Our New Town

This weekend we moved. Again.

No joke, since we’ve been married three years, we have moved seven times. SEVEN! I am starting to think we are sick in the head or something. Who puts themselves through that?

Anyway, now we are moved into our new place and I am forcing myself to have amnesia from the weekend. Instead I have been focusing on getting to know our new surroundings and creating a home for us.

I have to fully admit that when I first moved to Tahoe I was one of those snobby people who thought “who on earth would want to live in Reno when Tahoe is so close?” I had the perception of Reno that I saw on the show Reno 911. 

Well I have to say I totally put my foot in my mouth on that one. Reno is actually pretty great! Don’t believe me? Okay, here’s five reasons Reno totally doesn’t suck.

1. The cost of living is crazy low compared to Tahoe. We were able to rent a brand-new, fully upgraded place that has a pool and is next to a wetland’s walking area and playground for less than half of what we paid for our place in Tahoe.

2. There is a lot going on all the time. They call it the “biggest little city” for a reason, there is always something fun to do. This Friday for example, we’re going to “Food Truck Fridays” downtown where a bunch of food trucks park and there’s live music.

3. The people are friendly. We’ve already attended a first birthday party (how cute is L below?), met our neighbors and had multiple offers for help getting settled. In general, I just like that people are out and about enjoying their city.

Lila birthday party

4. It’s super livable. There’s a Target! And a Whole Foods! And, and a CVS! Not to mention no traffic to and from these places. After moving from a small village in Tahoe, I am excited that my days of exclusively online shopping are over.

5. It’s beautiful. I thought I was losing the gorgeous scenery when we left the lake, but low and behold, Reno is really stunning in it’s own right. I took these photos right in our neighborhood on my phone.

damonte ranch reno wetlands Screen Shot 2013-05-29 at 6.27.08 PM

Okay, bonus reason # 6 I had to include. The weather is awesome here. There are four distinct seasons and over 300 days of sunshine each year. It gets hot in the summer, but it’s a dry comfortable heat. In the winter, it’s much more mild than Tahoe. But since skiing is only 25 minutes away, I can still get in my powder days!

We’ve only been here a few days, but each day I feel like I discover more I like about my new town. And while I will always love Lake Tahoe, I have to say I am learning very quickly to love Reno as well.

 

Just Roll With It

All last week Luke was like a kid looking forward to his birthday party, except what he couldn’t stop talking about what our Saturday guided rock climbing lesson. He’s been climbing indoors for a couple years now, and this was going to be his first outdoor rock climb.

We woke up early on Saturday and drove down to Reno to meet our guide. That’s when things started to go awry. When we showed up, we were told our guide was supposed to call us to tell us to come a half hour later. Hmm. Ok. After killing time walking around, we returned to hear that our guide, an “old hippy pothead” (their words, not ours), had blown off work and wouldn’t be in to take us climbing.

The tour company offered us a free rafting trip instead. This was a fine alternative to me, because I’d heard the local rivers were flowing fast right now because of all the snowmelt, but I could tell Luke was pretty disappointed he wasn’t going to be climbing. He’s not one to mope though, and quickly he got on board with our new adventure.

The awesome outfits we had to wear also helped lighten the mood.

It ended up being just us two and our guide in a small 9.5 ft raft on the Truckee River, which goes through Reno, NV.

We went about 18 miles, averaging 8 miles per hour, through some 3.5 class swells. Several times we were bounced high in the air on a big wave and got totally soaked with water.

Man, it was a blast! At one point, after riding a huge wave, I couldn’t stop grinning and giggling like a little kid. That was a pretty cool feeling.

I love that we live in a place where a planned day of outdoor rock climbing can quickly turn into a white water rafting adventure. Even better? That I have a partner in crime who is willing to roll with the punches.

What did you do this weekend? I hope you felt some thrills like we did!