Circus Circus, Tahoe and High Sierra Snow (part 3)

Continuing the travel saga from the last 2 posts. part 1 - flights & hotels. part 2 - Nevada. Now, for part 3, Colorado. I'll get to some bus/car content next time.

Welcome to Denver?

hotel room view

We arrived at Denver International on Sunday, about an hour before the Broncos hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers in a divisional playoff match-up, while the Seattle Seahawks / Carolina Panther game was still being decided. We asked an information booth about mass transit (nope), and then called the hotel about a free shuttle (nada). Our options, according to the hotel, were to grab a cab or take a airporter shuttle van, either ran $50. We saw a shuttle at the curb, so we approached for a ride. The driver was overtly unpleasant and short-changed me $10 for the displeasure. The van already had 5 other people in it, so we got ourselves a tour of Denver on the way into the city center.

Bouncing along, I was keeping up to date on the Seattle game and shared the play-by-play as it appeared on my phone. The rude driver picked up on the conversation and put the game on the van radio. It turned out that everyone in the van was good with Seattle losing. Ha. This created conversation, though, and soon we learned that one of our fellow occupants had a ticket to the Denver/Pittsburgh game waiting for her. We tried to convince her to go, though I think she may have skipped it for needed rest.

All That's Missing Are the Tumbleweeds

Erbert & Gerbert's

We got checked in, dropped our stuff in the room and immediately set out in search of some city energy and some food. The streets were dead. Seriously, I could have laid down in the middle of a 3-lane one-way street for 15 minutes and not blocked a car. We walked around Lower Downtown (LoDo), past the 16th Street Mall, and around. The only other people we saw were 2 couples who appeared to be on their way to a rodeo, complete with pretty hats and their thumbs tucked behind their oversized belt buckles. Neat. Denver is clearly more "western" than the cities further west. We stopped in at Erbert & Gerbert's Sandwich Shop, and the locals behind the counter explained the empty streets: football. If you weren't at the playoff game, you were in front of a TV watching it. This sandwich shop, apparently, was one of the few places around downtown Denver that didn't have a TV, so it also didn't have any customers. Except us. We ordered 1 each of two different suggestions from the counter guys (Flash & Comet Candy). They were really good. On our walk back to the hotel, we started seeing more people. There were a few kids skating on a mall ice rink, and a few patrons of the 7-11 on the corner. Concluding it was half-time, we made our way back in time for the end of the game. T's friend R and his dad were in town after visiting UCD the day before, so we visited with them a little bit.

Colorado State University

CSU ceramics studio

We had allotted Monday, MLK Jr Day, to wander around Denver. After we got back to the hotel, T indicated that he'd seen enough to get a sense, between the long shuttle and couple of hours of walking. Instead, he wanted to see Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins. Recognizing the upside of not over-scheduling things, I rented a car for the next day on the spot. The drive between Denver and Fort Collins is a straight-arrow shot up I-25 for about an hour. CSU was mostly closed for the holiday, but we were able to get into the art building and poke around. The building was small, but the students seemed very invested. Even on their day off, they were milling around, drawing and hanging out. Based on the installations, the multiple kilns and posters, the community looked very vibrant. Similar to UNR, there was considerable construction going on, and we had a hard time figuring out what was where. That morning, we had left Denver in a bit of a rush, and failed to eat anything, so by 2:PM, we were starving and couldn't think about schools any more. We stumbled upon Aloha Coffee and Grill. Coming from the west coast, my expectations for Hawaiian are pretty high, and Aloha didn't quite make it. The coffee was good, though. T left CSU glad we visited, but not too interested: far from snow and travel, but looked like some great programs. The drive back to Denver was highlighted by the discovery of the funniest convenience store name we'd ever seen: the Loaf 'n' Jug.

University of Colorado, Denver

CO has Rockies, but is also flat

Tuesday was our last day of the trip, and it was time-crunched. We had a tour at 10, had to check out by noon and had a 4:PM flight home. That's tight. We readied for the day, packed up the room and hit the coffee shop in the lobby (learned from yesterday) for some breakfast. Walking to the campus was only a few minutes away, so we were early for the tour. Unlike UNR on Thursday, this tour group was bigger, and the campus was having its first day of classes after winter break. It was teaming with people. The guide pointed out that this first week everyone comes in to get schedules, ID's, etc, so it was unusually busy. UCD is a commuter school with limited on-campus housing options. Still, there are dorms, and for a location, it's prime. The Pepsi Center, Coors Field, Mile High Stadium and all of LoDo is right there. Unfortunately, the school shares a campus with 2 other educational institutions, and it hasn't any sports teams, reducing the sense of community. The mostly-commuter student make-up further erodes that sense. There are lots of internship and corporate-placement opportunities, though, so for the prospective student who wants a degree and then a direct path into corporate America, UCD is a great option.

Homebound

CSU construction map

We detoured into Which Wich for a go sandwich on our way back to the hotel. They have an interesting model: your order slip is the paper bag in which your wich is placed and then given to you. Clever. And a pretty good wich too. We cleared out, checked out and walked across the street to the taxi stand where a line of cabs awaited. Now that the game was over and business had resumed, the streets were bumping again. Still, we had a quick and informative ride into the eastern plains where Denver International Airport awaited. Our cabbie had lived in Portland, so we talked about the marijuana legalization parallels and local music comparisons. T and I easily passed through ticketing, security and boarding. After 6 flights in as many days, we'd gotten pretty efficient at it. Boo met us at PDX, grinning at our huge smiles when we picked her out of the car queue.

We had a great trip. We saw 3 universities, visited with family and friends and tasted some snow. Most importantly, T had made his decision about which school was his first choice: UNR. He has learned since this trip that he was accepted, and so he is going through the process of determining costs so he can commit. Go T!

As always seems the case, there have been lots of things going on with cars, and such both before and after this trip, so I'll post on some of that here soon. As always, thanks for following along and Hapy Saint Patrick's Day!

CSU kiln and kiln construction materials

Circus Circus, Tahoe and High Sierra Snow (part 2)

Continuing the look back on a trip to the Nevada, California and Colorado with my 17year old, T. Last post covered flights and hotels (Part 1 here, Part 3 here). This one covers our time in Nevada.

UNR "Nevada"

Knowledge Center with robotic library

I mentioned that the reasons for our trip was to visit schools. UNR wasn't really on T's radar before I mentioned it. He had been looking for a fairly large school, for breadth of programs, but one that was near snow. There are a bunch of schools that meet that general description, but not too many which are easy to get to from the PacNW. UNR is located north of the casino district, isolated from the rest of the city of Reno by a 6-lane Interstate.

UNR Quad

We had arrived in Reno the night before and had only time for some breakfast before our campus tour. We got a little turned around on the way, but a friendly custodian walked us part of the way to the start of the tour. Like a typical tour, it started with forms and such, but soon we were being led about by a business major. Since we hadn't really seen the area at all, T and I were quite taken with the high desert and the dusting of snow on the surrounding hills, visible as we passed from building to building. There was a lot of construction going on. New dorms, a new physical fitness center and some thing else I can't remember were all in some mid-construction state. We saw the arts building, with the designated graffiti stairs and the knowledge center with the robotic book lending library contained within. We learned about the midnight pancakes, football tailgates and touring artists who visit. We left the tour impressed.


Port of Subs

UNR graffiti staircase

After walking around the UNR campus for a few hours, we got a little hungry. Upstairs from the new student office, we found a food court which had a Port of Subs in it. When I went to UNLV, I worked at a Port of Subs, and hadn't seen nor heard of one otherwise. I assumed it was a 2 or 3 store chain based in Las Vegas. Turns out, there are a lot more of them. The main sandwich menu is exactly the same, 25 years later. They still slice the meat on the big Hobart slicer as you order, and everything. Such a flashback. We ordered, watched and grubbed. Still as good as I remembered too.

Reno

UNR dorm

After eating, we figured we should "do the strip" or whatever it's called in Reno. So, we drove through town and hit Circus Circus. It was a Friday afternoon, so we thought the arcade would be bumping. We weren't quite right on that score. In fact, Circus Circus was kind of a bust. We headed towards mid-town, and found Recycled Records. Awesome record store. We pawed through old vinyl, cassettes and videotapes for a long time, but didn't buy anything. If T goes to UNR, we'll be back. We planned to hit snow the following day, so we hit Bobos (Bobos) for rental boards. The store was pretty chaotic, but the staff were very chill and they got us set up and out the door quickly.

Stocked with gear, we hit a Japanese restaurant (Sushi Lover) for dinner, breaking up a series of big meals with something lighter. We planned to taste some Tahoe snow the next day, so we wrapped our first full day in Reno with some Mighty Car Mods (these guys are awesome: MCM) back at the hotel.

Unreal Boreal

riding into the trees
Boreal

During the UNR tour, we learned there is a ski club who arrange bus charters up to the various resorts. Very cool. We also learned that Boreal Ridge (winter site) offers $15 Fridays for college students. Since we hadn't decided where we were going to see snow, and it was Friday... so, Boeral Ridge seemed obvious. After watching a few episodes of MCM, we looked at the snow report. 16" of fresh powder. We were flippin' out, and got up way early to maximize our snow. The drive was straight out a well-plowed and prepared I-80. 40 minutes after pulling onto the freeway, we were pulling into the parking lot. The lot was pretty full, but parking, dressing and ticketing was fast and easy. We were on the lift before 10.
Most of the skiers and riders were sticking to Accelerator or the Beginner lifts, making those lines longer. T and I immediately rode over to 49er and spent most of the day there.

The runs were really fantastic. The 49er zone offers lots of off-piste tree runs, and with all the new powder, we were in it over our knees. The trails were groomed, but enough fresh snow had fallen that the trails weren't corduroy. T and I were bonkers for that deep fresh powder, but most of everyone else was just taking it in stride. Apparently getting 16" overnight isn't as big a deal in the Sierra Nevada mountains. So, while everyone else took turns in the Neff Land terrain park or rode the trails, T and I had the tree runs and deep powder to ourselves. Epic. Unreal Boreal.

view from UNR

We rode until our legs wobbled and then watched day turn to evening as they shut our 49er lift down. We grabbed a bite and then walked over to the Woodward indoor center. I'd never heard of Woodward, but the boys have. It is an indoor skate / trampoline spot that's probably over 100' x 100' square and 3 stories tall. There is a large wood ramp on the far side from the entry that provides a safe place to try 10' (probably more) jumps on a bike or skate with a cushioned landing knuckle or a foam pit to land on/in. Next to that is an indoor concrete skate park. Closer to the entrance are a series of trampolines where action sports enthusiasts can practice aerials with or without planks attached to their feet. As evening fell, the indoor arena got very busy. Meanwhile, a rail jam signup was queuing for Neff Land. We watched some of the start of the rail jam, but felt the pull to get back to the hotel. As we were rolling out, the night crowd was rolling in. It looked like a great night to play in the snow.

South Lake Tahoe

Adam plays

When we got back to the hotel, we were totally spent. Showers, more MCM and then bed. We had arranged to connect with T's cousin who lives in South Lake Tahoe (SLT) the following day, so an early to bed was all the more a good idea. T's cousin, Adam, has been living in SLT for a few years, and now runs a rental office there. He's a talented guitar player too, so part of our time with him was spent hearing what he's been working on. He's totally humble; he's really good.

The drive from Reno to SLT is one of the prettiest drives I can remember. Untouched high desert with view points and vistas around nearly every bend. We had to climb up and over a few passes through the Sierra Nevada mountains, and that created all the more beauty. There were few creatures out, though. The night before I had talked with a few travelers at the hotel bar, and they had commented on how they hadn't seen a deer in years. On the drive to SLT, we saw one. And a few birds. So, maybe its all about looking in the right direction. Finally, we tuned around a corner and got our first view of Lake Tahoe. In retrospect, we shouldn't have been as surprised at its size, but we were not at all expecting such a large expanse. So pretty, with snow right down to the water's edge. T took pictures as we drove, but none of them really captured the scope of the view. I'll add one here later.

We made our way through the business section of SLT, Nevada, and passed into SLT, California, noting the casinos built right on the state line. Adam lived a few minutes from there, on the CA side. Our visit wasn't long, but it was great to connect with him again. Neither T nor I had seen Adam in years, and hearing him play, and having him show us his SLT was really special.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we were up at 4:AM the next morning to check out of the hotel, return the rental car and get through security in time to make a 6:AM flight. T and I were both a little sad to leave that old hotel, and Reno. Neither one of us had expected the area to grab us the way it did. High desert is beautiful, and when the alpine feel of overnight snow dusting the hillsides is added in, it makes for a pretty special place. Next time, I'll post on our stop in Colorado.

Leaving Reno