Reno--and Nevada in general--isn't our kind of place

We had driven half-way across the dusty desert of Nevada, when we made a refreshing stop near the lovely Ruby Mountains. It was surprising to find alpine lakes ringed by mountains still holding onto their snow in July in this state. As we left Elko and the Rubies, we wondered what other surprises we would find as we drove across the deserts of Nevada.

We traveled on I-80, which was flat and easy with little traffic. Aside from an occasional hill that they chiseled a tunnel through, it was just mile after mile of nondescript desert. It was so dry and barren they couldn't even grow sage brush here! This area is called "the Great Basin" and it is shielded from rain from the west by the Sierra Mountains, and from the east by the Rocky Mountains. We were quite tired of all this brown-ness by the time we got to the western edge of Nevada. The desert isn't our kind of place. After hours of boring landscape, we decided that in the future we will choose routes that don't take us through this state.

The traffic picked up as we got to the western edge of the state, and to our next camping spot in Reno, Nevada. Another Boondocker's Welcome site, we were in a small neighborhood where another gracious home-owner invited RVers to stay in their driveway for free. Between our busy touring schedule and his work schedule, we only got to talk to our host once. We were glad that the evenings were cool in the desert, and we slept quite comfortably without any electricity. Our solar panels were doing great!

What was there to do in Reno, Nevada? The top of the tourist attractions involve gambling, so we did some casino exploring downtown. We were finding that casinos had less free-play for new members than they did ten years ago. We struggled to find one that gave us twenty dollars in free-play, and then we promptly lost that money in just a few spins. That's why we don't gamble with our money. Nevada gambling just isn't our kind of thing. Then we headed to Circus, Circus! Casino because Denisa had fond memories of the lavish casino by the same name in Las Vegas. We found the man-eating lion greeting unsuspecting visitors in the foyer.

Circus! Circus! had an arcade and midway for kids young and old. It also had a stage for the circus performers to wow the crowd, but we never saw the schedule or caught them doing death-defying acts. For some reason, the Reno casinos don't have the grandiose luster of Las Vegas.

Once we entered the casino complex in downtown Reno, we walked for blocks without leaving the building. Before we knew it, we crossed into another Casino--The Silver Legacy.

Then the old silver mining themed casino turned to fountains with nymphs and gods squirting each other. We suddenly found ourselves in the Eldorado Casino. Our walk was lined with more than a dozen restaurants and rows and rows of brightly lit games trying to entice us to play. But we have vowed that if there's no free play, we don't play.  It wasn't as good as a mountain hike, but we got some good air-conditioned exercise while we walked through the casinos and then back to the parking garage.

The best part of that walk was reading a poster that informed us that this same series of casinos was hosting their annual "wing fest" the next day. So we came back to see that the roads were all closed to vehicles so that thousands of pedestrians could walk through the venders' tents to eat chicken wings and shop. We actually came for the live entertainment, and we stayed for most of the set of this country band from California. We danced in the streets to their music, and we guess that most Nevadians had never seen two-stepping. We had a young woman stop us and tell Denisa, "You are my spirit animal, and I want to be just like you when I grow up!" We're not sure if that was a compliment, or if she was just high on chicken wings.

Just 32 miles from the mayhem of downtown Reno, was the Nevada state capitol in Carson City. We think this was the smallest capitol building we have found in our quest to see each one. We found out that they were still using the same building that was built here in 1871. In 1957, it was determined that the building was structurally not sound and they should demolish it and start over. But historians fought to save it, and they spent $6 million to redo it instead.

They left the walls standing, and started from scratch in building it from the outside in. They did save the paintings, the old staircase, and the marble floors on the first floor. Those things were stored elsewhere until they were re-installed in the finished interior. This view of the second floor looked more like an old college classroom building than a state capitol.

But the security guards on duty were very friendly, and we found the governor's office had an open-door policy to visitors.

There were no grand domes inside, and this is the plainest capitol building we can remember touring. Unlike the grand marble staircases that people flock to for photographs at the Utah capitol, this plain wooden staircase seemed largely over-looked. But we thought the hardwood rails from the 1800s were beautiful, and Mark was as lovely as a bride in his capitol staircase picture.

The people of Nevada state proudly that the casinos pay their taxes, as they have no state income tax here. They also had a very small Supreme Court room in the capitol. They were actually building a new fancy legislative building down the street, because this tiny capitol was only big enough for the governor, Lt. governor and the state treasurer now.

Well, it also contained the state museum. While we have toured some huge state museums over the years, this one was small and succinct in describing some of highlights of their history--including the day it added the 36th star to the United States flag.

On our way home, we tried our luck in the last casino that we could find that offered some free play to new members. The Atlantis Casino was grand, reminding us more of Las Vegas than the others. We quickly turned their $30 in free-play money into $15 take-home cash and exited. Even though the people were friendly, we have to say that Reno--and Nevada in general--isn't our kind of place.