The Biggest Little City In the WORLD!

You might be asking yourself, "Why would Alena go to Reno?" GIRL'S TRIP!!! My future roommate, Amber, lives in Reno, and our other roommate, Lindsey, lives in Sacramento. So, I decided to fly from Utah, and Lindsey drove from California to spend the week of the Fourth of July with Amber and her family in RENO!!! I really needed a vacation from Utah and I was really missing my friends, so this was perfect.

In this post, I am going to go through what we did each day of the week in Reno because we fit A LOT into those 6 days. Despite the reputation of not really having anything to do, Reno was actually a really fun getaway and I would totally recommend it for some quick R&R.

Monday:

I woke up pretty early to catch my flight from SLC to RNO. I was lucky enough to get a direct flight there. I arrived in Nevada around 9:50 am and right when I stepped out of the gate, I immediately saw TONS of gambling machines. It was kind of funny actually. Most people just sat at the machines to use the chair. Not really to gamble.

Amber picked me up and we headed back to her house. Lindsey met us there and we quickly decided to head up to Lake Tahoe. We drove around the lake and attempted to go to Sand Harbor beach, but the parking lot was full so we headed to King's Beach instead.

My goal for this trip was to get tan. It's kinda hard for my skin to get tan in the first place, but even more so when you live in a college town in Utah where you can't just sit outside in peace and tan. But Tahoe came through and was the perfect place to sit in the sun and become the bronze goddess I wanted to be. We sat at the beach for about 3 hours before deciding to stroll down along the little gift shops they had. We were in search for stickers for our hydroflasks/journals as well as any other trinkets that would be kinda fun. I found a super cute t-shirt that took me way to long to decide if I should buy or not but in the end, I bought it...you will see it later on the hike that we did.

The water at the lake was way too cold for us, so we opted for a warmer option. Amber's amazing hot tub. We sat in there for a long time. We got all pruney which was great. Lindsey and Amber also forced me to watch The Bachelorette... I have no words. It was just too much. DM or comment who you want her to end up with.

Tuesday:

We were determined to make it to Sand Harbor Beach today, so we woke up early to make sure we would get parking. Sand Harbor is one of the most popular beaches along Tahoe because of the rocks and the gorgeous color of the water. It has three sections to it. The left is mostly sand and swimming, the middle has large rocks you can jump from, and the right is where a lot of canoes or paddle boards go around. We spent about 4 hours just tanning. We did use lounge floaters to float in the water a bit, but we also just laid on the sand. It was so relaxing. Whenever I go on vacation with my family, we never really take time to just lay on the beach. We always plan something. So, this was a great change of pace. I got sunburned, but it didn't hurt and I got that tan that I was looking for. Mission Accomplished.

There were also a ton of squirrels where we were and they got into the food of the people next to us...yikes. It was kind of like watching a cartoon as squirrels chased each other or tried to get into a bag of chips. We kept chasing them away, but eventually they raided our neighbors food without us noticing. Oops.

Sand Harbor was also the main place I knew I HAD to get pictures. Pinterest and Instagram really hyped it up. I crawled through water in order to take these pictures because I was determined to get that Insta-worthy pic. I got it and it looks amazing. I annoyed Amber in the process, but at least the pics turned out fire. Definitely go to Sand Harbor for all your VSCO needs.

After toasting for a while, we headed back to Reno. We decided to get our nails done. I got a gel manicure with each nail a different color. I actually really like it. We also got boba per my request. I love boba so much. Then we got ready to go watch the new Spiderman: Far From Home movie. A+. 10/10 recommend. That's all I have to say.

Wednesday:

If you know me, you know that I am not a hiker. Well, Amber thought that me going on a 10 mile hike would be a good idea, so that is what we did. No. In all honesty, this hike was nothing and I often over exaggerate my dislike for hiking. It's actually okay and I will do it as long as I am with friends and the view is pretty. So don't be afraid to take me on hikes. We hike 5 miles into Emerald Bay and 5 miles out. Honestly, the hike itself was prettier than the destination. I highly recommend the hike. We even saw older people doing it, so if that tells you anything about the difficulty. It took us about 3 hours I think, I don't even know, but it was totally worth it.

Since we burned so many calories on the hike, we of course had to eat all those calories back. Lindsey told us about the Richard City Ice Cream Parlor that she always goes to that has HUGE ice cream scoops. The line out the door told us that she's not the only one to know about it though. It took us probably 30 minutes to get our ice cream and was it worth it? Debatable. Was it a great picture moment? Yes.

And if ice cream wasn't enough to eat those calories back, we went to Amber's favorite pizza place at the Squaw Ski Resort. Fireside Pizza Company. Artichoke dip=Amazing. Pizza=Fire. We were all knocked out once we came back to Reno. Long day, but so worth it.

Thursday:

Fourth of July!!! Easily one of my favorite holidays of all time. I love fireworks so much. Today was actually really chill which was nice after three busier days. Amber had to go to work for a couple of hours so Lindsey and I just window shopped around a mall and got some lunch. Amber's family had a mini BBQ before we all went to the Ace's baseball game.

I am not a big fan of baseball, or a fan in general, but I can appreciate the skills in the sport. Amber loves baseball, so it was super fun to see her so hyped about a sport. It was so nice of her parents to get Lindsey and I tickets. The Ace's mascot though...we couldn't figure out what it was, so I looked it up and there is no official statement, but one site literally said Archie, the mascot, was a "big red blob". Wow. Amazing.

After the Ace's won the game, the stadium had a firework show! Let me tell you. It was one of the best shows I have seen. There were so many designs and so many fireworks at once. It was crazy. It was way better than any of the Seattle ones I've been to.

Friday:

Once again, Amber had work, but this time, Lindsey and I went to watch our working woman in action. She's a lifeguard. We just laid by the pool. It was great. Then, we went to the mall and got Amber to buy a super cute jumpsuit. It was also officially a week before my birthday, so I got an email from my favorite cake shop, Nothing Bundt Cake, telling me that I could pick up my free birthday cake. Now, this was amazing to see because Utah doesn't have a Nothing Bundt Cake, which they really need to fix, BUT Reno's got my back. I got red velvet. And I was so happy. We then went to BJ's for a "nice" dinner and headed off to play mini golf.

It was my first time ever playing mini golf, let alone black light mini golf, but it was so much fun. I actually loved it. I won the first time around. So proud of myself, and I might have won the second time, but we didn't keep score. I think I should join the BYU golf team now. Just kidding. I would be horrible. We ended our last full day in Nevada with watching Twilight: New Moon. It was amazing. So cringe, but so good.

Saturday:

The day for us to leave. It was actually so sad. We slept in a bit, but decided to go to brunch. We went to downtown Reno in an attempt to drive under the famous "Biggest Little City in the World" sign, but apparently there was a chicken festival happening on that street so we couldn't drive under it... But, we went to this super cute restaurant called Two Chicks that basically had a whole bunch of options to cook your eggs. I got Eggs Benedict and the others got over-easy eggs. It was so good. I loved it. Even the plates were in the shape of eggs. We then went along the Truckee River to get to a rolled ice cream place that Amber told us about. I got taro with red beans. It reminded me of Thailand. We headed back to the house and Lindsey packed up and left, and Amber took me to the airport. It was so sad to say goodbye to everyone again and I really did not want to get onto the plane to come back to Utah. But alas, here I am, back in my apartment in Provo.

This trip was honestly so much fun. I want to thank my parents for the best birthday present ever. I know the plane ticket was not cheap because of the holiday, and I meant so much to me that I was able to go see my friends. I also want to thank Amber's family for letting us stay in their home and for the food and everything they did for me and Lindsey while we were there.

Although Reno is probably not many people's dream destination, I actually would recommend it for a quick trip. There are plenty of things to do and see around the area. We didn't even make it to all the places we had come up with! I hope to continue being able to travel because it is honestly one of my favorite things to do. I love seeing new places and especially being able to see them with people who live their. There is just so much that can be seen when you are with a local. Thank you Amber for being our amazing tour guide!

I can't wait to see Amber and Lindsey again in a short two months when we live together!!!

Comment your favorite place in the US to visit! I'd love to expand my travel bucket list!

Alena