and not one I particularly wanted to make. Emails from mom saying my brother had taken her car and she wasn't sure where he'd gone. On Tuesday of last week I get an email that the he and the car were located in Reno NV and can I fly down and meet her so we can bring the car back to her home. No problem, make the reservations that night and called a co-worker to let her know what was happening and why I would not be in to work for a few days.
It was cheapest to fly out of Spokane, so the hubby drove me to the airport. Got there early enough that I could sit outside security with the hubby for a little while longer before I had to get to my gate.
Going thru security wasn't too bad, even tho I've been swearing if I EVER had to fly again I was going to strip in protest of the security theater. But Mom really needed me, so I behaved my self.
Arrived at my gate and settled in, made sure I had some reading material while waiting for my flight:
Got on board, I'd lucked out and got a window seat:
The plane was a Bombardier Q400. Nice plane, tho it is the first time I've ever kept hitting my head on the overhead compartment when getting in and out of my seat. I am used to slightly larger planes. Seats were okay, a little squished with the arm rest down, but not too bad. I did have to request a seat belt extender, which the flight attendant gave me with a smile. I made sure I asked for one as I was boarding the rest of my flights and wasn't given any hassle. I love Alaska Airlines. I had a choice to fly Southwest, but after hearing all the BS they give fat fliers, they are NEVER going to get my business again.
Weather was nice when we boarded, of course it started to rain before we took off:
It did clear up once we were in the air:
Had some nice views of the countryside as we flew to Seattle:
I'm loving the aerial mode on my little camera. Took some very good pics thru the window of the plane.
Landed in Seattle okay:
Discovered the gate for the next leg of my journey had changed and had a short hike to get to it. Found a seat with a good view:
The plane in front is mine. Didn't have too long a wait to board and then it was off to Reno. Had a Coke, some reading and a snack I couldn't have thanks to it having pretzels in it (wish it had been peanuts):
Would have liked to have gotten the gluten free snack option on the Northern Bites menu, but they were only taking cards and all I had handy was cash. Ah well, I was a bit too stressed to really eat and I'd had a couple Odwalla bars we had stashed in my bags in Seattle.
Pretty good flight to Reno, it was sunny when we got there:
A very nice Sheriff's deputy picked us up at the airport and took us to where the car was. Good thing he did, we would have never found it on our own. No clue as to how it ended up where it did, but aside from some front end damage that wasn't there before it got "borrowed", it ran. The Sheriff's office had put a gallon of gas in it so we could get it to a gas station to fill up.
We did that and headed back into Reno to find a hotel. Found a La Quinta, checked in and proceeded to make phone calls and email various people (free wifi). After resting a while, it was time to hunt down dinner and a slot machine or two (we were in Reno, we were going to NOT contribute to the local economy as much as we could?!?!?!).
Decided to not go downtown, too fried to deal with that. So we went to the Nugget Casino and wandered around. Had dinner at the Steakhouse Grill. It had that nice 1950's Rat Pack vibe and decor:
Sorry for the poor quality pictures, I was NOT going to use the flash on the camera, even it it is a casino restaurant. Mom and I both opted for the mixed grill:
Left to to right: Pork medallion with bourbon BBQ sauce, blackened salmon on mango passion fruit butter and a fillet with horseradish blue cheese sauce.
YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I opted for the roast garlic mashed potatoes and my filet rare, mom had her's medium and a baked potato.
Then it was wander the casino to find a real slot machine. Found what we thought were some, but they were the faux slots. The host for the area showed us where there were real coin slots and we settled in. Once I won back my original $5 investment, I pocketed that and played my winnings, all the while pocketing part of those and playing what was left in my hand. When I finally ran out of coins in my hand I was done. I'd won $12.25 hehehehehe. Yup, big time winner here LOL!
We didn't want to stay out too late as were were pretty tired and we needed to get up early the next day to get the car looked at and make sure it could make the trip back to Vancouver. The car drove okay, but it has a nasty pull to the right and the last thing I wanted to do is drive several hundred miles while fighting the car.
Thus ends Part 1 of my unexpected adventure.
It was cheapest to fly out of Spokane, so the hubby drove me to the airport. Got there early enough that I could sit outside security with the hubby for a little while longer before I had to get to my gate.
Going thru security wasn't too bad, even tho I've been swearing if I EVER had to fly again I was going to strip in protest of the security theater. But Mom really needed me, so I behaved my self.
Arrived at my gate and settled in, made sure I had some reading material while waiting for my flight:
Got on board, I'd lucked out and got a window seat:
The plane was a Bombardier Q400. Nice plane, tho it is the first time I've ever kept hitting my head on the overhead compartment when getting in and out of my seat. I am used to slightly larger planes. Seats were okay, a little squished with the arm rest down, but not too bad. I did have to request a seat belt extender, which the flight attendant gave me with a smile. I made sure I asked for one as I was boarding the rest of my flights and wasn't given any hassle. I love Alaska Airlines. I had a choice to fly Southwest, but after hearing all the BS they give fat fliers, they are NEVER going to get my business again.
Weather was nice when we boarded, of course it started to rain before we took off:
It did clear up once we were in the air:
Had some nice views of the countryside as we flew to Seattle:
I'm loving the aerial mode on my little camera. Took some very good pics thru the window of the plane.
Landed in Seattle okay:
Discovered the gate for the next leg of my journey had changed and had a short hike to get to it. Found a seat with a good view:
The plane in front is mine. Didn't have too long a wait to board and then it was off to Reno. Had a Coke, some reading and a snack I couldn't have thanks to it having pretzels in it (wish it had been peanuts):
Would have liked to have gotten the gluten free snack option on the Northern Bites menu, but they were only taking cards and all I had handy was cash. Ah well, I was a bit too stressed to really eat and I'd had a couple Odwalla bars we had stashed in my bags in Seattle.
Pretty good flight to Reno, it was sunny when we got there:
A very nice Sheriff's deputy picked us up at the airport and took us to where the car was. Good thing he did, we would have never found it on our own. No clue as to how it ended up where it did, but aside from some front end damage that wasn't there before it got "borrowed", it ran. The Sheriff's office had put a gallon of gas in it so we could get it to a gas station to fill up.
We did that and headed back into Reno to find a hotel. Found a La Quinta, checked in and proceeded to make phone calls and email various people (free wifi). After resting a while, it was time to hunt down dinner and a slot machine or two (we were in Reno, we were going to NOT contribute to the local economy as much as we could?!?!?!).
Decided to not go downtown, too fried to deal with that. So we went to the Nugget Casino and wandered around. Had dinner at the Steakhouse Grill. It had that nice 1950's Rat Pack vibe and decor:
Sorry for the poor quality pictures, I was NOT going to use the flash on the camera, even it it is a casino restaurant. Mom and I both opted for the mixed grill:
Left to to right: Pork medallion with bourbon BBQ sauce, blackened salmon on mango passion fruit butter and a fillet with horseradish blue cheese sauce.
YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I opted for the roast garlic mashed potatoes and my filet rare, mom had her's medium and a baked potato.
Then it was wander the casino to find a real slot machine. Found what we thought were some, but they were the faux slots. The host for the area showed us where there were real coin slots and we settled in. Once I won back my original $5 investment, I pocketed that and played my winnings, all the while pocketing part of those and playing what was left in my hand. When I finally ran out of coins in my hand I was done. I'd won $12.25 hehehehehe. Yup, big time winner here LOL!
We didn't want to stay out too late as were were pretty tired and we needed to get up early the next day to get the car looked at and make sure it could make the trip back to Vancouver. The car drove okay, but it has a nasty pull to the right and the last thing I wanted to do is drive several hundred miles while fighting the car.
Thus ends Part 1 of my unexpected adventure.
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