Anniversary Trip

Patrick and I went on a little getaway to celebrate our 15 years together. We planned on staying two nights in Reno and headed up there Friday afternoon:



We stayed here:



and even though we paid for two nights at this place, we left after the first night for four reasons: 1. Reno sucks especially if you don't gamble. I just walked through the casino and looked at the slot machines and was totally confused. 2. It is shocking that people can just light up a cigarette inside. I forgot about that and it was so stinky and gross. 3. After taking a shower, I pulled a "clean" towel out and saw this:



I can only imagine what kind of stain that is. So nasty!

and 4. The fact they put food items in your hotel on sensors and charge an enormous amount of money for them. I felt like I couldn't go near the items worried that the simple act of my walking close by might dislodge these food items and we would have to pay an arm and a leg for a rice krispie treat! Seriously, $4 for it!





One good thing came out of Reno because we were really excited to go and see this guy:



For those of you who don't know who he is, his name is Joel McHale and he is super funny. He hosts a show on E! called "The Soup" which he basically makes fun of celebrities. He also is on a show called "Community" that stars Chevy Chase. A guy that I went to high school with and also worked with back in my glory days at Baskin Robbins, was on an episode of Community. My friend actually played Joel McHale's character on an internet show that basically predicted the future of the main characters. You can watch it HERE

The show was pretty funny and definitely was the best part of Reno. We weren't allowed to use cameras but we snuck this quick picture of us before the show started. It totally sucks, but we were there!



The nasty towel pretty much sealed the deal to leave. On our way out, we stopped at a restaurant that had been features on Food Network's "Diner's, Drive In's, and Dives" It wasn't all that it was cracked up to be for sure, but since Patrick and I have always wanted to do a "DDD" tour, it was kind of exciting:







After spending like 2 hours at the restaurant trying to figure out the next leg of our trip, we decided to take off and head over to Virginia City. We had heard awesome things about this place but after visiting, decided we have numerous places close by that are pretty much the same...Old Folsom to be exact. We took a tour of the Fourth Ward School house which was super awesome. The school housed around 800 students all contained in a four story house. I can only imagine how loud it was. We learned many things about schooling back in the old days. The last class to graduate was sometime in the 1940's. They were told that they could sign their names anywhere in the building because the school was going to be torn down. It was cool to see all the signatures on the walls. There was also a desk that had many carvings in it. Kind of reminds me of when I was in school. Things never change I guess.















We didn't stay long in Virginia City. It was kind of lame and we weren't on a motorcycle so we were total outcasts. We headed over to South Lake Tahoe where it was just beautiful and completely different from Reno:



We stayed in a tiny Motel 6 room that had clean towels and super hard beds, but it was a place to stay. We woke up the next morning and went to Vikingsholm. It was super awesome! It was about a one mile hike from the rode down to the castle which reeked havoc on my knees. After that, I thought that the hike back up would be much much easier! So there was this really rich lady who bought a bunch of property out in Emerald Bay. She actually bought all the property for $250,000 which is super cheap now, but I could only imagine how expensive it was then. She had this home built after the Viking style and it was absolutely beautiful! The area and the home were amazing. It was actually just her summer home. There were many servants and maids that would accompany her to the home in the summer and she would invite many guests to come as well. With the property came a little island. On that island, she had a tea house built. It is still there but it is just remains now. If you look closely, you might be able to see it at the top of the peak on the island through the trees:



After the lady died, some guy bought it and had plans to develop the property, but for whatever reason, he ended up not doing so and I think he couldn't afford it so he offered it up for sale to the state of California who swooped in and purchased it for about the same price as the original property sold. The guy left pretty much all the original items in the home so California has made it a museum and it is awesome! There were so many old looking items and even a piano that Liberace himself played. An old car that was the accountants car was donated back to the house from a lady who grew up as a guest each summer. She drove it into the 90's and still puts on tours at the house although she is very old now. The property was beautiful and very peaceful. I wish we could have stayed longer there, but alas, we had to get back to our kids who apparently didn't miss us one bit!























This is me:


(You can see the Tea House on the tip of the island in this picture too)

You probably can't tell but I was about ready to die. The hike back to our car was ridicules! My knees didn't hurt, but it was a sore reminder that I was not in any shape whatsoever. But I wasn't the only one who had to stop like 10 times and complain so that made me feel better, oh and passing the old couple. Ya, we're awesome! too

We arrived home in record time. We left South Lake Tahoe, and in an hour and 15 minutes we were home. I only had to close my eyes a handful of times while Patrick drove us to our destination. Patrick picked up the older girls who shared time with my sister and my mom, and I picked up the younger kids who played with their cousin Rylie at my brother's house. Malia came home with a 102 degree temperature. Little did we know what we had in store for us with that (post coming soon), but we were all happy to be home together, noise and all...