Shift Happens

My sister and nephew came to visit us late last week. We cooled off at the Truckee River, picked up fresh produce from the Sparks Farmers Market, ate at the Food Truck Drive-In, toured the National Automobile Museum, pedaled our bikes to the Sparks Legends Outlet, made ooey gooey s'mores over the firepit and watched the Back to the Future Trilogy together!

My nephew loves the water and so my sister and I took him to Cottonwood Park to dip in the Truckee River. He is from Seattle, WA and it was a great way for him to cool off from the warmer temperatures we have here in Northern Nevada.

My nephew on the beach of the Truckee River.

It gave a chance for me to chat with my sister while we watched him frolic in the water with the other kids.

My sister and me.

On another evening we went to the Sparks Farmer's Market to get some fresh fruit. It's a weekly event on Sparks Victorian Square Plaza with vendors selling goods, food, drinks and fresh produce.

My sister brought her bike with her. So when we needed something from the grocery store, we would pedal down the hill to shop. Then back up the hill.

And just when you'd think you were done, there's another incline to finally get home. It is what I have to climb, every day. But you know what? Each effort makes me stronger! When I reach the top of our
street and look back, I always feel a sense of accomplishment.

We lit the firepit and roasted marshmallows. It's a larger fire than we would normally have but we had some wood we needed to get rid of.

It was a perfectly still evening for a fire and there's nothing like sitting by it and watch the stars in the evening sky!

We also toured the National Automobile Museum, selected as one of America's Five Greatest Automobile Museums in 2012. 

Pedal cars.

Touring the museum is like traveling through time beginning with the turn-of-the-20th century. In addition to the gallery of cars, there are memorabilia and special exhibits that change throughout the year. We saw gowns, hair pins, stockings and purses worn through different eras!

On a scavenger hunt to find the steam-powered automobile.

Each of the large vintage, classic and special interest automobiles, rare and one-of-a-kind wonders, and dynamic race cars were a marvel to see as we strolled along authentic street scenes in the museum.

There simply was not enough time to see everything and so we will definitely have to go back! Fortunately we are members of the museum and so we are looking forward to our next trip.

All of us were famished after walking around the giant facilities of the museum. On our way home we stopped at the Sparks Food Truck Drive-In on Victorian Square Plaza to grab some grub.

Sparks Food Truck Drive-In

There was a free movie showing at 8PM inside the newly renovated St. Mary's Amphitheater but we'll have to catch it another time.

 I wish I could remember this food truck because my meal was awesome!!

Grilled onions and slaw hot dog with spinach cheddar polenta.

On our last full day together, we rode our bikes from home to the Sparks Legends Outlet for a day of shopping. It was 11-miles roundtrip from home along a separated bike/ped path including the lap around the glassy waters of the Sparks Marina. By the way, the Reno Bike Project was generous enough to let me borrow a youth bike for my nephew to ride over the weekend (perhaps because I am one of the members on the Board of Directors for the non-profit community bike shop). But of course, my sister and I will be making a donation in lieu of a rental fee.

I shared the joy of riding with my nephew taught him how to shift gears on his bike so that he could ride uphill with less effort, fly downhill in control, go faster on a flat road and how to downshift when stopping so that he can start more easily. After a few laps around the neighborhood, he was very quick to learn and said, "Oh THAT'S how my Dad always gets ahead of me [when we ride together]!"

Our weekend went well and we had a lot of fun together. The only snag in our plans was a series of unfortunate events with John breaking the screen on his smartphone, I got a replacement and then later than evening, I cracked the screen of my cell phone while sitting around the firepit. Hey--when shift happens we just have to stay calm and ride on, right?