Nationals at Reno

This year volleyball Junior National Championship was held in Reno, NV.  I've been in Reno once but it was long time ago.  It is a small town with bunch of casinos. Casinos are not as big as in Las Vegas, but not as small as in Chicago.  But let me start from the beginning.

The plan was to fly to Oakland, CA. Rent a minivan (we had 4 people with luggage) . There was some trouble with leaving Chicago. On the day we were supposed to leave, there was a big storm that caused a lot of delays.  Our flight was about 4 hours late. I did not plan for it, but we were not in hurry since the tournament did not start until in the afternoon of the following day.  All it meant was that we would arrive in Reno at around 9 or 10. No big deal.

This was the first time that we actually got the car we reserved! There was even a choice of colors!

Every time I visit San Francisco area, I have to have a meal at Fisherman's Warf and desert at Ghirardelli.  Oakland is just across the bridge. So, lunch was nice. Desert was nice (my usual hot fudge sundae was excellent as usual :) After that about 3 hours later we were in Reno. On interesting thing we saw was Oracle boat that was supposed to compete in the American Cup! BTW, they beat Australian team to win the Cup!

Next 4 days were mostly volleyball. Brian's team did great. They ended up 5th in the Nation! Best result among non-California teams! It's hard to compete with California in volleyball. Looks like boys had a great time. That was the last Junior

After the tournament we have decided to visit Lake Tahoe. It's about an hour drive from Reno. The weather was great, the drive was easy. We had a lunch right by the lake. We even touch the water (it was kind of cold, as expected).

This trip ended up being a little vacation. I even had a chance to gamble, not that successfully I must say. Poker was ok, I won some and I lost some. Blackjack, on the other hand, I don't think I won a hand. Oh well, that is why they call it a "gambling". I don't expect to beat the casino.

On the way back home, we drove to Napa valley to meet some friends. The vineyards looked great and while we were driving the grapes were everywhere! Unfortunately we did not have a time to visit any winery. We will have to do it next time we visit northern California.

Flight back was not as exciting as flight to Oakland. So that is it for our visit to probably last Junior Volleyball competitions, at least for a long while :)






 

Los Angeles

My first time in Los Angeles.  We had a little issue with the van. The reservation was there, but the vans were not available. So, there was a long line of people waiting for it. So, we switched to an SUV. Ride is a little rough, but we had enough room for everybody and the luggage. Our first stop was Anaheim. Our hotel was few blocks (walking distance) from the Disney Land. But we never got there.  The volleyball tournament was taking all day and boys were too tired to do anything other then watch TV and play video games after

After Nationals we drove to LA. I was not too impressed with the city even  though I love California. LA is too spread out. If you need to get to anywhere, you have to take a highway. It's always packed. Sometimes everybody go 75, sometimes 10, if at all. The weather is nice, the ocean view is nice, but the commute is a killer.

We went to Hollywood.  I expected something much bigger. May be we did not do the complete Hollywood, but the street with the stars was just a few blocks. That place is basically a tourist attraction: wax museums, gift shops and restaurants that have pictures of the stars. I did not get it.

What I did like was the space shuttle exhibit in Science museum.  There is a short video about the move of the shuttle from the airport to the museum. That was impressive. There is very interesting (in my view) historical presentation about all the shuttle missions for all the shuttles. I liked it and recommend for people to visit. The museum is smaller the Science and Industry museum in Chicago, but Chicago does not have the shuttle.

Next trip is Reno: Juniors Volleyball Nationals

 

On my way home

I am finally going home. It's interesting how now days one can blog from anywhere, even from the airport (Las Vegas airport does have free wifi!!!)

Anyway, the trip was ok. I have seen the whole CES! Miles and miles of walking. My legs are still hurt. I did not rent a car on purpose, so I was walking everywhere. I will share the CES album, when I get around to it. :)

Here is one advice: unless you are fan of walking or waiting for shuttle bus, when in Las Vegas, stay on the Strip. It is more fun and a lot easier on your feet. I stayed about 1 mile off the Strip. There was a shuttle, but it was running once in an hour, so I ended up walking all the time. Good exercise though!

My gambling wasn't that exciting this time around. If I look at it as entertainment, which I do, I think I got good deal (I lost, but I spent decent amount of time doing it :). If I look purely from number of dollars spent  (which is important, but not critical) then not so good. I ended up loosing overall. On a good note: I did win a poker tournament!!! But I am not planning to participate in World Series Of Poker any time soon :) But I am still looking forward my next trip to Las Vegas.