I HEAR THE TRAIN A COMIN'

We are always looking for fun activities or places to see & there seems to be an abundance of little adventures just waiting for us to discover in our part of the country. Usually Lou is the one who comes up with things to do but this one was my idea for a change.

A couple of weeks ago we started researching taking the train for an overnight trip to Reno. Amtrak’s California Zephyr leaves Roseville (about 6 miles from our house) at 11:30 AM & arrives in Reno at 4:00 PM. Harrah’s Resort & Casino in the heart of Reno is literally across the street from the train station. There were great midweek rates for both the train & the hotel, so, of course, we booked it! We left yesterday & returned today.

Roseville Train Station - there were only about 12 people waiting for the train & it offers free overnight parking. What a deal!

That's me in the light green boarding the California Zephyr for Reno.

The train takes about twice as long as driving, 4-1/2 hours as opposed to a little over 2, but since there is nothing to do except enjoy the scenery, relax or read, it was nice to just kick back & ride the rails. Sure, we could eat & sleep, too, but we tried to keep that to a minimum.

Lou checking out Donner Lake from the observation car.

The Truckee River taken from the train.

One of the ways to pass the time is to experiment with artsy photos. :-)

The main street in downtown Truckee that Lou took when the train made a quick stop.

After checking into Harrah’s we wandered around a little only to discover that Reno is pretty much dead & deserted now, especially midweek. We surmised that the plentiful Indian casinos in California have really hurt the gambling business in Nevada. The entertainment choices are really limited, too.

Our hotel - Harrah's Resort & Casino on Center Street in Reno.

These "poker chips" were 2 - 3 feet across & stacked on the sidewalk as outdoor artwork.

This is a new outdoor rock climbing wall on Virginia Street which they claim is the tallest in the world at 164 feet. There is a climber a little over halfway up the narrow part of the route on the right.

The famous "Reno - The Biggest Little City in the World" sign. You can see the 16 story climbing wall behind the sign.

The gigantic Rim Fire burning near Yosemite is causing smoke all over Northern California & Nevada. This photo shows the blanket of smoke on the Reno horizon.

The only drawback was that the return train left Reno this morning at 8:30 AM. Since neither of us are big gamblers or late night party-ers that really wasn’t any big deal. We were back in the room by about 9:00 PM after a walk around town to digest our 2 for 1 buffet dinner. But the primary reason for this getaway was the train ride anyway.    

The night time view from our 17th floor room at Harrah's.