One Park, One Museum, One Stamp at a Time
This post is not National Parks related but shares some of my recent adventures during my spring break from school. Flying Around North IdahoOne of my best friends is a pilot and has recently decided to sell his personal airplane. He wanted to take his Mooney for one last spin so he and I spent an afternoon flying around Eastern Washington and the Idaho panhandle. North Idaho is one of the most beautiful areas of the country that have visited and the two lakes we flew over, Lake Pend Oreille and Lake Coeur d'Alene, are gorgeous to take in from the air. We flew from historic Felts Field in Spokane to Sandpoint to refuel before spending a couple hours flying over the two lakes. My mother grew up in Sandpoint and it was fun to fly over my grandparents' former home and the various sites I used to visit while visiting the area as a child. We spent some time buzzing low over various islands and surfing clouds as my friend enjoyed his final flight in his plane. Quick Trip to RenoMy same friend is a works as a pilot professionally and had a long layover the night after our Idaho flight in Reno. Taking advantage of his flight benefits, I tagged along for a quick trip to Reno. I had never been to Reno previously and was excited to see what the city had to offer. The entire trip was a fun look into the lifestyle of pilots and flight crews. I caught both legs of the crew's workday on the way to Reno and learned a lot about what its like when the crew is on the road. My friend and I grabbed some lunch at In-N-Out Burger, a southern California staple that we both miss now living in the Pacific Northwest. Following lunch we ventured downtown to see what "The Biggest Little City In The World" had to offer.
We wandered through a few casinos, played a little blackjack, and caught some March Madness action in a bar. Deciding that we had inhaled enough stale cigarette smoke in casinos, we ventured off into downtown Reno to explore the river walk and some the art and architecture of the city. Following our trip downtown, we headed back to our hotel in Sparks and grabbed a couple more beers at Great Basin Brewing to watch the last NCAA tournament game of the day. The beer was solid and the food looked amazing (we didn't eat there, unfortunately). I love to visit local breweries while traveling and was not disappointed with Great Basin. The night ended with a little more blackjack and a soak in the hotel hot tub. We had an early start to the next morning so we kept the night pretty mellow. I got to experience the joys of a 5 am call time with the flight crew and caught a ride home. Overall, it was a fun little trip to a new city. Reno was an interesting place to wander around and was a very different experience compared to Las Vegas. Reno wasn't overflowing with people at every turn and had a slower pace and style. The downtown area had some cool spots beyond the traditional casinos and Truckee River flows beautifully right through downtown.
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