Saturday States: Nevada

State Nickname: The Silver State

Year(s) of Family Trip: 2000 and 2006

Cities Visited: Reno (2000); Lake Tahoe (2000); Primm and Las Vegas (2006)

Can't Miss Tourist Attractions: Lake Tahoe, any Casino, and Hoover Dam

The Thrill of a Lifetime

Our first experience in Reno was a brief, yet unforgettable one for me.  We made a cross country trek to California in the summer of 2000 that had us stopping in Reno for a night on the way there.  Mom and Dad had gone into the hotel to check in.  I was finishing up what I was doing in the car.  I thought my brothers had gotten out to begin the process of unloading our luggage for the night.  Much to my surprise...literally...they both had squatted down below the windows of the minivan and waited for the right moment.  As soon as I began to move toward the door, one of them jumped up in the window to scare me.  Mission Accomplished!  I screamed my head off!!  And proceeded to try to lock all the doors as quickly as possible when they both appeared in the window laughing hysterically.  Needless to say, I was NOT amused.

Majestic Lake Tahoe

On the same trip in 2000, we made a pit stop at Lake Tahoe.  Our view from the stop we made was one of the most stunning and incredibly beautiful places I have ever seen.  Truly majestic.

One Wild Ride

In 2006, we made a trip to the Northwest hitting a few spots in Northern California before heading back to Kentucky.  We were headed through a really hot and somewhat deserted area of California on our way toward Las Vegas when the van broke down.  We pulled over to the side of the road thinking it may have just overheated. No such luck.  We called AAA to come tow us to the nearest city.  We waited for quite some time before they arrived.  Once they showed up it, there was not enough space in the cabin of the tow truck for all of us so Mom and Jordan had to ride in the car as it was towed up on the top of the truck. Unbelievably, the tow company could only tow us to the edge to California where we had to wait for a different Nevada tow truck.  Before the Nevada tow truck could arrive, the minivan came to life.  It turned out to be completely fine when we arrived in Primm where our childhood neighbor, Charlie, had been summoned to our rescue with some ice and oil that was no longer needed. Talk about a wild ride through the desert!

Vegas Family Fun

Finally, we arrived in Vegas!  Cha-ching!!  Dad and I gave a few slot machines a run for their money, but we didn't fare too well in the end.  Las Vegas is not exactly the best family vacation spot, but we managed to roam around the strip checking out all the various unique hotels during the day.  We had planned to check out one of the shows while we were in town.  The most affordable was a magic show.  It was actually pretty neat!  The big trick involved white tigers appeared from thin air...pretty impressive!  After the show, we found a 24-hour Fatburger for a late night treat.

Have you ever been to Nevada?  

What did you do there?

Andrea :)