Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Introduction to Dylan and Nevada

Hello all, my name is Dylan, and I am a senior in chemical engineering. I am originally from Oklahoma, but I have also lived in Texas, Maryland, and Arizona. I played baseball and football up until graduating high school and am currently a member of the OU Powerlifting team. I took a trip to Nevada over winter break to meet my girlfriend's family. I flew into Reno, NV shortly after Christmas, and immediately started exploring the city and surrounding areas. They describe it as the biggest little city in the world, and that description is pretty spot on. Reno is spread out and covers a large area, but it has half the population of Oklahoma City! While we were visiting, one of my girlfriend's friends turned 21, so we not only went out to eat, but we also had to tear the town up for a night. Downtown Reno has a few casino/resorts that cover a couple city blocks and also contain clubs inside. The city streets of Reno also double as a mini version of Las Vegas with all the lights, signs, and slot machines. We marched into the El Dorado Resort Casino and spent a few hours living it up in the various clubs they housed. Before the night got too crazy, we headed back home to prepare for the next day's activities. We visited Lake Tahoe which was a beautiful part of the Nevada-California border if you have never seen it yourself. We also visited the old boom town of Virginia City where we took some old western couple's pictures as souvenirs. The rest of the time was spent meeting my girlfriend's family members, and if we were not doing that, we were tearing up Nevadan dunes with ATVs. Overall, I had a lot of fun, and it was a great experience!

17 comments:

  1. That is so cool about the Powerlifting team, Dylan! Every semester I learn about new things at OU thanks to all the different majors and classes and activities that people are involved in. And when you get to the epics, you'll see that feats of strength are definitely part of the heroic identity, with both Rama and Hanuman in the Ramayana, and most of all Bhima in the Mahabharata; nobody has ever done a Bhima project for this class before... anyway, definitely a powerlifter: Bhima at Wikipedia. :-)

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  2. Hi Dylan,
    That’s so cool that you have lived in many different states. I’ve only lived in Oklahoma, but I am desperate to go explore some other places. The way you describe Nevada and Reno specifically sound amazing. I’m not much into gambling, but I do love nature. The picture makes it seem like a beautiful place. I’ve never stayed in Nevada, so I don’t know much about it. However, there is this movie called “Bad Times at the El Royale.” It’s pretty strange, and it takes place on that Nevada-California border. I really hope you didn’t experience anything like this movie when you visited.

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  3. Hey Dylan, that's a really neat picture of Lake Tahoe. I've never been there but it looks like a place I'd like to visit. Traveling around is always something I have wanted to do and the trip you took to Nevada sounded fun and exciting. Of course the people you go with makes a huge difference and I'm glad you had a good time. Have a great semester!

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  4. Hi Dylan, I love traveling but I haven’t made it out to Nevada yet. I’ve seen many pictures and it looks beautiful there. My sister in law and her husband drive ATV’s everywhere and often go to Colorado just for that, its been fun every time I’ve done it. I grew up in Texas but have only truly lived in Texas and Oklahoma, I think Maryland would be fun to visit though. I just went to Arizona before winter break and saw the Grand Canyon. There are so many interesting things to see in the world. It’s nice to meet you! – Jillienne Kirkpatrick

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  5. Hey Dylan,
    I lived in MD too! I lived in Hagerstown for 6 years while my dad was in PA school in DC. Small world. I've never been to Reno but from the highlights of your trip it's definitely going on the bucket list. You gotta make it to Vegas though, go see some awesome shows and get on the real casino floors! Next time you go to visit suggest everyone meets up there. My favorite casino is Mandalay Bay, check it out!

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  6. Hi Dylan, nice to meet you! That's so cool that you've lived in so many different states! You must have gotten a worldly view of different cities and different types of people. Also, I'm happy you had so much fun Reno! I've never been there but from the way you described it, it definitely seems like a place I need to add to my list! Also, the snow in your picture looks amazing especially since we had such a dry Christmas season!

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  7. Hi Dylan,

    It's cool that you're into powerlifting. I've always wanted to give lifting a try, but I've always been more of a cardio person. I wonder if you will find a way to work powerlifting into some of your stories. I would love to see that.
    Also, I've heard good things about Reno/ Nevada, so after reading your blog, I want to go there even more. Glad you had a good time there. Have a good semester!

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  8. Hello Dylan,
    That's cool that you're on OU's powerlifting team. That's also neat that you got to go to Nevada. I used to date someone from Reno, and I heard quite a bit about Nevada over the course of our relationship, as I'm sure you have in yours! I look forward to reading more of your writing on your blog this semester.

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  9. Hi Dylan,

    I enjoyed reading about your winter break plans! I have heard of Reno before but I didn't know that it only had half the population of OKC. Also I agree, Lake Tahoe is super beautiful. I'm just curious but is Nevada your favorite place to be at? Nice reading about you and good luck with the semester!

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  10. Hi Dylan!
    That is awesome that you have been to Reno. My mom has told be it is a much nicer version of Las Vegas. I would love to go at some point. Also, that is awesome that you are on the powerlifting team. That must be a lot of fun! Great introduction, well done.

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  11. Hey Dylan,

    I'm also a chemical engineer! Given that I'm a year behind you, do you have any advice for a fellow Chem-E? Your trip to Nevada sounds like so much fun. What an adventure! Nevada is definitely on my short list of states that I want to visit.
    Nice to meet you!

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  12. Hey Dylan!
    Your major sounds interesting and very hard ha. It is super interesting that you lived in Arizona, I have been going to Arizona since I was born so I know the allure of it. Reno does seem like an interesting place to visit and after reading what you all did, I want to visit. I hope this semester goes well!

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  13. Hi Dylan!
    I didn't even know OU had a powerlifting team! That is so cool that you are a part of that and it must take a lot of dedication to stay in shape so you don't lose those gains. Nevada is quite pretty and it is kind of like a cross roads between the mountain north and the american southwest

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  14. Hi Dylan,

    It is super cool that you joined the powerlifting team here in order to stay active and healthy after playing football and baseball in high school. I have never been to Reno, but it seems like an interesting little place after hearing your experience. Also, I have always heard so much about Lake Tahoe but have never got the chance to go so it is cool you got to! Good luck in the rest of class.

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  15. Hi Dylan, I know of a couple of people on the powerlifting team– it sounds really intense! I've made some attempts at weightlifting, but nothing too serious; I'm sure I'd slip a disk if I tried to join you guys. I liked reading your description of Reno. I've only ever been to Nevada to visit Las Vegas, so it's nice to know that there's plenty more to do in Nevada.

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  16. Hi Dylan.

    I've never been to Lake Tahoe but it looks like a very cool place. I also think it is very fun that you have lived in so many states. It really gives you a better chance to go travel and explore your surrounding area. Also, riding though the desert dunes in Nevada on ATVs seems very fun and it is something that I hope to do one day!

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  17. Hello Dylan!

    All this talk about traveling makes me sad because I don't know if any of us will be able to do much of that this summer... :( However, I think I found a loophole for this social distancing! Visiting natural parks and doing things outdoors doesn't necessarily violate the rules, right?? Lake Tahoe sounds and looks beautiful. I'll have to put that on my bucket list of places to visit someday.

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