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

Circus Circus, Tahoe and High Sierra Snow (part 1)

A few years ago, I took the boys on an adventure to Bend. Hearkening back to that, today's post reflects on a trip I took last month with the older one.. visiting colleges. We were gone a week, so I'm splitting this up into multiple posts. Part 2 here. Part 3 here.

Why
My son T is in his senior year of high school and hasn't decided on a college plan quite yet. He knows there is a real money constraint, though, so he's been looking through that lens. The experts say to just apply where you want to go and see what the money is later. I think T looked at that as setting up for disappointment. He wanted to see University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) and University of Colorado, Denver (UCD). Since both schools are in areas that experience colder weather than we do here, I thought a mid-winter trip could help him recognize the climate difference. We also wanted to go when school was going on so he could get a sense of what the real vibe on campus was like. Having settled on a trip around MLK, Jr. Day, we started planning.

Planning
I started working on a plan to pull the multi-city trip together in November. I tried Kayak, Google and a few other ideas, but the prices felt kind of high. So, I tried a travel agent to see if that made a difference. It did, but not in the way I expected. The price was about the same, but the accommodations and flight times weren't all that great. I'll get to that later, but in the end, we were able to slip out of town mid-day the Wednesday before MLK, Jr. Day and return the Tuesday night after, missing only 3 full days of school/work.

Flights

we were in upper left corner window

Over the course of less than a week, we flew 3 different airlines, visiting the 6 major cities in the Rockies and US Pacific Northwest: Portland, Seattle, Denver, Reno, Salt Lake City and San Francisco.

We took Delta from Portland to Reno by way of Salt Lake City. Of the 3 airlines, these flights were the least pleasant. The planes were over-full and the seats were closer together than on the other flights. They had in-seat televisions, which for a fee allowed you to watch programs. The SLC airport was nicer than I expected, though. We enjoyed a local-feeling brew-pub between flights.

We flew United from Reno to Denver by way of San Francisco. Our travel agent had set up this leg to depart Reno at 6:AM, meaning we had to return a rental car and checkout of a hotel in time to hit security by 5. On a Sunday morning. Sucky. United was okay, just the routing was dumb and the seats wouldn't tilt back, making sleep difficult.

Our last leg (home) routed us through Seattle on Alaska. Ordinarily, I love Alaska. Unfortunately, our plane from Seattle to Portland was a 20-person puddle jumper propeller plane. Still, this leg was the best of the three, even with the bumpy final flight.

Hotels

Denver, CO

We stayed at two different hotels, obviously; one in Reno and one in Denver. They were quite opposite in terms of amenities, too. Our hotel in Reno (Ramada Reno Hotel and Casino) had seen better days. It was off-strip, but not near the airport nor the University. The elevator made noise, there were sketchy folks lingering outside the casino (did I mention it had a casino?) and the pool was closed. The desk folks were great and the servers in the hotel restaurant and bar were very nice. With a room rate under $100 a night, though, it was really all that we needed. In fact, it probably helped that it lacked many amenities; it may have contributed to how much time we spent seeing Nevada and California. We did have a top floor room with a fantastic view of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the University and the strip.

The hotel in Denver (Hilton Garden Inn Denver Downtown) was very nice. Again, we had an upper floor room but with a view on the downtown side. Loaded with amenities we didn't use like a pool, weight room, etc,but we did hit the hot tub and get room service once.

That's it for today. I'll dedicate individual posts about Nevada and Colorado later. On the cars front, there have been lots of things going on. I'll get to posting on all that too. Like I've said before, if I'm not posting, its because we're having adventures... that will be posted on later. :)
Thanks for following along.

Flash gets sounds

Another installment in the Flash improvement saga. This ends the list of improvements to date. Since Thanksgiving, Flash has gotten his front end rebuilt (lower control arms, upgraded bushings, ball joints, tie-rods..), and new struts with new strut bearings and mounts. I replaced the rear shocks, swapped out his steelie 15" rims for 16" alloys with better rubber and in my last posting covered new seats and an oil change. Flash has been feeling the love.

Sounds Next

we butcher your wiring

My next improvement will be adding music. At some point over the last year, my son T was the primary owner/driver of Flash. He had made some money and wanted to improve his ride. I totally get and supported that, but the idiots at CarToys butchered the wiring. Rather than install the stereo with a basic $5 VW pigtail to leverage the existing harness, they cut it all up and direct-wired into Flash. A few months later, when we found T his A4, T had CarToys remove the stereo and install it into his A4. We saw how bad a job they had done. Don't have CarToys install a stereo for you. Or, if you do, bring them the pigtail available on Amazon for $5 so they don't cut your wires. Seriously, they make those pigtails for every make and model out there. Sure its cheap Chinese manufacturing, but it beats the hatchet-job the CarToys Clowns will do without it. The "free" install isn't free.

Old Radio? Older Radio?

sound machine

Since then, I've gotten a new plug from the junkyard and re-wired the harness. I picked up a stock radio at the junk yard too (since the incompetents at CarToys destroyed the old one when they removed it). After weeks of trying to get the unlock code, I gave up. It was quite the saga.
So, I called up the local VW dealer and asked for the unlock code. After a few days of run around, they asked for the serial number and a VIN for a VW to demonstrate I was an actual VW owner. At least that's what the internet and VW led me to believe. After trying the code they provided, the stereo locked out. I called them back, they told me that they needed the VIN for the radio-provider car.
Apparently, the dealer will give you the unlock code for a stereo if you can provide to them both the serial number from the side of the radio and the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for the car from which it came. It seems that their system is only capable of looking up an unlock code from the VIN. Uber-dumb. So, I;m not really sure why they ask for the serial code, but either way, I didn't have the VIN from the junkyard. NOTE TO OTHERS: if you're going to pluck a stock/original stereo from a VW/Audi built after the early 90's, get the VIN when you're there. Better yet, look for the owners manual and take the page with the unlock code on it. If the manual is there, the unlock code page probably is too.
I looked up the junkyard inventory system and found the 3 cars which were on the lot the day I pulled the stereo. I provided VW those three VIN's, but they decided that since I couldn't provide the single VIN, I must be a thief and told me not to call back. Jeez. Maybe the smog testing scandal isn't enough to drive business away. Thanks Herzog Meier.

New Radio

simple interface

Rather than continue down the path of trying to get a stock/original stereo to work, I hit the interweb and found a cheap new stereo: a Pioneer MVH-X380BT. It has AM/FM, Bluetooth and USB inputs, but no CD player. I don't use CD's. Heck, I've been driving without music for most of the last 3 years. It has a microphone for hands-free phone calls, which is becoming increasingly important after the office move. With the pigtail I'd purchased, installing was a lot easier than I'd expected. There was lots of chatter in the internet about how shallow this stereo sits in the radio hole compared to CD-equipped radios. It's true, it is shallow. That makes it a great candidate for smaller spaces, or locations that didn't usually have a stereo installed. Maybe a bus glove box, for example, or in the back somewhere. It does have a remote control....

Wiring the Microphone

wiring the radio harness

Like so many things, start with reading the manual. From the manual and the plug diagrams for the VW, I was able to label the wires on the two pigtails. Then it was a simple matter of matching. Once the harness bridge was built, I took the pile of parts and bits to the car.
To make room, I removed the little-stuff pocket/shelf in the center console under the vents. To route the microphone, I removed the plastic cover over the steering column (2 Phillips bolts from the underside) and the underdash (2 star-bolts, one each over the accelerator and brake pedals). Shining a flashlight into the stereo hole, I could see the pass-through. I simply threaded the microphone wire through the pass-through and then set the microphone. The mic delivered with a little clip, so I hooked that in the center of my dash, between the gauges. The wire ran under the steering column cover, along the underside of the dash through the hole with lots of extra wire to spare. I re-installed the panels.

Test
I tested everything by wiring it all up and placing a test phone call to Boo. She was making mince-meat turn-overs (yummy), but the call demonstrated the phone part was set up. The radio worked too. In order to install into the dash, I needed to unplug everything and then, using the included steel frame, set the hole for the stereo. The steel frame is the same width and height as the stereo, but only an inch and a half deep. It has many little tangs on it so it will fit in many types of openings. Set the frame in the hole such that the front lip is against the leading edge of the hole. Then, with a screwdriver, test various tangs until you can find a few that bend into holes around the stereo hole within the dash. These will hold the stereo in place. Test that you've secured it by pulling and pushing on the frame. Figure, you will be pushing and pulling the detachable face on and off thousands of times, so you want that frame solid.

Install

shows the steel frame

Once you're satisfied that the frame won't move, route the pigtail, antennae and phone wires through the frame and plug them in. If you're running a sub-woofer, I suppose you'd run that through too. set the radio into the frame, but don't slam it home yet. Conduct one more test of the radio to make sure you've got it. I found that my wrangling of the frame caused the little tangs that hold the stereo secured to the frame had been bent and had to bend them back. Getting the stereo to set right in the frame ended up being the only thing I had to do multiple times. Once you're ready to start setting the stereo into the frame, remove the face. Re-install the face after you have the stereo secured. Fire it up, set the clock and the station pre-sets. Enjoy :)

That's it for today. I was comprehensive on the install to show that it installing a stereo isn't hard. Anyone can do it. Don't take your prized vehicle to the CarToy Clowns. Do it yourself. Or, if you don't have time, get the pigtail and have the neighbor kid do it. S/He will do as good a job or better than CarToys will, and you keep the money local. Next time, I'll start a short series of posts about a trip to Lake Tahoe and Denver I took a few weeks ago. More travel is coming after that, so it might be a little while before I get back to Hapy the wonderbus. As always, thanks for following along-