Back in January, a few friends started talking about taking a spring trip to Reno around March or April. Since most of us live in different states, due to relocating for work, retirement, etc., we thought it would be cool to meet up and have sort of a mini reunion. Thanks to the internet, we can still keep in touch, no matter where we're located these days, so it made planning much easier.
Anywho, not everyone was able to schedule an entire week of vacation, but we did have a couple of days where everyone was in town at the same time. Overall, we didn't have a formal schedule of things to do, but a few of us who would be in town early did plan a 2 day road trip to see some parts northeast Nevada that we haven't seen before.
Note: Since some of my friends do not want their photos and identities plastered all over the internet, I'm respecting their privacy and not including any photos in which they appear or their names in my report.
Note: Since some of my friends do not want their photos and identities plastered all over the internet, I'm respecting their privacy and not including any photos in which they appear or their names in my report.
Day 1, Weds. March 11:
It's been years since I've flown out of Chicago's Midway Airport and the last time that I flew with Southwest Airlines was back in mid-2000 (I think ...LOL). It's been more convenient flying out of Chicago's Ohare, but considering the cost of air travel these days, I couldn't pass up SWA's prices.
Midway is a nice airport, albeit smaller than Ohare. The smaller size makes it more manageable getting around, but there is still lots of walking depending on where your gate is located.
Midway is a nice airport, albeit smaller than Ohare. The smaller size makes it more manageable getting around, but there is still lots of walking depending on where your gate is located.
I've been using Echo Limousine service whenever I need transportation from home to the airports, since they are very reliable and always on time. They're a bit pricy, but I've had too many bad experience with Taxis arriving late and almost missing my flights in the past.
I had an 11:15am flight and arrive at the airport around 8:30am. Being able to go through the TSA Pre-check line also saves a lot of time, since you don't have to remove your shoes and remove liquids, laptop PC, etc. from your carry-on bags. I also opted for the EarlyBird Checkin (additional $25/roundtrip) so I was guaranteed to get into the A boarding group.
One of my friends who flies out of BWI (Baltimore-Washington) had a connecting flight out of Midway, so we were on the same Chicago to Reno flight which was cool. We were catching up on old times, so the flight went by pretty quickly.
The only problem we had onboard the plane was that there was no tap water available, so no water in the lavatories. Although, they did have hand sanitizer available. Anyways, it didn't create any major problems.
The only problem we had onboard the plane was that there was no tap water available, so no water in the lavatories. Although, they did have hand sanitizer available. Anyways, it didn't create any major problems.
The flight time to Reno was a little over 4 hours and there were no delays. The flight wasn't completely filled, so my friend and I had an open middle seat. The flight home was a different story though. Completely booked and there were 3 screaming toddlers onboard ...more on that later ...LOL.
Budget Car Rental had a special 35% off rate, if you booked your flight with SWA. So, I decided to give them a try. This is the first time that I rented from Budget and their service at the Reno airport was pretty good. As you can see from the photo, I rented a 2015 Mustang. I was surprised that they had the latest model available. This one has the new 4-Cylinder Eco-Boost engine which preformed surprisingly well. It accelerated faster than the V6 and I was getting over 30 miles/gal too. Although a Mustang without a V8 just doesn't feel the same ...LOL.
Peppermill-Reno...
I arrived at the Peppermill about an hour before checkin time and they had my room ready. I reserved a standard King/non-smoking in their North Tower. The North and West Tower rooms are a good value, since their rates for my stay were $49.99-59.99/night, although they do have a resort fee of $15+Tax which includes...
Property wide premium wi-fi.
A coupon book valued at over $75.
Access to Internet Café.
In-room coffee.
Airport shuttle service.
Access to the Electric Car Charger Station.
Local and 800 phone calls.
Access to Fitness Center and Resort Pools.
Access to business center.
Parking in 6-story Parking Garage and Valet Service.
Faxes and Photocopies (limit 5 per day).
Concierge Service.
Overall, I would say the room was comparable and a bit nicer than the Deluxe King room that I had at the Monte Carlo-Las Vegas on my October 2014 trip. The hotel has good in-room wifi too, as well as in their casino and other areas of their property.
I remembered that there are In N' Out Burgers in Reno and one is located a couple of miles south on Virginia St. So guess where I ended up for dinner? LOL!
View from my room...
Day 2, Thursday March 12:
As a group, we all didn't get together until the end of my trip (March 16-17), but a couple of friends and their wives who were in town early, sorta hung out together off and on during the early part of my trip.
My friend who retired and move to Mesquite, NV, also drove out to Reno for a few days too. He's the one who was tutoring me on Deuces Wild and I ended up having a winning trip playing VP at the Peppermill-Reno and at the Red Lion-Elko. More on that later.
A few photos of downtown Reno...
On past trips, I've dined at Oceano at the Peppermill which is a seafood and sushi restaurant. Their food was always good, so I decided to have an early dinner that evening. I sat at the sushi bar and I wasn't disappointed in the quality of their sushi.
Days 3-4, Friday & Saturday March 13-14:
We also planned a 2 day road trip along I-80 East, since we've never visited that area of Nevada before. There were 4 of us all together and we all couldn't fit in one car, since we were either driving sports cars or compacts ...LOL. So my friend and his wife drove their compact and my other friend from Mesquite and I took my Mustang.
An acquaintance recommended staying at the Red Lion Hotel/Casino in Elko which is about a 4 hours drive from Reno. So, that was the furthest east that we traveled. If we were to continue east on I-80 for another 3 hours or so, we would have made it to Utah ...LOL.
Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos, but my friends took some along the way. As soon as they email them to me, I can add them to my report. So for now, I hope I don't bore ya'll with my ramblings.
A few of the towns that we stop at to explore included Fernley, Winnemucca, Carlin, and Elko. Being a city boy from Chicago ...LOL ...seeing the countryside and towns in the Wild West is rather interesting. Lots of cool scenery and wildlife along the route too.
Red Lion Hotel & Casino-Elko...
I was pleasantly surprise at the quality of their rooms, casino, and restaurants at the Red Lion. They have everything that you need under one roof. For a rather small town, they also have quite a few hotels and casinos. OMG! They even have a WalMart! LOL! Many of the small towns in NE Nevada are mining towns including Elko and Carlin. So, during the weekdays, everyone is at work and the casinos, etc. are not too busy. Although things pick up quite a bit on the weekends. Saturday the casino and restaurants were packed with locals.
Since this was a planned road trip, we made reservation ahead of time. Room rates were $82/night (no resort fee) for a premium deluxe King or Queen. The room was actually bigger and nicer than my Peppermill room and included free wifi, an in-room frig, microwave oven, coffee maker, and safe. Since this was our first stay at the Red Lion, they included free breakfast vouchers for their Cafe. Their food and service were also very good and the portion sizes were huge.
We had dinner one night at their Aspen Bar & Grill and their Kodiak style Atlantic Salmon was excellent. You also get your choice of salad or soup and 2 sides. I had their homemade mushroom soup, corn on the cob, and baked potato. The Kodiac style Salmon is a must try, if you ever visit the Red Lion.
If you sign up with their Slot Club, they also have some good promotions. If you lose $100 within 24 hours after signing up, they give $100 back in freeplay. On Fridays, if you accumulate 500 tier points, you get a free room. Since I had a winning day that Friday, I wasn't eligible for the freeplay. Although, we all received comped rooms for Friday, since we each gambled enough to gain 500 points. I also did pretty good playing Deuces Wild with some coaching from my friend. I did hit a Royal, but with Deuces, so I still haven't hit my first real Royal yet ...LOL.
Day 5, Sunday March 15:
The weather was surprisingly good for my entire trip and some of the locals that we spoke with said the temps were unusually warm for this time of year. Overall, it was in the upper 50's to as high as 70 degrees on one day and no rain (or snow ...LOL).
We hit the road back to Reno, after having breakfast at the Cafe. Since we made fewer stops along the way, we made it back to the Peppermill by checkin time. I had another room reserved in the North Tower and it was just 2 door down from my previous room.
I met my friend from Mesquite for dinner and we hit the casino for awhile where I hit another 4 Deuces for $500. One thing that was getting me sorta confused was how the pay tables were setup on the VP machine in both Elko and at the Peppermill as compared to what I'm use to seeing in Vegas or at my local casinos. The number of credits played is also set up differently too. You can probably see the differences in the photos that I posted above.
Day 6-7, Monday & Tuesday March 16-17:
The rest of the crew arrived in town by Monday evening. Since we were all staying at the Peppermill, it made it convenient for all of us to meet at the Fireside Lounge for drinks and then decide on where to have dinner. There were 8 of us in total and we didn't have any problems making dinner reservations at Cafe Milano at the Peppermill. I believe Cafe Milano is equivalent to the Peppermill Cafe in Las Vegas.
It was good seeing some of my old friends again, since so many of us have scattered all over the country. I won't bore you with any detail, but we pretty much just roamed around downtown, gambled, and met up for lunch/dinner over those 2 days.
Oh, and I hit 4 Deuces on 3 more occasions before my return home. I think this was one of my most productive trips in regards to gambling, even though I did not win anything large enough for a handpay. Perhaps that's good, since I don't have to worry about filing any W2Gs at the end of the year.
Day 8, Wednesday March 18:
After packing, I went downstairs to Cafe Milano for breakfast. It took me awhile to decide what to order, since there are lots of goodies on their menu. It's been awhile since I've had Eggs Benedict, so I gave that a try. The eggs were poached perfectly and it was very good. I wish I would have taken more food porn photos, but this is the only one I remembered to take ...LOL.
Needless to say, I wish that I could have stayed longer in Reno. There are still lots of other places in the area that I would have liked to have visited. Hopefully, it won't take me another +7 years to plan another Reno trip ...LOL.
Anywho, I had 2:30pm flight with no delays. The flight was completely full and as I mentioned earlier on, there were 3 screaming toddlers aboard! Luckily, I have a good pair of Bose Noise-canceling earphones which is a life saver, to say the least ...LOL. I plugged in my iPad and was watching movies for most of the flight home, so I only heard the screaming when I had to get up to use the lavatory. I really felt sorry for the guy who had to sit next to two of those toddlers. The 3rd one was sitting several rows further in front.
After landing, I was also in shock that all of the snow/ice that I left behind a week earlier was all melted ...LOL. I leave town, so Chicago just had to warm up. Now why couldn't it have warmed up a few weeks before my trip!
The weather was surprisingly good for my entire trip and some of the locals that we spoke with said the temps were unusually warm for this time of year. Overall, it was in the upper 50's to as high as 70 degrees on one day and no rain (or snow ...LOL).
We hit the road back to Reno, after having breakfast at the Cafe. Since we made fewer stops along the way, we made it back to the Peppermill by checkin time. I had another room reserved in the North Tower and it was just 2 door down from my previous room.
I met my friend from Mesquite for dinner and we hit the casino for awhile where I hit another 4 Deuces for $500. One thing that was getting me sorta confused was how the pay tables were setup on the VP machine in both Elko and at the Peppermill as compared to what I'm use to seeing in Vegas or at my local casinos. The number of credits played is also set up differently too. You can probably see the differences in the photos that I posted above.
Day 6-7, Monday & Tuesday March 16-17:
The rest of the crew arrived in town by Monday evening. Since we were all staying at the Peppermill, it made it convenient for all of us to meet at the Fireside Lounge for drinks and then decide on where to have dinner. There were 8 of us in total and we didn't have any problems making dinner reservations at Cafe Milano at the Peppermill. I believe Cafe Milano is equivalent to the Peppermill Cafe in Las Vegas.
It was good seeing some of my old friends again, since so many of us have scattered all over the country. I won't bore you with any detail, but we pretty much just roamed around downtown, gambled, and met up for lunch/dinner over those 2 days.
Oh, and I hit 4 Deuces on 3 more occasions before my return home. I think this was one of my most productive trips in regards to gambling, even though I did not win anything large enough for a handpay. Perhaps that's good, since I don't have to worry about filing any W2Gs at the end of the year.
Day 8, Wednesday March 18:
After packing, I went downstairs to Cafe Milano for breakfast. It took me awhile to decide what to order, since there are lots of goodies on their menu. It's been awhile since I've had Eggs Benedict, so I gave that a try. The eggs were poached perfectly and it was very good. I wish I would have taken more food porn photos, but this is the only one I remembered to take ...LOL.
Needless to say, I wish that I could have stayed longer in Reno. There are still lots of other places in the area that I would have liked to have visited. Hopefully, it won't take me another +7 years to plan another Reno trip ...LOL.
Anywho, I had 2:30pm flight with no delays. The flight was completely full and as I mentioned earlier on, there were 3 screaming toddlers aboard! Luckily, I have a good pair of Bose Noise-canceling earphones which is a life saver, to say the least ...LOL. I plugged in my iPad and was watching movies for most of the flight home, so I only heard the screaming when I had to get up to use the lavatory. I really felt sorry for the guy who had to sit next to two of those toddlers. The 3rd one was sitting several rows further in front.
After landing, I was also in shock that all of the snow/ice that I left behind a week earlier was all melted ...LOL. I leave town, so Chicago just had to warm up. Now why couldn't it have warmed up a few weeks before my trip!
