the reno!

despite it just being a short three-day trip to reno, i actually had an extremely enjoyable time and it was probably the best vacation i've had in a year. it was relaxing, very chill, and everything went pretty smoothly.

started out on wednesday with me, steven, mike, deb, and david meeting up at deb's house and loading up her van. left around noon and made it to reno around 4. checked into our room at circus circus, went walking around for a bit, and then ate dinner. went back to our rooms to succumb to food coma for a bit and then went back down to the casino to gamble. i lost all my money (only $40) at pai gow, but it was better than the first time i played at tahoe where i just consistently kept losing hand after hand. at least this time, i won a few times. guess it doesn't matter in the end since i still lost all my money, but at least it was a bit more fun this time and i actually got to play. anyway, went back to our rooms afterwards and went to sleep around midnight or 1.

thursday, deb and i woke up first, of course, around 8 i think. got ready, left around nine, and got to northstar around 10. didn't actually get to the slopes until around 11 though. and here comes the best part of this whole trip - i managed to get off the lift every single time without completely wiping out. that doesn't sound very impressive, but if you've fallen off the lift every single time (and not in an "oops, heehee" way but in a horrific "fuck, that hurt" way) the last two times you've been boarding, it's a major accomplishment. half the time, i got off the lift without falling at all. the other half, i did fall, but it was a light, easy fall. it didn't hurt at all and i actually got up to move away rather than feebly crawling away (and answering the lift operator's "are you okay?" with an embarrassed "yes yes, i'm fine i'm fine") like i did on the previous two boarding trips. so yay me!

northstar was really nice. i think i like it the best. they have convenient little benches at the top for boarders to strap in. and it was just pretty. but really really warm. i had to keep taking off my jacket and i was only wearing a long sleeved shirt and a t-shirt over. got all sweaty too. yeah, i know you wanted to know that. my scalp got a little burnt too, unfortunately. i had my hair in a ponytail, but i guess my hair is just too thin. i got a few burns around my hairline too where i missed a few spots with the sunblock. anyway, going down the slopes was pretty fun too. the last one i did was a bit too difficult for me and i kept holding everyone else back (sorry!). of course, not going on any of the harder slopes meant that i missed it every time mike or david fell. david took a pretty bad fall though and got a bunch of scrapes on his face. not pretty.

anyway, by the end of the day, after we got back, i was so incredibly sore. my knees and legs just hurt like crazy. i would've been able to enjoy my prime rib dinner much more if i wasn't in so much pain and discomfort. so when we got back to the rooms, i took a couple of tylenols just out of sheer desperation. surprisingly, they actually worked. most of the pain went away and cranky, bitchy cherry turned into nice, happy cherry. i know it's stupid, but i really couldn't believe that the tylenol had worked that well. i was amazed; it was just like in the commercials. anyway, after resting in the rooms a bit, we went back down to the midway where mike won me two hippos (hippoes?) and a pair of red, fuzzy dice. david did some more gambling and i more than doubled mike's money with video poker. this would actually be impressive if it weren't for the fact that it was nickel video poker and mike only put in a dollar. anyway, back to the rooms after that for sleep.

friday, woke up a bit late, got ready, packed up, and checked out. got to boreal around noon. it was nice to only pay $10. i think i went up the lift three times and that was it. again, i managed to get off the lift pretty easily and fell only once. i did fall once more going down the slope, but that wasn't my fault. some guy crashed into me. and it was one of those slow, sad crashes where both of us see the other person coming at a very slow speed but neither of us can stop or move out of the way. yeah, i know, lame. oh well. spent the rest of the time playing with the snow while the others were off. i was still sore but it wasn't as bad as the day before (rhyme!). boreal was okay. only had to pay $10, so whatever.

anyway, left boreal around 4, stopped in davis for food, and then got home around 8. all in all, this was the best trip i've had in a long while. i know i already said that, but i'm saying it again. i had a lot of fun and it was just so relaxing - exactly how a vacation should be. oh, and thanks again to debra and david for driving and debra for arranging the rooms!

sadly, i don't have very many pictures because i just forgot to take them so there won't be any album. :( but once mike and deb put up theirs, i will definitely steal some to put up here. ;D