We were treated to a wonderful start to our day with a homemade breakfast buffet of cinnamon French toast, scrambled eggs and ham, and fresh brewed coffee at a real kitchen table with real dishes! Oh, ah! It was fantastic. We enjoyed bird and deer watching off the back deck as we got ready to embark on a new day.
Today’s adventures began at the old railway tunnels running through Donner Pass. These were dug by Chinese emigrants partially by hand with pick axes under gruelling weather and working conditions. The tunnels are way, way up on the side of the mountains. As they are decommissioned now, they have become an infamous, unsanctioned art gallery, decorated with all kinds of incredible graffiti. It was really something unique to behold and a stop not to be missed.
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| You can see the tunnels we walked through way up near the top of the mountain. |
Next we stopped at the Donner Party Memorial, commemorating the early pioneers and homesteaders who moved west during the time of westward expansion in America. While the museum mentioned it briefly, the Donner Expedition was plagued with traumatic events when the Donner Party, initially 80 people, were caught in the mountain pass over a harsh winter with insufficient food stores. Over half of the party died due to exposure and starvation. This particular group is infamous as they cannibalized their dead to avoid starvation, sometimes eating their own immediate family members. It is really quite a dark story that is equally repulsive and speaks to human determination and resilience to survive.
We balanced out the day with a lighter afternoon activity - we did a factory tour of the Kimmie Candy Co., makers of chocolate rocks! After the video, which was made in the 2000s but with a circa 1950s feel, and tour, the boys loved the free-for-all that was the tasting bar. They got to try as much as they wanted of everything! We picked out some seconds, mostly due to packaging errors, and headed to Boomtown.
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| Ian appreciating the video with the 1950s feels. It was like a video Time Machine. |
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| This is how they spray chocolate on to the nuts and sunflower seeds. It leaves a coating of chocolate “dust” on everything in the room! |
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| Wearing our fancy hair nuts and booties for the factory tour. |
We are staying at the Boomtown KOA Campground and hope to try out the pool, hot tub and showers tomorrow.
Then it was off to today’s main event - the Reno Rodeo! Seamus whipped out his cowboy hat; he has been waiting for this the whole trip! We took the shuttle from a big casino so the boys got to walk through their first casino floor and see all the slot machines with their bright lights and bing bongs.
The shuttle provided free beers on ice (only for the grown ups, lol) on the way to the rodeo - wow! We explored the fairgrounds, checking out all the Western merchandise - hats, belts, cow hides - and amusement park rides, though we decided to save the rides for tomorrow. It was hand dipped corn dogs and pulled pork fries for supper before the show.
The rodeo did not disappoint; we saw bucking broncos, barrel racing, calf roping, bull riding and much more! What a cool thing to experience. We enjoyed a true slice of Americana with the pastor-led prayer at the start, to the national anthem that had spectators wiping away tears, to the roaring cheers for veterans and members of the military in attendance. We were wrong in expecting the weather to be hot. We were freezing! It was about 15 degrees Celsius and crazy windy up in the stands. We were goosebumpy ice cubes by the end!
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| The stands were packed! This was the hot ticket tonight, though in reality it was freezing! |
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| Bucking broncos. |
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| Very small kids riding sheep. |
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| Sunset at the rodeo. |
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| Calf roping. |
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| Barrel racing was super exciting. |
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| Bull riding is an insane sport. At least most riders were wearing hockey helmets, though this doesn’t stop them from getting stomped on once they fall off. 8 seconds seems like a long time to sit atop a bucking bull! |
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| Rodeo clown in a barrel. |
On our way back to the campground, we rolled through Reno’s main drag to see the famous sign and all the casinos lit up with bright lights. It really is like a very miniature Las Vegas here. We were exhausted after a day full to the brim with adventure. We promised the boys that they could sleep in as late was they want tomorrow. This was a great day.
