Fun in Reno

 

We had a great time in Reno. In fact, it couldn't have been better. I played some of my best golf of the year, taking first place in both days' tournaments and, as you can see above, also had some great luck at the video poker machine on Saturday night as well.

We had a great time with Vicki and Bob Pando who stayed with us in a condo at the Lakeridge resort in Reno. The condominium was nice, but the difference in the two bedrooms was pretty severe. As a matter of fact, Darla and I got there first and waited to pick a room until Bob and Vicki arrived in order to be fair. One room had upgraded furniture, a television, an attached bathroom and was a grade A room. The second bedroom had only a bed and a closet and a bathroom across the hall. Darla and I practiced tossing a coin before they got there and did win the toss and got the better room. I felt a little bad as Vicki had Bob bring a chair into their bathroom to house some of her stuff as there was only a small sink and vanity, toilet and shower stall.

We met Neil and Lilly for dinner Friday night at La Strada, an Italian restaurant in the El Dorado Casino. We stopped in the bar and had some happy hour Italian margaritas before dining. It was nice to sit and visit and get caught up on what is going on in the Pando's lives over dinner. We got seated a little after 7 PM and left the restaurant at nine. We got back to the room and stayed up until 11 PM talking and visiting.

Saturday was the Lakeridge tournament and Bob and I met Neil and the gang at the golf course at 6:30 for breakfast. There was a double shotgun going off at 8:00 AM and we enjoyed a hearty breakfast, hit balls and headed to our carts. Neil was getting something out of his car and tripped over a curb and just about had a fall. He was flailing his arms and pin wheeling forward and finally caught himself on a cart after tripping forward about twenty feet. He got a round of applause from the guys.

Lakeridge is a Country Club in Reno that is like so many others and is currently in bankruptcy. The course itself is in beautiful shape and you can see the signature island green on number 12 above. You can see in the picture the skyline of the casinos in the distance. I shot an 83 on Saturday and really had to work hard to keep my score at that level. I hit one drive out of bounds and bounced the next shot (number 3) off the fence next to the out of bounds and was able to knock the next shot in front of the green and then on and one putt for a double. It was my only double on the day. Bob and I both hit our shots right on number 9 and he found his on the bank of the creek, but mine was nowhere to be found. I had to take a drop and hit my next one to about 200 from the pin and was finally on and putting for a double, when I noticed Bob's ball had my markings on it. He had hit the wrong ball. We both went back to the creek after apologizing to the guys behind us. I replaced my ball on the bank, hit it to about 150, knocked it on and 2 putted for a par. Bob didn't fare so well with the 2 stroke penalty, the lost ball and his nerves and posted a 10 on the hole. I won first place low net with my 83, net 67.

Saturday afternoon we headed back to the resort and went out to he pool. It was about 90 degrees in Reno and the high altitude always seems hotter. Somehow 90 degrees in Reno is hotter than 90 degrees in the valley, if that makes sense. Perhaps Darryl knows what I'm talking about, having lived a mile high in a former life. The girls joined us and we headed back to the condo to get ready for dinner.

We met Neil and Lilly, Tim and Sue and Kenny and Michelle for dinner at Bertha Miranda's, a 55 year old restaurant in the heart of Reno on Wells Avenue. The food  (Mexican) was great and the $20 margarita pitchers went down easy. We sat and visited until almost 9:30 and it was a hoot, laughing and enjoying the company of friends. Darla has struggled with her health recently and it was nice to see the old Darla back, laughing and having a good time. When other diners were turning to see who was laughing so hard, I knew she was having a great time. It was good for her to get away.

Darla and I went over to the Atlantis casino, one of our old stomping grounds and realized how long it had been since we had been at the casino when we saw the huge expansion they had done three years ago and added over 20,000 square feet to the casino floor. We got there about 9:45 and I wanted to get home early. We played $100 on the nickel machines and had about $115 dollars in winnings. We had decided to call it a night and were playing the last of our original stake when I was dealt the Jack, Queen, King and Ace of hearts with a Ten of clubs. It was a straight  which pays 20 coins on a 5 coin bet. I didn't hesitate and discarded the 10 and got the 10 of hearts for a Royal Flush and 4000 coins paid on a 5 coin bet.

Sunday we were able to sleep in a little bit and Bob and I got on the road about 8:15 for Portola, a 50 minute drive from Reno. We played Grizzly Ranch, a beautiful enclave of homes and a championship golf course in Portola. The course was tight and covered with pines and the scores Sunday went up dramatically from Saturday. For instance, the low gross player from Saturday shot 79, but carded a 90 on Sunday. The low gross was 80 and I shot an 82, net 66 and won low net for the second day. I also won $39 in skins on the strength of an Eagle two I carded on the 255 yard uphill par four 15th with a strong drive that landed on the apron of the green and I knocked in a 50 foot chip with a 6 iron. It was a fun day and the course was tremendous.

We met the girls back in Truckee about 5:30. They had spent the day in Reno and got into Truckee about mid afternoon. They weren't thrilled with the way that we had to travel so far to Portola. They were not going to come over tot he sleepy little mountain town with nothing to do. We transferred Bob's clubs and our bags into the vehicles and Bob and Vicki headed off to friends in Incline Village and we headed home to Roseville. We got home about 7:45 and went to our local Chinese food place for War Won Ton soup and pot stickers. Not the healthiest of dinners, but delicious.

It was a fun and a profitable weekend and I got to spend some of my winnings today on pool supplies. We had switched over to non chlorine shock this year on the advice of our pool supplier and have been having some algae blooms. I took in a water sample today and discussed it with another tech in the same store and he said we needed to use a chlorine shock, that the shock I have is meant for pools with either bromine or ionization. Somehow the $79 that I spent on 25 pounds of shock wasn't refunded and they sold me another 50 pounds of chlorine shock for $144. Nice. The guy that had helped me last time was no longer there and now apparently he's a dumbass. OK. I think I'm the dumbass.

Darla and I leave in a week for Almanor and I'm looking forward to the time with David and Jennifer and Samantha. It will also be a chance to get to know McKenny better. I've spent a little bit of time with him and he seems like a solid guy. Right now, Jennifer and McKenny are coming up on Tuesday and staying until Saturday as McKenny has to work on Monday. I'm trying to talk Jennifer in to coming up with us on Saturday and having McKenny join us on Tuesday.

Well, that is our weekend in a nutshell. We had a blast and it was good to get away. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your start to Summer. We have a Canadian storm that hit last night and will last through tomorrow. We are expected to get about a half inch of rain out of this storm and it would be a record for rainfall in June in Sacramento. It rarely rains here in the Summer. The weather will change quicly as106 is forecast over the weekend. we will be in the pool. Ciao.