Reno, Nevada

After leaving South Lake Tahoe in California we were making our way north of Reno for the Memorial Day weekend.  Along the route we were passing by Battleborn Batteries, the manufacturer of our lithium batteries.  Since our solar was not performing its best, we stopped by and a couple of techs came out to take a look at our setup. 

 

We parked in their parking lot and the techs came out to look at our setup.  Unfortunately it was a cloudy day so it made it more difficult to evaluate the system since the solar panels were not generating much power.

Sean and Roni of Battleborn took a look at our setup and using their apps to check on the functionality of it. 

Sean and Roni spent about a 1.5 hours with us looking over our system and making recommendations for improvements.  Al was pleased that some experts looked over his installation and didn't find any blaring issues.  We left them with a plan to watch the system over the holiday weekend capturing info from the app connected to our charge controller and then return on Tuesday to determine next steps.  

Well, over the weekend, Al went up on the roof and found a loose wire and that fixed the problem along with the recommendation of changing the configuration of the wiring of the four batteries which were professionally installed.  The wiring change would draw the power equally from all four batteries instead of draining each battery separately. 

For holiday weekends I like to have reservations so we don't have trouble finding a place to spend the nights.  Memorial day weekend we stayed at Bordertown Casino and RV Resort which was north of Reno, Nevada and at the state line with California. 

 

 The park was full for the holiday weekend.

 

The casino was very small with people smoking inside.  Not a place for us.

Over the weekend I did laundry and Al worked on the suggestions from Sean and Roni.  He also had time to take the generator apart to replace the pull cord.  While it was apart he removed so much dirt it accumulated!  Al got the cord replaced and the generator all put back together without any extra parts remaining.  And it started on the first pull! 

Now both the solar and the generator are working great!  Yipee!

One day we took public transportation to downtown Reno to walk around.

Bus Station

The Truckee River goes through town and we enjoyed walking along the river and viewing some public art. 

After more than a year of haggling, city officials seem to be closing in on purchasing the controversial Space Whale sculpture. 

Reno City Council on Wednesday approved $137,500 to purchase and repair the sculpture that has been in City Plaza since 2017. The price includes $62,500 to buy the sculpture and $75,000 for repairs. 

Artist Matt Schultz created Space Whale for Burning Man 2016. At one point, he was asking more than $1 million for the sculpture, with funds going back to his team of artists and the Generator, the local arts and maker space where it was built.

The "Believe" sculpture has hopped around for the past three years, but it finally has nestled into its permanent home.

Using cranes, city of Reno crews relocated the former 2013 Burning Man sculpture from the ReTrac Plaza, near the Reno arch, to the City Plaza letter-by-letter.

The City Plaza, located at the corner of First Street and Virginia Street, is the former home of the historic Mapes Hotel. The sculpture formerly was in the same location in July 2014 to serve as the backdrop for the filming of the American Idol summer bus tour.

"Believe" is one of a series of 12-foot-high rustic, block letter word sculptures made of 4-foot-thick steel. In all, the letters span 70 feet together.

The Tahoe–Pyramid Trail is a planned 114-mile long-distance pedestrian and bicycle trail which will run between Lake Tahoe and Pyramid Lake, principally along the routing of the Truckee River.

Washoe County Courthouse

Greater Nevada Field home of the Reno Aces

The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Unfortunately there were no home games over the weekend for us to attend.

Our route from South Lake Tahoe to the Bordertown Casino and RV Resort.

Next we're spending the night at a potato farm in southern Oregon.