Reno/Tahoe

Following a delayed connection in San Diego, I finally reached the once grand city of Reno, Nevada...up to this point, a place I had only heard about in stories.  I loaded up my bags on a hotel shuttle, along with my coach, and a well-known 120lb powerlifter out of Cali, sat back and enjoyed the fifteen minute ride to Circus Circus.

Let me start by saying this...based on the hotel name alone, I expected the worst.  If you have ever been to the one in Vegas, it is pretty damn nasty, and full of screaming kids.  The one in Reno is quite the opposite, except for the kids occupying the game area on the weekends.  I may not recommend Reno as a vacation hotspot, but if you are there, Circus Circus is definitely a highlight.  (I will be waiting on my commission check for that plug.)

Friday morning more than 200 athletes were scheduled to weigh in from 10am to 1pm and 5pm to 7pm.  I made my way downstairs around 9am, knowing there would be a crowd of men and women in the midst of last minute weight cuts.  From the top of the stairs, there were several groups standing around talking, with a line of mostly women woven through the center.  About half way down the stairs, I discovered an additional four to five rows of athletes, seated, facing an empty folding table...most looking completely miserable spitting in cups and wearing more layers than a southerner in a snow storm.

I was greeted with an invitation to the back of the line, as I hugged a fellow competitor from the northwest.  I am sure my face said it all, but glad my thoughts (I am not standing in a fuckin line!) did not come out of my mouth. I spoke to several other strongwomen that I had not seen in a while, then headed back up the stairs to enjoy a big breakfast, leaving behind an enormous crowd of starving athletes, and a two to two and a half hour wait.

Yes, the line to spend two seconds on a digital scale had reached a waiting period that exceeded my tolerance level by about two hours and twenty-seven minutes.  And yes, my breakfast at a cafe inside the casino was delicious.  My coach and I spent about an hour or so after breakfast wandering around the three connected casinos.  I dropped twenty bucks on the upcoming NE Husker game...they were +7 and covered with a five point loss.  My all-time favorite penny slot machine, Texas Tea, stole another twenty, and then paid out $54 on the bonus game.  With an extra fifty in my pocket, that was the end of my gambling for the weekend.

One last check on the line to weigh-in, still 2+ hours, and we were off to rent a car to drive up to Tahoe.  The hike down to the rental company allowed me to see enough of Reno to realize that it has not changed or been updated since the early 70's.  And currently, not a place I would venture out in after dark.  Enterprise hooked us up with a fat red convertible for the day.  A quick stop at the hotel to pick up the most recently named America's Strongest Woman, who had survived the weigh-in, and we were off to Tahoe.

A forty-five minute drive southwest, lined with enormous pine trees and out of season ski slopes, landed us in the town of King's Beach, and on the north side of Lake Tahoe.  Although the roads of this small town were under construction, the waterfront area was very serene.  The ice cold lake was not ideal for your water sports enthusiast, but the backdrop of mountains, one even snow-capped, was a sight-seers dream come true...in the most literal sense.  We snapped a few pictures, loaded up, and headed east to a town appropriately named Incline Village.  The town sits more than six thousand feet above sea level on enormous cliffs, and apparently is known as the tax escape for California's wealthy.

Lakeshore Drive took us through a residential area with scenic views of Crystal Bay.
As we turned back toward the highway, we stumbled on a small shopping strip that included an even smaller restaurant.  However, the five table-top deck out front, nestled under the pine trees, was a huge selling point...that and we were hungry.  Kicking back with a table full of food and good friends in this quiet little town...I could not have asked for a more relaxing and enjoyable day.

The final leg of our afternoon getaway was a windy, and slightly chilly drive on a mountainous road back to Reno.  Once back in the valley, I hit up the 5pm weigh-in...with no wait.  I walked right in, got on the scale, picked up my competitor ID, had my number tattooed on my arm in sharpie, and got a gift bag packed full of four random sample supplements.  The always entertaining, aka filled with dumb questions, rules meeting finished off the day.  All that was left was sleep, and two days of competition.