Thursday March 6, 2014 Reno, NV

We got up at 4:30 and were on the road by 6:15.  This trip is for a visit with Kathleen and the kids in Reno.  Saturday is Milana's 18th birthday and also, there will be a banquet in Kathleen's honor .  She was chosen as Irish Daughter of the year.  Milana leaves early Friday morning for Seattle to visit her dad for the weekend so we only have one evening to spend with her.  

We were out of town before morning traffic build up.  Our first stop was in Tonopah for gas.  Some where along the way we pulled to the side of the road for a picture of the snow covered mountains.

I posted on Facebook and got several comments about how awful and boring the drive from Las Vegas to Reno is.  I don't think it is.  I love the desert, especially when driving through the valleys with mountains on both sides.  The rugged terrain fascinates me as I think of the generations of miners who moiled for gold and silver and the ranchers who tried to make a go of it along the few streams and springs.  I also find the small towns we passed through interesting.  Some are ghost towns, some are ghosts of their former selves and others are growing and thriving. All are ever changing.

Walker Lake was a beautiful blue when we passed.  

The water level is the lowest I have ever seen.  We stayed on US-95 to Fallon and then followed US-50 to I-80 on through Fallon to Reno.  We did stop at a rest area.  I looked for a cache that hadn't been found since January, I didn't find it.

We got to our timeshare in downtown Reno at about 2:30 and got moved in.  Our plan was to meet at Kathleen's house at five.  Kathleen had her bowling league and we planned to take the girls to dinner.

Milana opened her presents

and blew out the candles on a cake.  

Since she was the birthday girl she choose where to go for dinner.  She choose IHOP.   Milana and Shannon had breakfasts, Maddie had chicken fingers and Gerri and I had burgers.

Milana's meal

After dinner we stopped by the bowling alley and visited with Kathleen and her friends while they bowled.  We dropped the girls off at the house but didn't stay.  Shannon and 
 have school in the morning and Milana had to pack for her trip to Seattle.

Back at the timeshare Gerri and I relaxed and caught up on computer time.  It had been a long day, I read some and called it a night.  Gerri was still clacking the keys doing her egg hunting game.