After miles and miles of desert, the road finally became a little bit more exciting, as we approached the mountains and our path started twisting and winding down and around the peaks. As the only car on the road for miles, the sharp twists and turns felt like something out of a video game, which was only reinforced when the road narrowed to one lane through a tiny, snowed in pass.
We were soon at the base of the Sierra Nevadas, a huge range of mountains that are breathtakingly beautiful. Even though we'd been seeing signs for "chain areas" and heavy snow warnings, we doubted that the snow would effect us, seeing as how it hadn't been much of a problem the past few weeks. As it turned out, the pass we intended to take to Yosemite was snowed in, as was the next one curling over the mountains, effectively stranding us on the east side of the range. Needless to say this was not in our plans, but we decided to take it in stride and continued on the road, hoping it would eventually offer a path across the mountains.
As darkness fell, we realized that there was no way we were crossing the mountains that night, or possibly even ever, so we started to look for a place to stay. We ended up rolling into Reno around 8, and after a quick dinner at the local Olive Garden, we decided to continue our lucky streak by staying at the local casino, the Peppermill. Our expectations for the place were wildly exceeded when we discovered that the room was not only directly off the elevator, but also boasted a full sized jacuzzi in the middle of the room. It also featured three mirrored walls and a small one on the ceiling, but that was more disturbing than exciting.
The casino itself was completely out of control, decorated with more neon lights and signs than the entire Vegas strip combined. We didn't wander too much, and exhausted by hours of driving and an hour of soaking in the hot tub, we returned to the room for some well-deserved rest.
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