By Cyberhog

Hated to do it, but I had booked a 6am flight to DFW with a connecting flight to Reno. Even 4 months in advance, that's the best I could do with American Airlines Frequent Flyer. The return would be even messier as I had to fly home from RNO via DFW THEN Omaha and finally Chicago. However, the main reason I hated to do it was because I had to rustle Mrs. Hog out of bed about an hour earlier than normal. She doesn't do well running on less sleep and she does even worse if she has to be productive a few minutes after she's up.

We left the house at about 4:40am. Got to ORD a few minutes before 5. There was nobody (or so it seemed) in the airport. I got through security at 10 after the hour. I searched for something quick to eat, but at 5:10am, everything seemed to be closed. The only thing open in the big food court between the H and K concourse was McDonald's. That was where everybody was at. The line snaked clear down to Poughkeepsie.

Just around the time I was thinking that I would have to board the plane with no food when I found another McDonalds right off of gate H10. I'm not McD's fan, but I do like their Steak and Cheese Bagel for breakfast as well as their Breakfast Burrito. The version of the burrito here at O'hare had a good amount of Tabasco tossed into it, so it had a nice kick.

The flight to DFW was uneventful, except for the first time in my long storied travel career, I sat next to a cute (albeit young college) girl. She must have gotten up a couple hours before me after partying all night with her friends because she slept from take-off to touchdown.

When I got to Big D I thought I was seeing things. There was actually SNOW on the ground. By golly! What a winter we've had. Once inside the terminal, I caught the local news to see all of the over turned pick up trucks on the LBJ. Joe always tells me the rednecks think they're invincible until their F-10 pickup has to be hauled out of a ditch after a two inch snowfall.

The flight from ORD arrived at DFW at a gate in the A terminal. I thought I heard the flight attendant say that the Reno flight was leaving out of gate B-35. If you know anything about DFW, the B gates are on the opposite side of the airport. When I took the skylink to the B terminal, I arrived at B35 only to find tumbleweed city. I kind of that there would at least be a gate agent around this time since the flight was leaving in just under an hour. I checked the "big board" and saw that the Reno flight was leaving out of C35. If I built an airport I use only B,C,D,E,G,P,T,V,Z to name the terminals. Then, I'd install a closed circuit TV system for myself.

Wouldn't you know it my flight to RNO had me next to another hottie. How do you like that? This lady was almost my age, but apparently just as tired as the young whippersnapper from  the earlier flight. Either that, or I just have that effect on women.

Got to RNO right on time and got the luggage lickety split. Advantage Rent A Car, once again came in the cheapest of all the rental agencies, by a long way. They are one of the few companies located "off terminal", but it's a very short shuttle ride to the makeshift rental lot.  My Hyundai Sonata is not the Chevy Malibu that was promised on Orbitz. In fact, looking around the lot I don't see any GM cars what so ever.

The really great thing was that the rental lot was about 1/2 mile from the rear entrance to the Grand Sierra Resort! No problem finding the hotel as it was a behemoth smack dab in front of me. The place sort of reminds me of Mirage on the outside, white with gold shaded windows. It's certainly not a prime time resort like it makes itself out to be. You can certainly tell that by the little details, although the shabby condition of the parking lot, especially near the rear entrance isn't exactly a little detail. However, it seems like a nice enough place. I did sort of feel a little buyers remorse staying at such a behemoth with skis and all but in the end it seemed to work out despite the horrid parking situation at Grand Sierra.

Check in at the resort was a breeze. Although the documents that accompanied my package were not. I had booked a ski package through Grand Sierra which included 4 days of lift tickets (for a nice discount) and directions to all of the slopes around the area. Plus, I was to receive 5 ten dollar match play coupons and a 50 dollar food and beverage credit for the room, which means *I* get to eat a 50 dollar meal by my lonesome. Juan, the clerk told me that he would leave a message in my room once the package arrived. No big deal, since I'm actually a couple hours early for check in.

I was kind of excited to start my trip all by myself. It seemed like a great place and I'm in a strange town and I have only my own agenda to follow! It felt kind of liberating thinking about it in those terms. Don't know about the loneliness factor when you look at 6 days and 5 nights of solo travel, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I headed up to my room, room 2161 on the 21st floor. I had researched the Grand Sierra at TripAdvisor and found that a lot of people complained about the lighting. Boy were they right. The lighting in the hallway is miserable and the lighting in the room was no better. The dark walls and the dark furnishings don't help matters any. Outside of that the room at the Grand Sierra was more than sufficient. In fact, it was a junior suite. I saved enough on the package to be able to afford the 150 dollar upgrade to the suite. With 4 days of lift tickets and 5 nights, I paid a shade over 700 dollars which I thought was a steal for a junior suite. For pictures and an in depth review of the Grand Sierra, click here.

After unpacking, I wanted to find the "lay of the land" as it were, so I got into the Hyundai and drove into town. Reno is an interesting town which reminds me a lot of downtown Las Vegas, only slightly more upscale, but just barely. Most of the hotels and casinos are of the older variety and some are downright dumpy. I drove under the famous sign "Biggest Little City In The World". I drove past the Fitz, Circus-Circus, the Sands, Eldorado and Silver Legacy. I drove further outside of town past the two huge resorts Peppermill and Atlantis on Virginia Ave. These places are so big that I'd be able to just park and "walk in" as it were. I was getting hungry and didn't want to eat a lot. As I kept driving on Virginia I ran across an In-N-Out Burger where Virginia intersects US 395.

In-N-Out is basically a west coast phenomenon. It's known to most of us Hogs because of the Big Lebowski. I have a few friends in Las Vegas and on the west coast that swear by this joint. I don't think they know what good fast food is all about. To be fair In-N-Out is a chain, so it can't have that attention to detail a local joint could have. It also has it's fair share of positives going for it. First, the place is impeccable. Clean is not the word. Impeccable is. The food prep area, the servers themselves, the dining area, the rest rooms are all in top condition. There is always somebody cleaning tables, even windows. I like the crisp uniforms and the hats and the decor is kind of retro 50ish drive in cool. They only do burgers, so they keep it simple. No dithering. Either you get a hamburger or a double. A cheeseburger or a double. Then get out of my way lady. I've heard references to "animal style" which I think is a Chili burger, but at this location that option wasn't available. Besides, "gimmicks" like animal style and what not hide the burger itself. I wanted an In-N-Out in its raw naked glory, so I ordered a cheeseburger with tomato, onion and lettuce.

The burger itself is obviously made fresh and not frozen. You can taste that. The grease is lovingly poured into the bun and the burger is not over cooked. The downside here is that the patty itself is so thin, it's practically transparent. What is this a 1/9th of a pound? The bun is relatively small and they stuff the onions and a load of lettuce in there and then wrap it up tightly in wax paper on one end and leave the burger open for business on the other. It makes it look like the burger is a lot bigger than it is. It is tasty, but it doesn't come close to Paradise Pup. Maybe next time I'll order a double.

After driving around, I realize it's now around 5pm, which is 7pm my time. I head back to take a nap since I've been up since 3:30 in the morning. When I got to the room I had a message that my documents had arrived, so I went back down to pick them up. Just as promised my lift tickets, coupons and directions were inside the envelope. Back upstairs to take a nap. I wake up around 7pm and read for awhile and then I head downstairs for a beer while I watch a basketball game. I realize I'm toast by about 9pm and head back upstairs to start my ski adventure!

TO BE CONTINUED

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