Reno,Lake Tahoe, and California. Come and join us

   Hello and welcome back to my blog. I have not written in a while, but we finally got to travel again. My wife Darlene and I enjoy traveling and sharing our trips and how you can also go on vacations without breaking the bank. Those of you who have followed this blog, from Maine to South Dakota, already know to plan early and pay over the months leading up to the trips.

   Darlene and I have traveled to many states and cities since we got married. We usually drove since the places we went were within four to eight hour drives. There were a couple of exceptions but not many. Over the years, we have been almost everywhere close to us and several places more than once. However, since I retired back in December of 2021, we have taken longer vacations to places further away. We go in June on a bigger and nicer vacation while still going on weekend or long weekend excursions close to us.

   This brings us to June 2025. We decided on going northwest this year. We began planning the end of January or first of February. We decided to base out of Reno, Nevada. This would allow us to see  Reno, Virginia City, and Carson City, Nevada; Truckee, California and the loop around Lake Tahoe and other areas. We also were looking at parts of California within a couple of hours of Reno. We always try and base out of a city and rent a car and see what is near. We looked at going to Sacramento and Stockton California to visit some of the wine country. I am sure it would have been very scenic but in researching, we discovered only two and a half hours away was Yosemite National Park. That made the decision of where to visit.

   Now to start the plans and pay for places to stay, airfare, and rental cars before June. The decision of what airline to use was easy. Going that direction, Southwest Airlines was the obvious pick for value. We picked a direct flight to Las Vegas and then a puddle jumper into Reno. Only four and a half hours in the air and an hour and a half layover in Vegas. We set the price alert and began keeping an eye on when to book. We ended up booking the flight in the middle of March. We were satisfied with the price. We have also learned it is cheaper to fly on Tuesdays. So leave on Tuesday and come back on Tuesday. Looking on our preferred travel site, Expedia, finding nice rooms in Reno was easy and plentiful so there was no rush to book. We decided to wait until about the end of April to book the rooms. We selected The El Dorado Resort and Casino on The Row for the first three nights of our trip. We decided on The Legacy Resort and Casino for the last two nights of our trip. The middle two days of the trip was a little tricker but more on that later. The rental car was booked the first of May, so we were all set, just waiting on June.

   June 18 arrived and we boarded the flight and left Birmingham about 11 AM. We arrived in Reno and got our rental car. It seemed we stood in line for that rental longer than the flight from Vegas to Reno, but all was good. We got to the hotel and checked in. It was almost 5 their time (PDT). We had skipped lunch so we were ready to eat. I guess travel takes it out of old folks because we were also tired. We decided on eating at Brew Brothers inside the hotel. The fish and chips Darlene got and my pizza were both good. We finished and went to the casino for a bit before going to bed.

   Check back here for the next stop in Virginia City, Nevada. The old “Silver Comstock” city is interesting and full of history.