Reno

And it's not the liver spread!  Hahaha, ang baduy!

The Reno weather was a bit too cold for me.  But my family there made it warm enough.   I wasn't so much of a tourist here, and I liked it.  I experienced grocery shopping, bringing my nephews and nieces to school and picking them up, going to the local libraries, washing the dishes, going to the bank, malling, etc.  It's like I was given a very short preview of my life there.  And I loved it. :)

My aunt and cousin picked me up from the train station.  My ride from Salinas, CA to Reno, NV took about 9 hours.  I slept almost the whole time through, except for when the next stop, this huge, tattooed guy with an eye-patch (Who wears an eye-patch?!?) took the vacant seat beside me.  From then on, I was only like 20% asleep and 80% nervous.  Hahaha!  But the guy didn't do me any harm at all, he was actually kind of nice.  But again, who the heck wears an eye-patch?!?

We got to Reno a bit earlier than scheduled, so the station was still closed, and my fetchers were nowhere.  It didn't help that the bus driver did not lend me his phone (as opposed to the uber nice driver back in Salinas who volunteered his so that I could call my friend).  I texted my cousin but by this time, I wasn't sure yet if my international roaming was already activated.  When the station opened, I used the payphone and called my cousin.  What a relief to hear a familiar voice again!  And after a couple of minutes, my aunt has arrived.  She told me that she spotted me immediately because I was the only one looking "kawawa".  Hahaha!  She was already staring at me for a second or two before I recognized her.  And I realized, later on, that it's because I was so used to seeing strangers that seeing familiar faces seemed sort of strange!

As soon as I arrived, we just ate breakfast then we went on turbo tourist mode!

Photos on the left taken at the local church and at Lake Tahoe
On the right: My aunt, my nephews and niece, and me, in front of the Reno landmark :)

I only spent a couple of days in Reno, and was kind of regretful about that 'cause I still wanted to spend some time with my aunt.  Anyhoo, after three days in Reno, I, with the invitation from my cousin and her family, flew to the East Coast to see Washington, D.C. and New York!  That's next. :)