Saturday June 28, 2014

 

Non-Travel Day

 

This morning we headed north from our campground into Carson City, the capital of Nevada . The center of Carson City is a small but beautiful area that includes the state office buildings;
we were both surprised at the relative small size of the city for being the stat capital.  Traveling up I-580 we passed over the Galena Creek Bridge, at 1,722 ft. it is the longest concrete cathedral bridge in the world, but because of where it was there were no pull-offs to take pictures. Our next stop was the city of Reno, which is larger than the capital of Carson City; Reno is a sprawling metropolis with a thriving downtown that includes many casinos and for a Saturday morning it was quite busy. Twice we passed under the famous “Reno Arch” to take pictures, but because of the large crowds we did not park and walk the streets. We had lunch in a city park by the Truckee River, and then took a short walk along the river, it was a beautiful setting. Like most areas that we have traveled through on this trip the general population of Reno are into physical activities as there are walkers, joggers, and bikers everywhere .  After lunch we drove east on I-80 and then north on NV Rt. 447 to Pyramid Lake and scenic drives along the lake shore. The lake is so named because of a rock formation, that when viewed from the southern shore looks exactly like a large pyramid. The lake is on an Indian Reservation so its use if limited to the members of the tribe, but the road access is open to all. The views of and along the lake were spectacular. We returned to the campground via NV Rt. 445 and US Rt. 395. After showering we headed for a casino down the street for dinner and some slots action. Jack broke even for the night but Valerie came out ahead with an $85.00 free play credit on her member card, so we will be returning to use that credit and hopefully build upon it.