Review of Alamo Fullsize Rental at (RNO) Reno/Tahoe International Airport

Alamo RNO Fullsize Rental Review

After deplaning from my flight from Las Vegas to Reno, I headed
straight for the counter of Alamo Rent A Car at RNO.  I was greeted by
Pedro, who predictably tried to up sell me on their insurance and
prepaid gas options, neither of which I opted for, since I was only in
town for 36 hours.

I did not get to pick, when I went out to the cars, but he gave me a
choice between a 2013 Chevy Impala and a 2014 Chevy Malibu.  Since the Impala had the
leather seats, I chose it.  The car was actually situated in a National stall, K3, instead of an Alamo one.  The dark gray Chevy Impala LTZ, unfortunately, had an Arizona license plate.  I like to keep my rental cars to those with more local plates, but I did not know about it, when I made my choice.  They gave me a lone key for the car with no clicker or other remote access to the vehicle.

As I drove from RNO to the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Sparks, I barely had to adjust the mirrors.  The Impala LTZ drove very nicely.  When I had to go to Incline Village, located in North Lake Tahoe, the car performed well on the Mount Rose highway.

I filled up the tank at the Valero on Mill Street prior to returning it to Alamo.  Alfredo was my Alamo car return attendant and he did a great job.  He helped me the last time that I was in Reno and rented a car from National.

Review: Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott Sparks/Reno

I arrived at the Marriott Fairfield Inn and Suites in Sparks/Reno at about 9:45pm after having picked up my 2013 Chevy Impala rental car from Alamo at the Reno airport.  There was a noticeable haze in the air from all of the wildfires in the area.

When I arrived at the hotel, I was able to find a spot near the entrance.  After retrieving my bag, I entered into the lobby to find the front desk agent, Connor, just leaving his post to go do something.  When he noticed me, he immediately went behind the desk to check me in.

Fairfield Inn and Suites Reno Sparks Review

Connor was very amiable and upgraded me to a King Suite in room 314, which was located on the top floor and above the portico at the entrance of the hotel, which faced opposite the highway, which made the room quiet from outside noise.  Connor remarked that I had reserved a "double points" stay, which was close to accurate.  I booked a Marriott Rewards promotion, where I would receive 2000 Marriott Reward points for each night of my stay.  In this case, I was staying two night, so I should receive an extra 4000 Marriott Rewards points.  Connor then confirmed with me that I would like the 200 MR points as my welcome gift.

When I entered my room, I noticed that the suite was similar to one that I had stayed at near the Newark airport.  The room was spacious with the large bathroom to my left as I entered the room.  I entered into a separate seating area with a couch and chair, plus a tv and work desk.  The walled off bedroom area, also had a television and a seat.  The room looked newly remodeled, except for the thermostat, which looked like it was original to when the hotel was built.  Nonetheless, the thermostat worked.

I was awoken at about 6am to the sound of the next room's television.  The rooms must be poorly situated, where the television is on the opposite side of the wall of the the next room's bed.  The walls seemed pretty thin that morning.

I went down to the complimentary breakfast at 7:45pm and found only two businessmen working at a table.  I poured myself a cup of coffee - definitely not Starbucks quality - and perused the offerings on the breakfast buffet.  Nothing new jumped out at me.  Warm items were waffles, oatmeal, scrambled eggs and turkey Canadian bacon. The other offerings were the same as you would find at any other Fairfield Inn.  I did notice that they only offered orange and apple juice.  I decided to try a bit of the scrambled eggs (actually pretty good) and Canadian bacon (very so so).  I am always a sucker for Belgian waffles, so I made myself a waffle and put lots of butter and syrup on it - yum!

I went down to the front desk before a conference call at 9am to see if they might have some hair gel, but he could not find any behind the desk.  He suggested looking in their market or heading over to Target, which was less than a mile away.

The noise from the neighboring room in the early morning occurred again on the second morning, but I was checking out anyway.  When I awoke, the night auditor had conveniently slid the bill under my door.  I brought my key card down to the front desk when I checked out, hopped in my rental car and headed to the airport.

Southwest Flight 2332 from Reno (RNO) to Las Vegas (LAS)

After returning my 2013 Chevy Impala to the Alamo car return, I breezed through TSA security at the Reno Tahoe International Airport.  I went into the Fly By Lane, but didn't really need to since there wasnt even one other passenger.

Southwest Flight was leaving from Gate B3, so I made my way there.  At 9:56am they had the A Group line up.  I had not checked in until that morning, so my Business Select boarding position was only A6.  I boarded at 10:02am and sat myself in the aisle seat, 4C.  The doors closed at 10:12am.  We pulled away from the gate at 10:16am.

Southwest Flight 2332 Reno to Las Vegas

Thankfully, unlike my flight two days before, this Boeing 737-700 was wifi equipped, so I logged into the wifi while the other passengers were boarding.  The pilot came on the intercom at 10:26am to say that there was a delay due to traffic in Las Vegas.  We were already six minutes late for our 10:20am departure at that time.  We ended up taking off at 10:30am.

The two ladies sitting next to me in seats 4A and 4B were headed to a meeting at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  When the flight attendant, Tasha, took our drink orders they ordered ginger ale and tomato juice.  I requested a can of cran-apple juice.  I tried to pawn off my Business Select free drink coupon on them, but they, like me, were headed directly to a meeting after we landed.

Just before they passed out the packets of pretzels and lightly salted peanuts, Tasha brought our drinks and included a cup of ice and some napkins for my cranberry apple cocktail.  She chuckled when she gave me the napkin, since my neighbor's tomato juice had slightly spilled on it.  She wanted to assure me the the red liquid was not blood.

We started our initial descent at 11:05am and landed at 11:28am.  We taxied into gate B11 at the McCarran International Airport at 11:35 and I was able to deplane at 11:37.

Lunch at One Trick Pony Grill and Taproom in Grand Rapids, MI

We dropped our daughter off at the Grand Rapids Fencing Academy again, but this time at 11am, so we decided to head off to lunch, before doing our grocery shopping at the Meijer on E Beltline Rd.  Like we did the day before, we had to find somewhere that had a gluten free menu and also, if possible, participated in the Rapid Rewards Dining program.

Luckily, we found a restaurant that fit our needs - the One Trick Pony Grill and Taproom.  We saw online that they offered gluten free options, so we headed in that direction.  One Trick Pony was pretty easy to find and parking was easy on the street, because of the time of day.  Since it was a Sunday, we didn't have to pay the meter.

We entered the restaurant, using the door handle that was in the form of a meat cleaver, which we thought was a cool touch.  Later, our waitress, Courtney, explained that the meat cleaver means that the restaurant is co-owned.  I did a quick Google search, but could not verify her information.

We were seated at the window at Fulton St.  I ordered a Diet Coke and my wife ordered a water.  We looked at the very small menu and wondered if it was the normal menu.  When Courtney came back with our drinks, she told us that there were also two specials - corn pancakes and huevos rancheros.  She confirmed that the corn pancakes were both vegan and gluten free and the huevos rancheros were gluten free, as well.  My wife ordered the corn pancakes and I ordered the Cider Poached Sausage Pizza with the gluten free crust, so that my wife could try it.  Though they did not have a gluten free menu, each menu item was marked as being gluten free or vegan.

Courtney did a great job refilling my Diet Coke as needed.  When she brought our food, we were very happy.  My wife's corn pancakes seemed very "earthy".  They had a rich, earthy tone and readily soaked up the syrup.  My pizza looked great.  It came with bbq sauce as the red sauce and gouda cheese and included some carmelized onions, along with the cider poached sausage.  The corn pancakes and pizza were excellent.  My wife tried some pizza, but later that evening had some ill effects.  We never verified if the sausage was gluten free, so we came to the conclusion that it was the culprit.  Either that or there was some cross contamination in the kitchen.

When we go to Grand Rapids the next time, I will definitely consider One Trick Pony again.

Takeout from the Mitten Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, MI

After having eaten a big lunch at Brann's earlier in the day, we thought it might be better to limit that amount that we had to eat, plus we wanted to hang out with some friends.  We knew that the Mitten Brewing Company had a gluten free menu and was close and convenient to our friends' condo, so we decided to place a takeout order.

We ordered two regular pizzas, a gluten free pizza, an order of gluten free breadsticks and an order of gluten free cheesy breadsticks with marinara and ranch.  On the regular pizzas, we ordered half cheese/half pepperoni and sausage and on the other we ordered a Deluxe.  We ordered Da Meat Hook for our gluten free pizza.  All of it was great.  My wife and daughter loved the pizza and the leftovers that we brought for our oldest daughter was eaten by that evening.

My friend told me that they have had some bad luck ordering takeout from Mitten Brewing in the past - the pizza was burnt - but this time it came out great.  The toppings were fresh and the pizza crust was crispy.

I have been to Mitten only one other time and that time it was just as busy as when we picked up our order.  I would love to be able to eat in and try some of their beer choices.  For now, I must say that I do like their pizza and breadsticks.

Lunch at Brann's Steakhouse and Grille in Grand Rapids, MI

My wife and I were up in Grand Rapids, MI due to a clinic our daughter was participating in at the Grand Rapids Fencing Academy.  Our daughter started at 10am, so we dropped her off and headed quickly to a movie, which started at 10:20am.  After the movie, we could not decide on where we wanted to go for lunch, but knew that we needed to find somewhere that had gluten free options, since my wife suffers from celiac disease.

Since it participated in the Rapid Rewards Dining program, we decided upon Brann's Steakhouse and Grille on Leonard Street in Grand Rapids.  It was a great choice, since it was close to the fencing club and also had a gluten free menu, which was actually pretty big.

After a few minutes, we decided upon what we wanted to eat.  Unfortunately, our waitress took some time to get back to us.  When she did finally get to us, we ordered 2 pounds of the bbq ribs with buttered steamed broccoli and the vinegar and oil coleslaw to split.  We also added a shrimp skewer to it, so that we would definitely have enough to eat.  To drink my wife ordered a water and I ordered a diet Mountain Dew - it's always nice, when a restaurant has a different diet choice than just cola.  Our waitress arrived with our drinks and with a couple of yeast rolls, which includes their cinnamon butter, which is awesome.

When the huge mound of ribs, sides and shrimp skewer arrived, we knew that we would have enough to eat.  The ribs were falling off the bone and tasted great.  The bbq sauce was a perfect blend of tangy and sweet.  Plus, there was enough bbq sauce.  Sometimes restaurants really skimp on the bbq sauce - not Brann's!  The shrimp skewer was decent and the sides were pretty good.

The value that received for what we ordered was great.  We were able to get out of Brann's for the two of us for less than $25 and we were stuffed.  Add to it that they participate in the Rapid Rewards Dining program, we will definitely be back.

Dinner at Penn Station East Coast Subs in Mishawaka, IN

I had a quick dinner at Penn Station East Coast Subs, located on Main Street in Mishawaka, IN, near Day road.  I had a hankering for their fries - I would rate them just behind those at Five Guys for a "fast food" joint.  At this location, the parking by the main entrance is reserved for the salon next door, but I arrived at about 7:30pm, so the salon was closed, so I parked in one of their spots.

For dinner, I ordered a chicken teriyaki sub with the mushrooms and onion included, plus an order of fries (of course) and a Diet Mountain Dew.  One of the other things I like about Penn Station, outside of their fries, is that they have Diet Mountain Dew on tap.

I usually go to the Penn Station location on the corner of Ironwood and US23, but the Mishawaka location is closer to my house.

I ordered an extra order of large fries, because my wife and daughters had a hankering for fries.  Luckily, Penn Station has a dedicated fryer for their french fries, which allows my wife and daughters to eat them, since there is no gluten cross contamination.  My wife, in particular, suffers from intestinal distress after being "glutened" due to her celiac disease.