Reno & Sparks, NV

September 1-3

We spent two nights at an RV park in Sparks, NV, the city our friends Jay and Misty live in. It’s right outside Reno and we had the best visit with Jay. Jay and Mike have known each other for over 25 years and I met Jay years ago at the same place I met Mike; working at Meritage Mortgage. Sadly, Misty had to work long days while we were there, so we didn’t get to visit with her. We missed you, Misty!

We went into Reno the first evening and met Jay for some dinner and sight seeing. The city was so quiet, it was a little eerie. Mike and I were very surprised by how few people were our and about. It was a Wednesday, but it still was just dead, even for a weekday. Anyways, here are some pix we took…

Here’s the famous sign over the street in Reno… called the Reno Arch. This is the third arch that’s been here. It has been here since 1987, but was redone in 2018 to look how it does today (some colors were changed).

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And here is the original Reno Arch that spanned Virginia Street until 1963. It was just a bit of a walk from the current one.

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While walking around the area, we crossed the Truckee River.

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The next day we met up with Jay at his house and he took us out for the day. We started in his truck with a drive to what remains of the Mustang Ranch. It’s been trashed and gone through so much, and it doesn’t seem likely it’ll be standing a lot longer.

We went back to Jay’s to switch vehicles, and he took us out in his Jeep. We went 60 miles into the desert and it was so amazing! The Jeep ride was bumpy and windy (especially from the back seat, where I sat) as we left town and drove many miles on dirt roads, but it was fun. He had the windows out of the doors, so they were open the whole time. I was a little nervous when I realized why it had to be the Jeep we drove out there, when Jay drove us up and down some steep spots I never would have considered driving on. Luckily I know Jay well enough to trust him to be a very safe guy, so I just held my breath over the first couple crazy spots and we were, of course, just fine.

Anyway, here are some of the pix we got. It was so pretty. And Mike loved the old abandoned mines up there.

From the drive out…

Here are a few shots of these guys checking out some abandoned mines.

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It was so quiet so far outside of the city (remember, we went over 60 miles out… that’s kinda crazy) and it was just beautiful.

We left a little late, and ended up finishing our drive a little bit cold. It sure can cool off a lot at night in the desert.. and remember the windows are not in the doors. Oops, haha.

It was such a fun day! Thanks, Jay.