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…
Halloween in Reno!
Gotta get a pic under the Reno Arch
Reno is a community that constantly invents reasons to dress up and interact. I couldn’t have picked a better place to relocate after finally getting out of Michigan. Halloween in Reno is of course no exception.
Halloween 2009 in Reno was a total blast. Friday night we started at Patrick’s house, getting ready together and eating pizza and preparing to roll out for a hellafun night. The evening took us downtown Reno to participate in the Reno Zombie Crawl, a great bar crawl event founded by fabulous Ed Adkins.
210 North
We only managed to hit Imperial (one drink), Divine (a dance or two), Silver Legacy casino (various running around) and 210 North. We stayed at 210 most of the night dancing away. I’m not gonna lie, the crowd at 210 has in the past scared me a bit (and not just on Halloween) but as of late the club seems to attract a bit nicer crowd (maybe all the social media workin’ its magic?) and I’m no longer afraid of mean girls trying to fight me. 210 also has the nicest restroom attendant ever, tip her ladies!
My friends and I were ready to rally again on Saturday night, and opted to join a larger group and get a room in the Tuscany Tower as well as skip-the-line accommodations to Peppermill’s Edge Nightclub. Edge was just ridiculously packed, but it was a blast to see all of the people in costumes lining up as early as 9pm to get in (even better to pass right by them with our host.) Saturday night is fuzzy, but I do know that I should have entered the costume contents (c’mon Matt and I were WWE wrestlers and we even had a routine! We’d have killed it.) we ate late night snacks at Peppermill’s casual dining option, Coffee Shop (I passed out for a bit at the table, but-YUM), and enjoyed some much needed sleep in the comfy Tuscany Tower room. Great show, Peppermill.
Pre-party at Peppermill
Looking forward to the next big Reno dress-up event…Reno Santa Crawl!
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.
La Tomatina en Reno 2009
Experience Date: 8/29/09
Stars: 5+
Yep, I made the front page of the CalNeva blog
My interest in La Tomatina en Reno was instant and intense. CalNeva began promoting the event on Facebook early in the summer…it was to be an August afternoon tomato fight in the middle of downtown Reno, sponsored by the CalNeva and benefitting the American Cancer Society. $10 to get you in to huck 25 tons of tomatoes at your best friends, worst enemies and other random Renonians. I immediately started forwarding the info and updates to my core Reno peeps and kept it going over the next several weeks. After the amazing fun we had a Run Amuck earlier this summer, we HAD to participate.
Kitty assisted with costume prep
Saturday morning Holly and I got up bright and early, inspired by the quest to find the perfect costume for La Tomatina en Reno. This is Reno, land of themed downtown events and since 2008, I’ve bowled in formal-wear, combat gear, and as part of a human rainbow; crawled downtown as a zombie, Mrs. Claus and SuperCop, run amuck as a chola from Wingfield to Idelwild and back… La Tomatina was going to be no different. We were in it to bling it.
2 Wal-marts, Winco, CVS and a party store later we were back at the pad decorating shirts, wristguards and snorkeling masks for ourselves and our noble male friends (who lets be honest were much more interested in throwing tomatoes than the costume making pre-party). We were able to thoroughly entertain ourselves from 9am to 4:30pm solely based on La Tomatina. It was great. Oh yes, and the event kicked ass. Sorry again, City of Reno, for that shower we took in the Truckee Riverwalk fountain…
BEFORE
Food fight!
AFTER
...and the shower, haha!
Be ready for 2010, Reno.
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!
