Reno!

Finally made it back to Reno, NV for a visit!  I haven't been back since 2006. Chris has been back for a couple quick visits since then  - mainly for business.  Chris lived in Reno for about 15 years.  I lived there for 3 - 2002 - 2005.

We arrived on Thursday - and hung out at our friend's, Tom & Cindy's, home for a while

 They started growing their own vineyard!

 Their beautiful home.

 Their amazing guest house - where we stayed!

 And their cool dog:  Moe

And their wicked cool garage/hot rod shop!

 On Thursday night, we went to another friends home for dinner.  Everyone was so accomodating - and it felt so good to see everyone and just relax.
Friday morning, we were up early.  One of our favorite breakfast places - it was much easier to get a table on a Friday.

 And we went running on one of our favorite trails:  Ditch Trail!

 Great dirt path

 Beautiful scenery

 Hard to beat!

 Friday afternoon, we went driving through some of our old neighborhoods:  one of our old homes.  The trees have grown so much - wowzer!

 Our first home together - that we rented out once we moved to the above home.  We need this size again!

 Great views from our old neighborhood too.

 We visited the Sparks Marina.  When Chris first moved to Reno, it was known as Helms Pit - a big hole.  They really made it into a nice park - walking paths; beach; stores...

 On Friday evening, we went to dinner at Lake Tahoe  - with our friend's Tom & Cindy.  I asked Tom to stop quite a few times on the drive, so I could take pictures :) 
Looking down at Washoe Valley:

 Lake Tahoe - so clean & beautiful

 Again at night

 Tom & Cindy at dinner.  They brought us to an amazing & quaint restaurant. Yum!  I still think about the dessert...

 On Saturday, we got up early & met our friends at our old health club! 

 Reno Area Triathletes!  It was so good to see the old gang again!  Loved it!  And our friend, Scott, was still the Masters Swim class coach.  We really wish we had that great of a class in New England.  Sucked wind at class though - the altitude was really affecting us & we had to take a lot of breaks :)

After swim class & another Ditch trail run (our triathlete friends were going on a bike ride, just like old times :)), we headed to our friend's Ray & Julie.  Their son was getting married that day (the main reason we made the trip back to Reno)  Chris hung out in the garage, of course.

 I visited with Julie in their back yard.  They have the coolest Joshua Tree that was blooming!

 Lots of neat hot rod sheds too

 Ray & Julie have a huge yard, so some of it is left natural :   sage brush!

 We only stayed at Ray & Julie's for a short while, since they had to get ready for the wedding.  So, we went to visit our friend's Jim & Sharon.  Large shops are very common in Reno...

 Saturday evening, we went to Rory & Laura's wedding.  Absolutely beautiful and I took a lot of pictures, so it will be a separate blog post.
On Sunday, we did another favorite run:  Truckee River Trail! 

 Reno has so many great places to run - we felt very fortuate to visit them again.

 Sunday evening, we went back to Ray & Julie's for yummy wedding leftovers!
Ray, Mike, Tom, Cindy

 It was another great opportunity to get together with good friends.  We really miss the Reno gang.  THey are definitely more like family than friends.  They treat us so well!

 Cindy & Julie

We also made time for In & Out Burger on Sunday!  Nothing better than a double double animal style!

It was a wonderful trip, hard to put all the good times & emotions into a quick post. I really hope we make a point to get back more often because these friends are too important to not see.