Aftershock

Above: The biggest little city in the world! I think I would rename that to something more appropriate -"Reno is like Vegas without teeth!"

This past Friday, Paul and I headed to Reno with two of our close friends Will and Ryan. Ryan’s 25th birthday was this past Saturday and he wanted to head to Reno for some good ole white trash fun! Paul and I had never been to Reno so we thought while we are still living in California we would check it out. Reno is only a three-hour drive from San Francisco so we all packed into out new car and headed on a fun road trip.

We all skipped out of work early Friday to beat the traffic. We were all pumped to go on a mini birthday bash weekend. We were jamming to the new Madonna CD and looking at the awesome views of snow-capped mountains as we headed to Reno!

Above: A nice scenic drive.

When we got to Reno it was exactly what I pictured it would be – old Vegas style with trashy shops and people that were stuck in a time warp. We were placing bets on how many people we would see carrying oxygen tanks around the casino. We stayed at Harrah’s – one of the few casinos that were in Reno. Our room was small and the shower barely worked and the toilet didn’t flush! We didn’t care it was after all a white trash weekend.

Above: Paul and Will Tourists!

Above: More tourists...Ryan, Me, Will and Davin.

Paul, Will and Ryan made their was down to the casino but I needed to freshen up so I stayed behind. When I went downstairs to join them Will had already hit over $800.00 on a penny slot machine! What a way to start the weekend!! We then discovered a new game called Blackjack Switch. We all were hooked and had a blast playing it. While we were all sitting down playing, I started to feel the whole building move from side to side. It’s was an earthquake! I had never felt one so strong and it lasted quite some time. The swaying movement sent some people running out into the streets but we all sat and looked at each other – not moving. I looked up and noticed there were flat screen TV’s above out heads and started to get up form my seat, but then it stopped. It was a pretty powerful earthquake.

Above: Motley Crue!

Now after we had been playing blackjack for a while an African American guy was sitting near Paul and was trying to bum money off of him and then he started to point fingers at us and say we were gay. It was quite comical but we just ignored it. I had no idea this would be the tone of the Reno trip!

Above: A shirt that appeared in one of the stores....eh umm I think not.

After the quake, we met up with Ryan’s good friend Davin and headed out to one of the few gay bars. Poor Davin actually lives in Reno and showed us the miserable places they had for gay nightlife. Our cab driver was a bit odd and felt the need to tell us that he has dirty dreams about gay men. Oy Vey, the guy reminded me from the puppet on tales From the Crypt. I am not sure what he was expecting five gay guys in a cab to do or what he was thinking but we hightailed it out of the cab fast! The clubs were deserted and filled with mostly lesbians, which is totally fine, a lesbian was hitting on me and telling me I am handsome and I had a cute name. Uh, she was pretty drunk so I'll take that with a grain of salt. After dancing and rang in Ryan’s birthday at midnight, we headed back to the Casino to play more blackjack.

Above: Paul, Ryan and Will enjoying the views....

...this is there view!

Saturday (Happy 25th birthday Ryan) was a lazy day of walking around Reno and enjoying the nice weather. We walked around the little city and heard more derogatory remarks from cars driving by yelling “Fags” and overweight women walking by saying “It’s a queer fest in Reno” It was quite comical because the people in Reno are the true definition of white trash – I thought Texas took the cake but Reno is the grand prize winner. People were driving around in pimped up cars from the early 80s and blaring “Freeze Frame!” The majority of the people looked like they were dragged along the pavement. I don’t think anyone had a full set of teeth! It was really a sad place bit we did have fun.

Above: Ryan bringing in his 25th birthday with his sushi treat!

We found a really nice sushi place and sang happy Birthday to Ryan! It was a great time but we were ready to head back home. We all left with the appreciation of where we live but it also opened my eyes to how ignorant the world is. The majority of this country is STILL backwards – I am just glad we are not living in those areas. This country is a long way from having an African American president, that’s all I’m saying!

As my friend Deb said today, "Reno is like Vegas without teeth!" Amen!

Above: Oh wait - with that title "Reno is like Vegas without teeth" above this photo it appears I am saying Will has no teeth? Nah - he's part of the Vegas crowd! Driving back from Reno - Will lost in the moment of sleep.

To read a really insightful post from my friend Ryan ( the birthday boy) who was on this trip, click the link below.

http://www.TheRyanThomasCollection.com/