Preliminary Information. Additional details will be posted.

The Reno River Fest/Reno Press Trip
(Maximum 15 Media)
Pre Trip dates are:
Arrive Reno Sat. May 8.
Pre Trip begins Sun. May 9 and continues through Mon. May 10
See detail, below
NATJA Conference begins Tues. May 11.

The Truckee, North Lake Tahoe Press Trip
(Maximum, 10 Media)
Post Trip dates are:
Friday May 14 and Saturday May 15
See detail, below.
NATJA attendees will depart Reno on Sun. May 16.

The Reno River Fest/Reno Press Trip

Reno Pre-Conference FAM Tour
Sunday May, 9 and Monday May, 10

Description:
Welcome to Reno Tahoe. Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, and enjoy the ride… because it’s going to be one you won’t soon forget. That’s because we do things a little differently around here. In fact, a visit to Reno Tahoe USA is far from expected. As part of the pre-conference familiarization tour you will have the opportunity to take in a variety of experiences Reno Tahoe has to offer.

Did you pack your sunscreen? You’re going to need it as you take in one of Reno’s best events, the Reno River Festival. Known for attracting top profession¬al kayakers and amateur athletes from around the world, the Reno River Festival returns for its seventh run down the Truckee River. This fun weekend event includes live music each day, yoga in the park, an industry expo featuring the hottest outdoor products on the market, food and beer gardens, and plenty of nighttime activities to keep guests entertained. For more information, go to www.RenoRiverFestival.com.

As part of your Reno River Fest experience you will have the opportunity to speak with an engineer that was integral in designing the Reno whitewater park (http://www.cityofreno.com/Index.aspx?page=311) which helped to revitalize Reno’s downtown corridor. Following this conversation you will go on a whitewater rafting adventure down the Truckee River.

After enjoying an afternoon at the Reno River Festival you will head to the Legends at Sparks Marina, the destination’s newest retail, dining and entertainment center (http://www.experiencelegends.com/). This $1.2 billion center encompasses more than 1 million square feet and is home to Scheels the world’s largest all sports store weighing in at nearly 300,000 square fee. There is even a full-size Ferris wheel you can ride and a real NASCAR simulator (http://www.scheelssports.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ScheelsHomeView?l...).

After your time in the sun, on the River and shopping and dining to your heart’s content, get ready to discover exactly why Mad Men’s Betty Draper is headed to Reno for a quickie divorce (http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/cast/bdraper). Experience Reno’s Passion in the Desert walking tour and learn how Nevada’s cycle of boom and bust forced the state to discover other industries to carry the state through the Great Depression. Not always acceptable, bust certainly lucrative, these were simple industries to develop. All the state had to do was legislate activities that were illegal everywhere else. So with a wave of a pen and the glow of neon, the legislature adopted what became known as sin solutions; gambling, prostitution and divorce.

Finally, fasten your seatbelt and get ready to have your engine revved at Reno’s National Automobile Museum, The Harrah Collection. The Museum is ranked one of the “Top Ten” automobile museums in the nation by Car Collector magazine and was selected as the “Best Museum in Northern Nevada” by the Nevada Magazine Reader’s Poll. See some of the first steam engine cars to hit the road, Elvis’ white Cadillac, concept cars and more (http://www.automuseum.org/).

Activities:

Saturday, May 8, 2010 Attendees arrive in Reno

Sunday, May 9, 2010

9 a.m. Breakfast

10:30 a.m. Attend 7th annual Reno River Festival

1 p.m. Lunch

2:30 p.m. Shopping at the Legend’s at Sparks Marina, Scheels

6 p.m. Cocktail reception

6:30 p.m. Dinner

8:30 p.m. Back to hotel for the night

Monday, May 10, 2010

8 a.m. Breakfast

9:30 a.m. Meet with Jim Litchfield for a discussion on the significance of the
downtown white water park and the Reno River Festival

10 a.m. Rafting experience on the Truckee River

1 p.m. Lunch

2:30 p.m. Mini Passion in the Desert tour of downtown Reno:

“Mad Men’s Betty Draper comes to Reno for a quickie divorce”
Washoe County Court House
Riverside Artist Lofts (formerly the Riverside Hotel)
Virginia Street Bridge
Mapes Hotel site
Truckee River Whitewater Park (exemplifying how central the river has always been to the region)
Modern downtown shops, galleries, amenities on First Street in the Truckee River Arts District (include break at Java Jungle)
Harolds Club site
Southern Pacific Depot/Amtrak Station
Historic Reno arch on Lake Street

3:30 p.m. Tour the National Automobile Museum

5 p.m. Back to host hotel to refresh for dinner

7 p.m. Dinner

9 p.m. Return to host hotel

*This itinerary is subject to change

The Truckee, North Lake Tahoe Press Trip

Fri., May 14 -- Truckee

Opportunities for fun, adventure and relaxation are endless in Truckee! Mountains, meadows and lakes beckon to be explored while boutiques, cafes and historical spots lure guests in for an authentic slice of mountain life.

Donner Memorial State Park, located just west of downtown on the eastside of Donner Lake, is a major recreation center for camping, picnicking, boating, fishing, paddle boarding, water-skiing, hiking and more. This is also the location where many members of the ill-fated Donner Party spent their final days. The Emigrant Trail Museum at Donner State Memorial Park chronicles the notorious struggles of the Donner Party.

We’ll take you to Donner Memorial State Park for an historic, interpretive walking tour to learn about the history of the famed Donner Party and their emigrant struggle at the state park campground.

After filling your belly with delicious and hearty fare from Smokey’s Kitchen for lunch, we’ll stop in to Truckee River Winery’s new tasting room. While the Truckee River Winery was established more than 20 years ago and prides itself on being the “highest and coldest” winery featuring handcrafted, award-winning wines, its new tasting room is among a handful of wine bars and tasting venues that have been blossoming in the Sierra Nevada in recent years. Guests to Truckee River Winery’s new cozy, red cottage tasting room can sample limited edition wines while relaxing by the fire or taking up a game of bocce ball in warmer weather.

Truckee’s long and rich history as an Old West railroad and logging town is evident in the historic buildings preserved throughout downtown. You will take a walking tour with one of the members of the historical society to see the century-old buildings such as the stately (and haunted!) Truckee Hotel or the train depot, built in 1900 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in commemoration of the Transcontinental Railroad which reached Truckee in 1868. The Old Jail, constructed in 1875 out of native stone is another notable Truckee trademark.

Downtown historic Truckee also offers visitors an authentic western experience housing a plethora of interesting shops featuring home goods, boutiques brimming with unusual finds, stunning local photography, and unique baubles created by area artisans (think hand-crafted wooden pencil boxes).

No shopping day is complete without a few tasty respites. We’ll finish the day off with a dinner at Cottonwood Restaurant. Overlooking the town at Hilltop, Cottonwood is located in a building that is one of North America’s oldest ski lodges.

Activities:

10: 00 a.m. – Historic interpretive walk at Donner Memorial State Park re: Donner Party

12:30 a.m. Lunch at Smokey’s Kitchen

1:30 p.m. Visit the Truckee River Winery tasting room

2:30 p.m. Historic walking tour of Downtown Truckee and Shopping

6:15p.m. - Dinner in Truckee at Cottonwood Restaurant

Lodging: at various Truckee properties including, but not limited to, Donner Lake Village Resort the Hampton Inn & Suites, Best Western Tahoe Truckee Lodge and the Truckee Hotel.

Saturday, May 15 - North Lake Tahoe

North Lake Tahoe is an ideal getaway for outdoor enthusiasts, especially with its 300+ days of sunshine every year.

Skiers enjoy its 400 inches of snowfall annually and its recognition as the largest concentration of ski resorts in the country, meaning they have access to more lifts, more terrain and more skiing and snowboarding than anywhere else.

Home to the largest alpine lake in the U.S., North Lake Tahoe is also popular with kayakers, flat water stand-up paddle boarders, and hikers and bikers that take to the region’s dozens of trails that wrap around the lake and offer up idyllic views.

Your North Lake Tahoe trip begins at region’s newest development, The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe, the area’s first five-star caliber resort, for a hearty breakfast and a tour of this luxurious property and well-appointed spa that sits mid-mountain at Northstar-at-Tahoe Ski Resort in Truckee.

We’ll work off the scrumptious breakfast with a guided hike along a portion of the Tahoe Rim Trail, a 165-mile loop trail that runs along the ridges and mountaintops circling Lake Tahoe. Snowshoes will be provided in case Mother Nature decides to hit us with a spring snowstorm. Some may want to get wet, and for those guests we’ve arranged a guided kayak tour along Tahoe’s crystal waters. Both excursions will offer up history about the area, as well as details on what you’ll be seeing, including the flora and fauna.

We’re lodging lakeside at the prestigious Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe in Incline Village, also an ideal family destination with its sandy beaches and s’mores pits. Those who are inclined to take a roll at the dice or hit a few slots can call on the resort’s in-house casino, which takes the rustic outdoors inside, while still providing a lavish, high-end venue.

Dinner will take us mountainside at the four-star Resort at Squaw Creek in Olympic Valley and home to Squaw Valley USA, the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics, and training ground for many of today’s Olympic stars and future hopefuls.

The trip wraps up with one of the most fantastic dinners you’ll ever eat in a mountain destination at the Resort at Squaw Creek’s Six Peaks Grille. Those adventurous will order from the left side of the menu, where cuisine is put together in unique ways that will amaze your taste buds (think butternut squash soup with marshmallows and candy cane, as well as veal check with pumpkin). For the traditionalists, the right side of the menu provides classic cuisine, everything from the finest filet mignon to rich pasta dishes. And, of course, a selection of recommended wines, designed to perfectly match your dish.

For more information about North Lake Tahoe, click to the North Lake Tahoe Visitors Bureaus’ website at www.gotahoenorth.com. While you’re there, hit Cool Deals, which is updated daily, for savings on North Lake Tahoe lodging, skiing, activities and special events.

North Lake Tahoe is a 45-minute drive from the Reno Tahoe International Airport, two hours from Sacramento International Airport and just over three hours from San Francisco International Airport. For lodging reservations, recreation and event details, call North Lake Tahoe at 1-877-949-3296 or visit www.GoTahoeNorth.com. Visitor information centers are located at 380 North Lake Boulevard in Tahoe City and 969 Tahoe Boulevard in Incline Village. The North Lake Tahoe Visitors Bureaus, Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau and the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, work together to promote North Lake Tahoe as a premier, year-round destination.

Activities:

Saturday, May 15 North Lake Tahoe

8 a.m. Breakfast and tour of The Ritz-Carton Highlands, Lake Tahoe

10 a.m. Choice of guided kayaking or hiking (depending on the snow, it could be snow shoeing) and packed lunch

6 p.m. Dinner at the Resort at Squaw Creek's Six Peaks Grille

Lodging Hyatt Regency, Lake Tahoe (along with breakfast May 16)

Sunday May, 16

8 a.m. Breakfast at the Hyatt

9 a.m. Depart Hyatt, Return to Reno- Airport departures

To REGISTER for the Conference Click Here To apply for a Press Trip, call the NATJA office (626) 376-9754x3