Reno-Tahoe

Mt. Rose ski resort’s annual tribute to the birth of “The King” is slated for this Saturday, Jan. 10. Resort employees – from ticket sellers to lift operators and instructors – will be in full Elvis regalia for this fun annual event. Visitors also dress for the occasion, and show off their Elvis chops.

Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe is located just 25 minutes from Reno, and features the highest base elevation of Lake Tahoe’s 18 ski and board resorts. With nearly 1,200 acres and eight lifts, including two high-speed six-seaters, it offers some of the best, most convenient terrain in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

For weather, resort and ticket information for Mt. Rose and other regional ski resorts, log on to our searchable ski page.

It was another America’s Adventure Place weekend for Adventure Grrl. We kicked off the weekend with dinner at the Circus Circus in downtown Reno, where we ate some delicious Hawaiian food.

We were then treated to the circus act of J.R. Johns and his ‘clever canines’. I like to call him the dog man. He does all kinds of tricks with numerous dogs, from a Great Dane to a Jack Russel Terrier and a black lab. The dogs do hand stands, back flips, magic tricks — you name it! Even though it’s a show for kids, all of the adults in the audience were enamored with the dogs. It’s hard not to be, I mean look at this:

After dinner, we headed to Brew Brothers in the Eldorado, where we danced to an incredible band from Arizona called Tate. They were playing all of today’s alternative hits, and I sang along to every song!

We crashed in our mini-suite at the Circus, and on Saturday, we headed to Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe for another day on the slopes. The hubby made it down a gnarly bumps run, and then as he skied onto a catwalk at the bottom of that run, he did an impressive fall. It was hilarious!

The trees were all flocked with snow on Saturday, making for some very scenic views.

After skiing, we re-fueled on Thai food at the Thai Royal House (pumpkin curry is to die for!), and then we headed to the Reno Hilton for a dance party featuring the disco cover band Bootie Quake out of L.A. We pulled out our best disco moves, and danced until our poor legs just couldn’t take anymore.

On Sunday, we slept in to recover from the night before, and then headed to Prison Hill Recreation Area just outside of Carson City for a bit of hiking. When you reach the summit of Prison Hill, there is an incredible view of Carson City and the Sierras. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera that day, so you’ll have to take my word for it. Beautiful!

Stay tuned for stories from next weekend, when I’ll be skiing three days in a row… Can my legs take it?!

Adventure Grrl is back, and man, did I have a true America’s Adventure Place weekend.

It all started on Saturday, when the hubby and I ventured back up to Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe. It had snowed a few inches on Friday, so we were treated to what the hubby was calling ‘dust on crust’ conditions.

We went back to ski the Chutes, and honestly, I think I was getting a big ego because I had skied them so much last weekend.

But just when you start getting over confident, the Chutes will serve to knock your confidence right back down a notch.

That knock was a double diamond trail known as Detonatator. (See the trail map here.) I skied in there thinking I was tough stuff, and next thing I knew, I was on a really steep pitch, looking at about a 6 foot wide path between a rock and a tree.

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I won’t claim that I got down Detonator with any style or grace at all… I had to take the wimp’s way out to get around that hairy part, but all in all, it was still a great time.

After skiing, we went to see the Sled Fest 2005 freestyle snowmobile competition, where guys were doing back flips on their snowmobiles.

Back flips! How insane is that?!

Anyway, we left Mt. Rose and headed into Downtown Reno for a night on the town. We had a lovely early Valentine’s Day dinner at Roxy’s. Mmmm….. Mushroom raviolis, lobster, and a bottle of wine later, we were ready for the magic show of Darren Romeo, presented by Siegfried & Roy. Darren Romeo is called “The Voice of Magic” because he sings his way through the magic show, and he has an incredible voice. Not hard on the eyes, either!

Here we are at Roxy’s… Notice the dog chef painting that observed our meal:

On Sunday, the hubby and I headed for Alpine Meadows. A storm happened to blow its way in, and at times, it felt like we were on an expedition to Mt. Everest instead of skiing… But, with the right clothes and a hunger for fresh tracks, skiing in a storm can be quite enjoyable.

Here is the chairlift, which looks like it was taking us up into the clouds:

Another view from the lift. Brrrrrr!!!!!

After skiing, we treated ourselves to a Couples Massage at the Cal Neva Resort Health Spa in North Shore. The massage room was overlooking the lake, so we enjoyed the sunset, and then some true pampering. We then hit the hot tub, and practically collapsed into our beds at the Cal Neva. Here are some pics:

Here’s me being a dork and taking my picture in the mirror of our room:

Here is the view from our room:

The thing I love about the Cal Neva Resort (besides the incredible views) is its rich history. The resort was owned by Frank Sinatra, and was frequented by the Rat Pack and the likes of Marilyn Monroe. The resort has an old Tahoe feel, making me feel like a Hollywood A lister back in the 50s.

OK, maybe not an A lister, but you get my drift.