Reno 360°: A blog for those who love Reno and aren't afraid to admit it

by Megg Mueller, editor, reno.com and tahoe.com , mmueller@TahoeRenoOnline.com
May 31, 2007

Summer is coming and I need some help. I've got a kid, you see, and with the end of the school season comes with it the oft-heard cry "there's nothing to do here!" My daughter, Molly, is just weeks shy of 16 but won't have her license this summer. She wasn't quite ready back in December and now she's got to get those six months of driving in before she's ready to be on her own. I'm thrilled she was smart enough to tell me she wasn't ready; there are enough "not ready" drivers on the road ... we didn't need another one. But this leaves me with a dilemma; what do kids do in Reno during the summer?

I grew up here, so I remember well the long, hot days sitting on my porch, wishing I had something to do. OK, I had plenty to do; I had a bike, I had friends who lived right next door and I had little supervision ... really, it was paradise compared to my daughter's situation. See, my daughter grew up in Maryland, and despite being born in Reno, she's not really digging it here. She left all her friends behind, friends she'd gone to school with since kindergarten, and she's just not had that great a year here. So she's got just a few friends, but not ones she'll likely see much of this summer. She grew up outside D.C., so there wasn't a lot of bike riding so that's not really her thing either. So what do I tell her to do this summer?

A job is out, unfortunately, because she'll be going back to Maryland for a few weeks. Maybe when she gets back that's what we'll do. But until then ... anyone? Any suggestions? What is there for a kid to do in Reno these days? I need some help, so all you moms and dads out there (hell, even you aunts, uncles and folks with friends who have kids!) throw me a bone!

Leave a comment, and if I get some really good suggestions, I'll publish them in an upcoming Reno 360°.