
- (1) door
- (1) can of spray paint in the color of your desire
- assorted acrylic paints
- assorted art sponges
- painters tape
- some killer music for inspiration…for this project, I chose The Prodigy
- an idea…
Drawr some Drawrings
The idea is your king. All hail the idea. You may have a door, paint and music readily available or as close as a Wal-mart run away, but the idea is central to any and all door art. I decided on a giant martini glass after my original idea of recreating The Scream or The Starry Night seemed doomed for failure. I think that their may also be something to be said for simplicity in your idea as well, at least for your first foray into Door Art.
Don't spray the Tree
After the idea, the rest falls right into place. Draw out several design executions and then tape out your favorite directly on to the door. Haul your door to a location safe for spraypainting, shake up that can and let loose.
When the door is dry, use the sponge and acrylics to fill in the design. When the acrylics dry, peel back the tape and wahoo! Your Door Art masterpiece is complete. Have a dinner party and enjoy the barrage of compliments from your guests.
Parking Downtown Reno
Someone recently defaced the lot's handicapped spot which I somehow found both humorous and sad.
Experience Date: 2008-present
Stars: 5
With my many trips to downtown Reno, I’ve discovered a fantastical parking lot.
This particular public lot resides on 2nd street, near the intersection of 2nd & Arlington.
I believe you are encouraged by the City of Reno to pay to park here, but I’ve never actually done so (and have received no consequence). There is always space to park and the lot is only a short walk to the Truckee river/Wingfield park, the casinos, the theater and many bars and eateries such as Imperial.
Wahoo! Now I’m just giving away well-kept Reno secrets.
Long-ass Rambling and Angry Review of ‘Fallen Leaf Galena’ condo complex
Fallen Leaf at 5:34am, Sunday 5/24 (Memorial weekend)
Experience Date: Fall 2007 – Spring 2009
Stars: 1
A few weeks ago, Holly and I moved ourselves from 17000 Wedge Parkway in South Reno over to The Boulders on Summit Ridge in Northwest Reno. The 17 mile jaunt across town caused tons of stress right up until moving day (U-haul or no U-haul?… What!? He said he would help and he bailed days before??…and WTF are we going to do with that mattress that has been sitting in the garage for 6 months?). But our real stress was caused by Fallen Leaf and their silly board of homeowners before we moved out.
I decided to review Fallen Leaf because of their completely ridiculous parking rules. If you have ever been over to the complex, you will note that it appears to be a ghost town. Every condo has a garage below the living unit. This is a sweet feature, but what you may not know is that the association does not allow residents to EVER park in ANY parking space outside of their garage.
Not only is that annoying and weird in my opinion, but they have hired security to patrol for offenders and will tow immediately.
Even weirder, is that residents cannot allow their guests to park in any of these empty spaces UNLESS you contact the home owner association rep DOWNTOWN RENO. Which, as you may have guessed from the mileage numbers I noted above, is just under 17 miles away down that long stretch of 395. You must contact them, and then drive downtown during the association’s business hours, to pick up a pass which is good for one or several days from what I understand.
$203 fee was reduced to $100 cash due to Holly's sweet talkin'
If you do not, your guest’s vehicle WILL be towed. Case in point, Matt came over for dinner on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, and afterward we took my car downtown. Being responsible adults that drank a few too many in celebration of the holiday weekend, we opted to take a cab to his home that evening rather than driving all the way back to Fallen Leaf.
Holly was awakened at 5:00 AM Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend to the screeching of Matt’s truck being loaded onto a tow trailer. Price tag: $203 (reduced to $100 after Holly sweet-talked the driver into taking cash and leaving the truck as long as she promised to move it). FOR PARKING AT MY FREAKING HOME. Mind you, no one was parked next to him or anywhere else from what I understand; this was simply a result of the fact that I hadn’t gotten his truck the required special guest pass.
Example reasons you may have a guest parking near your condo:
- A nice dinner party at your home (what if someone has too much to drink and opts not to drive home? They get their car towed for being responsible?)
- Meeting up with a friend to carpool to Lake Tahoe or etc. (how pissed would you be to come home to no car after a relaxing day at the lake and an attempt at being more green by carpooling?)
- A friend drops by for a quick surprise visit (you have to say: “sorry, you can’t park here”…REALLY?)
- You hired a babysitter for a night out with your husband (add $203 to that end of the night tab and give your sitter a ride to the tow lot)
There are many reasons why you may have a guest. My point is: you shouldn’t need to worry about them getting towed.
Interestingly enough, our lease required us to give 30-day notice of moving, and ended July 1. You can bet that after our towing incident we promptly emailed our landlords immediately after Memorial Day weekend with our plans to move the f* out. The fact that Holly and I both worked on the other side of town (looking to save $ on gas each day) and the less expensive rent at The Boulders (by $150 per month, and Sierra Pacific is the only utility—unlike the water, trash, and misc. etc. bills you have to also pay when renting a condo) were just icing on our cake at that point.
To close, the day we did the walk-through of #1721 with our now former landlords, ironically some dumbass double-parked me in to the ‘guest’ parking area. After 10 minutes of knocking on random neighbor’s doors she flippantly came out of one of the condos to move her SUV. I should have just exercised my right and called security to have her towed!
Oh, and P.S. we still had a blast up at Lake Tahoe later on that day. Check us out:
Moral ~ Have fun no matter how horrible your wake-up call is!
Nada Dada Motel at Reno’s El Cortez
Experience Date: 6/20/09
Stars: 4
This particular Saturday night, Matt and I decided to explore the underground cultural side of Reno, and headed downtown to visit an art exhibit called the Nada Dada Motel held at the El Cortez.
The view down Arlington from Hotel El Cortez 6th floor fire escape
This was the third year for Nada Dada, and our first viewing. The gist of the show is that artists, both local and from across the country, each take over a hotel room at the El Cortez and create a space for their art–whatever it may be. Each room between floors 2 and 5 was completely unique and many really amazing. My favorite artist overall was John Molezzo. Molezzo does these wicked digital murals of Reno–and if I had any extra cash at all, I would have loved to buy a print. (I settled for snagging a couple of his postcards.) Also showing were my friends Jamie Kingham and Rachel Milon, displaying his photography and participating as players in one of the many weekend productions.
always so smiley
The folks over at Reno Passport and Metromix did a pretty good job summarizing the event, so I’ll suggest reading up over there for real detail. My final comments will note that this event was completely free and open to the public, and even cooler because you can bring your own beer (or etc….) and sip as you browse, interact and enjoy. My only disappointment occurred due to my own ignorance–not all rooms are open during viewing hours, so we missed out on some cool stuff.
This is definitely an event I’d go to again in ’10. And I’ll plan to hit it twice.
The First Reno Review. UNR Planetarium.
Crystal and Matt make learning FUN.
Experience date: 3/28/09
stars ~ 3.5
Because 67 mph winds canceled plans to get a full day in skiing Alpine Meadows, my boyfriend Matt and I were left wide awake at 9am on a Sunday morning (which is very, very early on a weekend for the likes of us) with absolutely no plans and nothing to do in our beloved Reno.
So, after breakfast downtown at Peg’s Glorified Ham & Eggs, trips to Junkee, Plato’s Closet, Marshall’s and that pet store on Wells Avenue, it was barely afternoon. What were we to do? (Besides agree that Matt is a fantastic boyfriend, actually accompanying me to all of these places with a smile on his face.)
Enter the Fleischmann Planetarium & Science Center on the campus of the University of Nevada. Most 20-something couples don’t exactly frequent this Reno attraction on the weekends, but my scientist boyfriend and I managed to convince our friends Zach and Janet to join us for the 2pm showing of ‘Black Holes’ which included a 10-minute star show. If we were going to be awake from 7:30am on a Sunday in shitty weather, we were going to DO SOMETHING. Even something educational. (I was more than “secretly” excited though, I’m not gonna lie. I tend to be quite easily amused.)
Walking (fast) up to the planetarium the wind whipped us around, but we pressed on and entered the building. After negotiating the price (I pulled out my long expired student ID and got away with a $2 discount…hehehe) we forked over 10 bucks as a couple and headed down the stairs to the large, domed room.
We got stuck sitting on the right side, because the early birds had already arrived and snagged the middle. We leaned back in our chairs (which, somewhat disappointingly after Matt’s raving of the fabulous recline at the various planetariums he’d previously been to, didn’t quite measure up to what I was hoping for) and got ready to learn. At least I did, seeing as I knew about the big and little dipper and pretty much nothing else on the subject of stargazing and black holes.
It began, and we watched the intro video on stars. It wasn’t too shabby, and gave a pretty good overview of stargazing in the Spring, and what we should watch for. Note: I have forgotten almost everything that was overviewed. I do remember thinking “I need to stargaze tonight!” Which didn’t happen. Next up was the tutorial on black holes. Black holes, from what I now understand, are dead stars. When stars die, it means they burned up all the gases that had made them a star in the first place. The burning keeps them alive for a long time, creating the exact right amount of energy give off and therefore gravitational pull. When they burn through all their elements and get to an element such as iron, which actually uses energy in the process versus giving off energy—its pretty much the end of that star.
A black hole I’ve learned sucks up everything close enough to it and compresses it into very very very tight matter, just getting more and more powerful. But, don’t worry people—they said that our star, the sun, has about 5 million more years of burning brightly before we need to worry about Earth being sucked into nothingness. That is, if they even do exist…they are, after all, invisible.
After the show, Matt decided he absolutely needed a souvenir so we browsed for a while where he decided on growing his own crystals (the employee at the counter said don’t bother, we’d be disappointed), then a wooden puzzle (he carried it around for a while), and finally we went home with nothing but a picture in front of a huge model Earth…and a couple of smiles.
So there you have it. The University of Nevada Planetarium in fabulous Reno, Nevada. I’m giving it 3.5 STARS. Next time though, I’ll find some eager kiddies to escort. I think they’d appreciate it just a little bit more than we did.
