Reno, NV to Salt Lake City, UT

After getting the hotel and relaxing for a bit we decided to go out and see what our casino as well as the the others had to offer. After getting a beer from the bar at our casino, Circus Circus, we went on a quest to find Matt’s favorite game, Lobster Mania. We searched Circus Circus but no luck, time to move on. As soon as we stepped outside we realized this was no Las Vegas. Unlike Las Vegas, Reno only had 5 or 6 medium to large casinos on its small strip. It does make sense as Reno does call itself “The Littlest Big City in the World”. We wandered into Harrah’s which we quickly left, as there was nothing but smoke. Next stop was Fitzgerald’s, where of course we had luck in finding Lobster Mania. Luck of the Irish we thought. Matt played and won about $10, a big score as well as a free drink from the sassy cocktail waitress. We decided to explore some more and found the next casino which had a great brewpub in it which we decided to sample some great wheat beer. The band was great, and so were the people watching. We had a great time laughing at some of the patrons in the bar. Unfortunately there was a group of marines in the brewpub who became a little too rowdy for the management and they shut it down. We were pretty bummed but moved on. The last casino we decided to check out was the classiest and we found another live band in a lounge. They looked as they were still living in the 80’s as they had long blonde hair singing Eagles songs, it was still a good time however. Once their set was done we decided to call it a night.

We woke up to a gorgeous morning in Reno; the casino was bustling with people as was expected. We had our first car trouble of the trip as we attempted to drive away from the casino parking garage. We turned the key only to find that we had a dead battery. After a quick trip to the security office an officer followed us to the Subaru and in a matter of seconds the car was running and we were off. Next stop Jiffy Lube. We hadn’t had an oil change since Anchorage so it was time. There was no line and in a matter of 25 minutes and a great conversation about Alaska with some other customers who had seen the sign on our car we were off to our next destination, In-N-Out Burger. For those not familiar with the chain, it is a burger chain and only located in California, Nevada and Arizona. If you have not tried one please do when you go to one of these three states, they are delicious. From here we finally made it to the highway for our 500 mile journey to Salt Lake City.

The journey on 80 going east through northern Nevada is a trip through pure desert. There are a few small towns, the largest boasting a population of around 18,000. Other than these small pockets of humanity it is basically just sand, sagebrush and Small Mountains for about 5 hours in Nevada. The minute we crossed into Utah it became a different world. We had never been to a salt flat before and we can defiantly see why they would hold speed trials for the worlds fastest on wheels here. It is unbelievably flat and barren. Nothing can grow; salt just builds up on itself.

After spending the night at Jason True’s house (a friend from Rochester, NY who now resides in SLC for skiing and biking and school) we will be heading to Cheyenne, Wyoming real quick then onwards to somewhere in Nebraska.

You’ll hear from us again in Indianapolis, Indiana when we stay with a friend of mine from Tampa University on Wednesday or Thursday night – depends on how fast we get there….

Bryan & Matt