My younger sister and I suffer from difficulty sleeping in strange places, so by the time we got out of bed on Saturday we really hadn’t slept much at all the night before. But hey, no big deal! We were in Reno! There was coffee to be found. Also donuts!
She and I went in search of the aforementioned coffee and donuts, while older sis took a shower. We ate our donuts and managed to get powdered sugar all over the floor of our room (the sign of a truly great donut, after all), and then we called our parents to tell them all about our (rather pitiful) gambling exploits so far, as well as our introduction into the world of nightclub entertainment (aka the karaoke). And then the three of us went in search of a salon for pedicures. Interestingly enough, as we were standing there, setting up appointments for later in the afternoon, who should walk in but Joannie Rogers, the female comic from the previous night. I’ll get back to that later, however, since we were off to explore other places beside our smoky and mirrored hotel.
We meandered down the street and ended up at the El Dorado and the Silver Legacy. It didn’t take much wandering inside to convince us that next time we go to Reno (if we ever go back to Reno, that is), we should pay the extra money to stay at someplace nicer. There was a larger variety of things to see and do, including a marvelous brunch buffet, where my little sister managed to spill her coffee all over both her and my older sister, and where we broke with the unhealthy eating to suck down as many pieces of melon as we could.
Next it was pedicure time. When we returned to the salon, the female comic was still there, getting her hair cut and styled, so we ended up chatting and joking with her for an hour or two while the manicurist lined us up and made our feet pretty, assembly line style.
Our toes are now painted in dark cranberry. And I point to the earlier mention of lack of sleep as the reason for why we were somehow talked into getting nail art as well. I have little gold-lined hearts on my big toes, people. I do not do nail art. I barely do nail polish as it is, but little shiny things on my toes make me do double takes every time I see my bare feet. I am making myself leave them alone in the hopes that they will eventually chip away, but I have a feeling that sooner rather than later I will get annoyed enough with them to drag out the nail polish remover.
But I digress. After the pedicures came more girly action, in the form of a happy hair dying party (for my little sister), followed by a few rousing games of cards and random laughing until it was time for dinner. We decided to abandon the healthy eating trend begun by those earlier melon slices and started dinner off with cheese fries and milkshakes. We also continued down the slippery path to sin and degradation by playing a few rounds of Keno (if only to figure out just what the heck it was).
And then we all piled into my car and drove down miles of twisty mountain roads (remember how much I don’t love twisty mountain roads?) to Incline Village on Lake Tahoe to see an outdoor performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream. We sat in chairs perched up the side of a huge hill of sand and the stage was perfectly framed by the mountains and the trees and the water. The play was accompanied by the night music of the lake – the water and the birds – and was extremely well done.