From the banks of the Truckee, welcome to Reno and the first stop on the I-80. I'm updating on the beginning of the second day because of how tired and plum worn-out I was yesterday. Nevertheless, it was a fun day and I'm excited for today's events.
Despite my optimism, this trip started unconventially and rather uncomfortable. Due to my super early flight departure, I had to take the Greyhound up to Portland. While my preferred method of travel is train, I was forced out of necessity to take the bus. I was reminded how I'm glad I take the train. Greyhound, while they mean well, attracts a different sort of crowd than Amtrak. Less than savory characters were replete at both the Eugene and Portland stations. The bus itself wasn't bad, but I hustled through the stations as quickly as I could.
When I got into Portland, I decided to call an old friend from high school to see if she wanted to meet for a late dinner. She agreed, and she picked me up at the Max stop for a late dinner at Shari's.
I'll allude to this a little later on, but it is very interesting listening to people I went to high school with. The different paths we have taken to our present lives and situations. Sometimes it's enlightening, but a lot of the times it's disturbing. Either way you look at it, I was glad I got to see her once again for a brief time.
When planning this trip, I went back and forth on my first night's lodging. My flight left at 0645, so I didn't want to spend the sixty or seventy bucks for a hotel. I decided to take a page out of the adventurers playbook and crash at the airport for the night. I thought that it couldn't be any worst than the hostels I've been staying at.
It was just brutal. Plain brutal. The constant noise from the airport being the announcements over the pa, the cleaning crew, or just the movement of people made for a difficult night. I tried my hardest to get some shut eye, but it just didn't happen.
After the biggest cup of coffee, which I normally don't drink, I got on my Southwest flight to Reno.
When I got here, I boarded the hotel shuttle into downtown to rent my car for the afternoon. One of the benðefits of finally turning 25 allows me to pay a reasonable rate for rental cars. This being said, my family has had some bad luck recently with cars, so I opted for the cadillac insurance package. With that added in, renting a car for just a few hours was a little too expensive for my liking. Since I had no other activities planned, I sucked it up and forked over the money. But I did learn something out of it.
The reason I rented a car was because I was planning on driving out to Virginia City. Set in the rugged mountains about twenty miles outside Reno, Virginia City was the king of the boom towns. When gold was discovered in and around Virginia City, a gold rush ensued swelling this small village to nearly 15,000 people. Saloons and brothels originally lined the main drag in town, C Street. Gunfights weren't uncommon as the old time cemetery signifies.
Nowadays, Virginia City is a tourist mecca. The town has retained its Old West flavor as many of the old time buildings are still in use, albeit with more honorable intentions. After driving for about 45 minutes in some of the most beautiful desert country, I parked the car and set out on foot to explore this city.
My first stop was the Virginia and Truckee railroad. Originally built to extract the ore from the hills surrounding Virginia City, the V & T is now a tourist excursion railroad. Sometimes referred to as the "Queen of the Shortlines", I knew the allure of this particular railroad before I left on this trip. I knew I had to seek it out.
Pulled by a vintage early 20th-century steamer, the train goes on a 35 minute ride out to another rough-and-tumble town of Gold Hill. Before we left, however, I went and talked to the engineer and fireman, who were gracious enough to let me climb in the cab and see the inner workings of the mighty steam driven machine. It was so neat to hold the throttle and feel the intense heat from the boiler.
When the ride started, I sat myself in one of the open-top cars. I wanted to smell the smoke and feel the wind rustle through my hair as I was reminded of a by-gone era. Wild mustangs lined the route as it wove through two wooden-plyed tunnels. You really got the feeling of being in those Old West movies. I half expected Butch Cassidy or Jesse James to ride over the hill and rob us. Bottom line was the Virginia and Truckee ranks right towards the top of my all-time favorite activities on baseball road trips.
After the train, I made my way back into the heart of the city and ducked into the Old Washoe Club for a drink. Featured in such paranormal investigative tv shows like Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters, it is said that the Washoe Club is one of the most haunted places in the United States. When I got my drink, the bartender said I was free to wander the premises and check out the little museum they have. Considering I was the only one in the establishment at the time, I took up the offer by the bartender, had a drink, and began to tour.
Towards the back of the club is a room called the "Crypt". Occasionally,when temperatures in Virginia City got cold enough, it was impossible to shovel dirt for grave making. The dead bodies had to be stored somewhere where they couldn't decompose and wait until the ground thawed enough to bury them. The Crypt was this place. When I went into the Crypt, the staff hadn't turned on any of the lights, so it was pitch black.
I decided to take a picture with the flash to briefly illuminate the room. I figured that in this perfect setting for ghosts and spirits, if I just point and shoot, I might come up with something cool. While I didn't see any visual evidence, after I took the picture I got this feeling of ambivalence and anger. All of sudden, I got really scared and hastily left them room. I also seemed to walk right out of the establishment. It was kind of freaky how my instincts took over and got me out of the building.
I spent the next hour just walking around town and breathing in the history. At around 1230, I decided to head back into Reno, drop-off the rental car, check-in to my hotel, and take a little nap. I had a 3pm appointment that I wanted to be ready for.
At 3pm, I was picked up at the hotel by the widow of the Creswell police officer who was killed in the line-of-duty in 1971. I worked really hard to honor the officer for the fortieth anniversary of his death and it was actually one of the few things that I was able to convince the City Council to go with me on. This was the first time I had met her and it was a very interesting experience.
She took me out to lunch at Sizzler and we talked about her late husband, how Creswell has changed in the last forty years, and my campaign for Mayor. It was a nice meeting and it was good to finally have that personal contact with her.
After the late lunch, I had a few phone calls and emails to return. Once that was completed, I started to make my way to the ballpark.
Aces Ballpark is located right in the middle of Downtown Reno. It was built in only 14 months as Reno was awarded the old Tucson franchise back in 2008. Since then, Reno has perennially been near the top of the standings in the Triple-A PCL in both records and attendance. The new ballpark was intended to be the lynchpin for a brand-new entertainment district not aligned with the casinos. Their plan is progressing, but it still has a long way to go.
The park itself is rather utilitarian. Considering Reno is lacking the rich baseball history as some other PCL teams, the park lacks a lot of the historical gimmicks that I like enough. I do, however, like the Fenway-esque tall outfield wall in left. I do like the stadium's location wedged in between the railroad tracks, skyscraper casinos, and the Truckee River. But, because of the super tall wall, none of these things are visible from inside the park. You would think that they would have aligned the park in such a fashion where at least one of these attributes were in view.
In a departure from the norm, I actually met another friend from high school at the game. Like before, it was interesting to see him and hear what he is up to. Listening to the path they have taken to now really gives you a sense of how people have changed since graduation.
The Fresno Grizzles used five pitchers to stifle the Reno Aces bats. Only allowing four hits, the Grizzles pitched a shutout defeating the Aces 2-0.
After the game, I went back to the hotel, ate some food, watched a little tv, and went to bed. I was so tried that I curled up in the comfy bed and was out like a light.
Currently, I'm on the train to the next city on the I-80, Sacramento. I'm expecting to be there sometime late afternoon, so I'll throw out a blog update of today's events tomorrow morning.
Always take on a 3-0 pitch :)
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