The First Night in Reno, or The Night I Was Mistaken for a Hooker

Sometimes you need to get out of Utah, if for no other reason to remind yourself how quirky it is and that the rest of the world isn't so conservative. With that in mind, we spent last weekend in Reno for the Western Athletic Conference Basketball Championship. We almost didn't make it! You see, Dr. HokieKev spent the first part of Furlough Break in New Jersey working his undercover job. His flight back was supposed to get into Salt Lake at 10:30, our plane to Reno left at 11:10- plenty of time! Not so fast my friend, he was delayed and ended up sprinting across the airport to make the flight that I was prepared to cry, lie, and wager into staying at the gate until he arrived. None of this would have been a problem had the WAC kept the schedule as originally planed which gave Utah State the night game. Instead, they changed it to give the home team, Nevada-Reno, the advantage. Since when there are home teams in championships, I do not know- but that is another story for another time.

So anyway, we made the plane and headed to Reno. Our seat partners were fun. Dr. HokieKev sat with the Aggie pointgaurd's family and I sat with a woman who lives down the street from Sarah Palin in Wasilla, AK. We chatted. Dr. HokieKev made friends. We finally landed in Reno. The first game was fairly uneventful. Upon its conclusion, we headed back to the hotel to change for dinner. After a quick tripadvisor search, Dr. HokieKev settled on The SteakHouse at Harrah's! which was across the street from our hotel. We got all dressed up and made our way to the hidden gem (seriously, located UNDER the casino- accessible only by slightly hidden stairs- booths only facing out. Total mob front from the 70s) with EXCELLENT food! We ate dinner, desert, blah blah blah boring boring boring and then proceeded to leave. As we were crossing the street back to our hotel, Random Dude approached Dr. HokieKev and clearly said "Dude, are you in a position to help me find a hooker?" and clearly looked directly at me. WTF!

Now I am not easily offended- in fact, it takes an awful lot to offend me. But this- um, yeah- was a little bit offensive. I mean, do I really look like a hooker? And before you all comment on my obvious hookerish attributes, I would like to add that I was not dressed in a manner that would warrant the assumption. I didn't have the dress from Halloween on (I save that for Vegas)- I didn't even have anything that lowcute on- and even if I had, so what...no reasonable person has ever jumped from cleavage to hooker. In fact, both Dr. HokieKev and I looked like we had stepped out of a J. Crew catalog (aside from the fact that nothing we were wearing was actually from J. Crew). I guess this particular weirdo was into preppy hookers with professorial pimps!

Flashback to November

Way back in November, Dr. HokieKev's best friend, Tim, got married. We made the trek to Richmond, VA for the wedding. As always, I took some pictures that took forever to get uploaded to the computer. The wedding was held at a historic mansion- complete with mossy bricks and gazebos. It really was a great affair and I am glad the rain in the forecast stayed away. Dr. HokieKev and I had a great time- Drunk Dr. HokieKev even made an appearrance. I bring this up because it is a VERY rare occurance but I think the peer pressure got to him on this one! If nothing else, the rehersal evening proved to many that we are no longer in college and cannot party as though we are. The picture below is from the end of the reception- it for more, including some from the ceremony. If you look closely, you may be able to see uptight wedding planner chick. Seriously, if Prozac was created with any specific person in mind- it would be her!

Check Montana off the List

A few weeks ago, Dr. HokieKev's mom and Mike came for a visit. We all decided to take a trip to Yellowstone. Let me just say that four adults in one car for 8 hours is less than stellar. Good thing I convinced Dr. Hokiekev to channel his inner gas guzzler and choose to take the Explorer over the Civic- my legs were squished as it was and I have short legs. So anyway, we left early Friday morning (begrudgingly on my part- I am not an early morning type of person) and began our trek to Montana. A million hours and a couple naps later, we arrived in the state of Brian Schweitzer. After checking into the hotel, we proceeded to venture into Yellowstone. Well...no one told us that everything in Yellowstone shuts down for the season- not the winter season- just "the season" between when the summer tourists leave and the skiing/snowmobiling crowd arrives. After driving 15 minutes into the park, Dr. HokieKev realized we should have stopped for gas lest we sleep with the elk- so we turned around, headed back out, got gas, turned back around, and proceeded back into the park. The next two days we spent enjoying both Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. The pictures below prove that I do not follow directions very well. (Click on the picture to see the rest)