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- March 4, 2007
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- City, State
- anaheim hills,california
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 95 ranger 4x4/ 91 X 4x4
..This is my behind the scenes view and test run which i did before and leading up to the Inaugural Silver State Jamboree...More of an investigative Exploration trip dedicated to the Spectators and Race teams alike..
..There is nothing worse than getting to a town for an event and not knowing what and where everything is or what issues you might run into when you are trying to keep up with an event schedule such as finding on/off ramps, gas stations, or parts for the vehicles..
The Event info link for the Silver State Jamboree
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer:
This is just something I did of my own doing because I could and with no compensation at all with the sole mindset of checking everything out pre-race and sharing this info with the spectator's and race teams alike..This is just my point of view for whatever it is worth and something I enjoy doing for the love of the Sport.(But Yes, I will be attending)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
The beginning
...I had been talking to Jeff Knoll on and off, (the co-creator of Ultra4 Racing and King of The Hammers and Creator of this new week long event) since this past KOH and happened to run into him up at the NorCal Stampede a couple of weeks ago..
..I mentioned to him that his event was nearing and I had not heard much more about it other than a few announcements of when and where it was to be held..
..I halfheartedly mentioned to him that since I was already in the neighborhood (about 125 miles away), would he mind if I came up and checked things out for myself..Kind of a dry run before the hectic week of parties, offroading, and the various pre-race and racing events were to happen..
..To my surprise he quickly said Yes without batting an eye and that he would have the people in charge over at the Wild West Motorsports Park to get a hold of me...
..and so the adventure began..
__________________________________________________________________________________________
..I headed out of Rancho Cordova Sunday morning straight toward Reno. What a gorgeous drive up in the pines as you go by near the infamous "Donner's Pass" and then Lake Tahoe which is a must see stop if you have never been there and is even more tempting if you have.
...But if I were going to check everything out as from a spectator's point of view, the first thing I would need to do is find a decent room in town which would be near all the action of this weeks events and since it will be in the 100* range in July during this event, what better place to start this investigative trip than the Host Hotel itself..
Host Hotel link- John Ascuaga's Nugget
..I usually spend 1-2 weeks offroading in remote areas every couple of months however, I am no stranger to hotels so for my test run I asked for the cheapest, non smoking room they had for one person.
With that in mind, this is my perspective.
If you have a large group or kids and need a place to sit, they have a huge sitting area to cool off and relax while one of your party is handling the room particulars at the desk..
..Also, the VIP check-in is on the left end of the Hotel Check-in counter for those who make reservations for this event.
This was the room they gave me
Some of the amenities to note..
This room had literally everything except a microwave and fridge..
..From the 2 little bottles of water, soaps, lotions, and shampoo they leave you each day to the ironing board and iron, blow dryers, safe, coffee maker, ice bucket with glass's as well as pen and paper at the desk, even a phone in the bathroom..
..There are soda machines next to the ice machines on each floor and food service to the room which is almost as cheap as going down to the diner itself but you can also order a high class meal off of the same menu.
..The views are great as I had mountain views out of my window and lucky enough to have a corner room where I had an awesome night view of downtown with all it's lights..
..Even though the airport is nearby you don't hear it or the freeway in the room but it was cool to watch them land in the night time from the room..
It's the little stuff that makes a difference..
Some behind the scenes info on the Hotel
a) Awesome free high speed wifi coverage all over the Hotel including the rooms.
b) West Tower is nearest the west parking lot approx. 250' closer to the elevator than the East Tower
c) East Tower has the newly renovated rooms with more modern decor and flat screen tv's (these rooms are the ones shown on there website)
..This view from the West Tower looking west toward downtown Reno, with the West parking lot in the foreground. This parking lot will be reserved solely for the race teams during the week of the SSJambo..The road on the left side of the parking lot is actually the Nugget (actual name of) offramp when coming from the west. Folks coming from the East would get off at Pyramid and turn left to get to this Hotel frontage rd.
..This view is also from the West Tower looking Northwest at the mass transit terminal which is easy walking from the hotel..
..and this view is looking North from the West Tower toward the Cinemark Theaters (with the Fountain mentioned below) which also shows additional easy parking for the rigs that you can also easily walk to.
..If you are over 10'6" in height on your rig and when checking into the hotel, do not attempt to pull in to the valet area as it has low hanging security cameras. I mention this as there is currently no sign for clearance height for this structure and I noticed someone had already hit the overhang..( I actually measured the security camera's myself knowing this might be an issue just below 11' in hgt.)
..This picture better shows the outside lane which the trucks and trailers can use anytime but it will be used on July 17th for the trucks and trailers solely to pull thru as this will be the lane for Tech Inspection.
My personal assessment of the Hotel in General..
There are no weird odors in the hotel, hallways or in the rooms. For those who stay in hotels you will know what I'm talking about.
No reason to ever leave the Hotel seriously. I actually felt as comfortable with my room as I do at home.
The Hotel and casino have an open and spacious feeling so you don't feel like you are crowded like cattle as other hotels tend to do.
All of the events are centered at, departing from, or near the Hotel..
Most any kind of food is served downstairs including inexpensive diner food which also includes above average meals open 24 hours to a high end steak house and also a fantastic buffet..There are several other food places within the hotel too..
Besides the newly open Gilley's, the new sports book as well as the new Nugget gift shop should be open before this event also.
There is a free shuttle from the nearby Reno airport to the Hotel.
..and I can't say enough about how friendly and personal the staff of the Nugget was on my visit.
I don't know what is up with this company but for the time I spent there (4 nights) I noticed that each and every employee had a genuine smile and were happy to assist in any way..Props to the Nugget as I'm not sure what they do to make their employee's so happy and to enjoy their jobs but it truly reflects on how they are to the customers and makes for a very pleasurable stay.
..There is nothing worse than getting to a town for an event and not knowing what and where everything is or what issues you might run into when you are trying to keep up with an event schedule such as finding on/off ramps, gas stations, or parts for the vehicles..
The Event info link for the Silver State Jamboree
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer:
This is just something I did of my own doing because I could and with no compensation at all with the sole mindset of checking everything out pre-race and sharing this info with the spectator's and race teams alike..This is just my point of view for whatever it is worth and something I enjoy doing for the love of the Sport.(But Yes, I will be attending)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
The beginning
...I had been talking to Jeff Knoll on and off, (the co-creator of Ultra4 Racing and King of The Hammers and Creator of this new week long event) since this past KOH and happened to run into him up at the NorCal Stampede a couple of weeks ago..
..I mentioned to him that his event was nearing and I had not heard much more about it other than a few announcements of when and where it was to be held..
..I halfheartedly mentioned to him that since I was already in the neighborhood (about 125 miles away), would he mind if I came up and checked things out for myself..Kind of a dry run before the hectic week of parties, offroading, and the various pre-race and racing events were to happen..
..To my surprise he quickly said Yes without batting an eye and that he would have the people in charge over at the Wild West Motorsports Park to get a hold of me...
..and so the adventure began..
__________________________________________________________________________________________
..I headed out of Rancho Cordova Sunday morning straight toward Reno. What a gorgeous drive up in the pines as you go by near the infamous "Donner's Pass" and then Lake Tahoe which is a must see stop if you have never been there and is even more tempting if you have.
...But if I were going to check everything out as from a spectator's point of view, the first thing I would need to do is find a decent room in town which would be near all the action of this weeks events and since it will be in the 100* range in July during this event, what better place to start this investigative trip than the Host Hotel itself..
Host Hotel link- John Ascuaga's Nugget
..I usually spend 1-2 weeks offroading in remote areas every couple of months however, I am no stranger to hotels so for my test run I asked for the cheapest, non smoking room they had for one person.
With that in mind, this is my perspective.
If you have a large group or kids and need a place to sit, they have a huge sitting area to cool off and relax while one of your party is handling the room particulars at the desk..
..Also, the VIP check-in is on the left end of the Hotel Check-in counter for those who make reservations for this event.
This was the room they gave me
Some of the amenities to note..
This room had literally everything except a microwave and fridge..
..From the 2 little bottles of water, soaps, lotions, and shampoo they leave you each day to the ironing board and iron, blow dryers, safe, coffee maker, ice bucket with glass's as well as pen and paper at the desk, even a phone in the bathroom..
..There are soda machines next to the ice machines on each floor and food service to the room which is almost as cheap as going down to the diner itself but you can also order a high class meal off of the same menu.
..The views are great as I had mountain views out of my window and lucky enough to have a corner room where I had an awesome night view of downtown with all it's lights..
..Even though the airport is nearby you don't hear it or the freeway in the room but it was cool to watch them land in the night time from the room..
It's the little stuff that makes a difference..
Some behind the scenes info on the Hotel
a) Awesome free high speed wifi coverage all over the Hotel including the rooms.
b) West Tower is nearest the west parking lot approx. 250' closer to the elevator than the East Tower
c) East Tower has the newly renovated rooms with more modern decor and flat screen tv's (these rooms are the ones shown on there website)
..This view from the West Tower looking west toward downtown Reno, with the West parking lot in the foreground. This parking lot will be reserved solely for the race teams during the week of the SSJambo..The road on the left side of the parking lot is actually the Nugget (actual name of) offramp when coming from the west. Folks coming from the East would get off at Pyramid and turn left to get to this Hotel frontage rd.
..This view is also from the West Tower looking Northwest at the mass transit terminal which is easy walking from the hotel..
..and this view is looking North from the West Tower toward the Cinemark Theaters (with the Fountain mentioned below) which also shows additional easy parking for the rigs that you can also easily walk to.
..If you are over 10'6" in height on your rig and when checking into the hotel, do not attempt to pull in to the valet area as it has low hanging security cameras. I mention this as there is currently no sign for clearance height for this structure and I noticed someone had already hit the overhang..( I actually measured the security camera's myself knowing this might be an issue just below 11' in hgt.)
..This picture better shows the outside lane which the trucks and trailers can use anytime but it will be used on July 17th for the trucks and trailers solely to pull thru as this will be the lane for Tech Inspection.
My personal assessment of the Hotel in General..
There are no weird odors in the hotel, hallways or in the rooms. For those who stay in hotels you will know what I'm talking about.
No reason to ever leave the Hotel seriously. I actually felt as comfortable with my room as I do at home.
The Hotel and casino have an open and spacious feeling so you don't feel like you are crowded like cattle as other hotels tend to do.
All of the events are centered at, departing from, or near the Hotel..
Most any kind of food is served downstairs including inexpensive diner food which also includes above average meals open 24 hours to a high end steak house and also a fantastic buffet..There are several other food places within the hotel too..
Besides the newly open Gilley's, the new sports book as well as the new Nugget gift shop should be open before this event also.
There is a free shuttle from the nearby Reno airport to the Hotel.
..and I can't say enough about how friendly and personal the staff of the Nugget was on my visit.
I don't know what is up with this company but for the time I spent there (4 nights) I noticed that each and every employee had a genuine smile and were happy to assist in any way..Props to the Nugget as I'm not sure what they do to make their employee's so happy and to enjoy their jobs but it truly reflects on how they are to the customers and makes for a very pleasurable stay.
..One would think it was almost mythical when you hear tales of some of the creations that have come out of this shop..
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