Embrie's First Trip

We went to Reno this week so Shay could interview for his Health Services Commissioned Corps internship at the Federal Prison in Herlong, CA. It was a very fast trip, but fun.

On Monday afternoon, we packed our bags and headed to Nevada. We originally planned on driving the whole way on Tuesday. At the last minute we decided it would be better for our kids to split the driving into two days. I'm glad we did. We stayed Monday night in Wells, Nevada. Although we had a non-smoking room, we definitely got a hearty dose of second-hand smoke. The man working the front desk was smoking cigarette after cigarette in the front lobby and the hallway was pluming with smoke. Gross. I was much too excited to leave Wells.

(Road Trippin' with my three favorite allies )

We drove the rest of the way to Reno on Tuesday. When we got to Reno we enjoyed the warm air and were excited to be in the "big" city. (The city excitement only lasted about 15 minutes.) We checked into our casino and waited for Heather, Jim, Mackenzie and Bailee to meet us. Reno is about 4 hours from Heather's house, so she decided to come see us!

While we waited we walked over to Circus Circus to let Cayben play some games. That was a nostalgic experience for me. Although I had never been to Circus Circus in Reno, I had ran around the arcades at Circus Circus in Vegas many times as a child. Cayben played for a bit then we went back to our casino to meet Heather and the clan.

(Cayben)

That evening we all went to a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant. It was fun watching the chef cook on the grill in front of us. Cayben liked the fire. He also thought the chefs were ninjas, so of course they were way cool.

Here's a funny story. Cayben was sitting at his chair at this fancy, very expensive restaurant, when Shay looks over and notices he is shirtless. I guess Cayben spilled his drink and wasn't about to sit in his wet shirt. Maybe we need to get out more!

Wednesday morning Shay left early for Herlong. The kids and I woke up and headed to the hot tub. We didn't stay long because the water was much too hot. In fact, none of us could get in the water beyond our legs. We cleaned ourselves up, packed, and then went to breakfast with Heather and her family.

(Cayben & Embrie in our room)

The kids and I went with Heather and her clan to Virginia City, which is an old silver mining town way up in the mountains. Cayben thought it was great to be in an old cowboy town and made sure to tell an old cowboy he saw that he is a cowboy too.

(Bailee & Mackenzie)

(Cayben & Bailee)

(Cassie & Cayben)

On our way down the mountain, Jim spotted some wild horses. I had never seen wild horses before, so I thought that was pretty neat.

We got back to Reno, met Shay, ate lunch, then said our goodbyes. Heather and her family headed back to Santa Rosa, CA and we headed on our journey home.

We stayed Wednesday night in Jackpot. Not much sleep happened for us that night. Between the room being cold and having a sick, sick baby, It was much too difficult to sleep.

Thursday we drove the rest of the way home. It's nice to be back to our smoke free home, but aside from the smoke and a sick baby, the trip was a lot of fun! I look forward to traveling again with my little family!