Gun Blogger Rendezvous VIII, Days -1 & 1

Drove down Thursday.  Got out of the driveway at at 0530, just as it started to rain,which quickly escalated to "downpour" status with thunder and lightening -- both toad-strangling downpours and electrical storms are uncommon in Western Washington, BTW, especially in summer.

Eventually things got better, until we were passed Oakridge, OR, heading for Willamette Pass, when, lo! and behold!  it started raining again.  And sleeting.  And thundering and lightening-ing and snowing.  And hailing.  The hail was falling fast and hard enough that we would have dug out the hearing protection from the range bags, except we would have had to pull over and get out of the car to do so, and we would have needed hard hats and maybe body armor to make it back in one piece...

Surprisingly, the car does NOT show signs of having been pelted with moderate-velocity chunks of ice.

Made it to the Silver Legacy, Reno, about 1930; which was OK time, considering how much of the drive was at less than optimal speeds.  Alas, the group was done with dinner, s we stopped by the meeting room to say "Hi", then went and ate ourselves.  Afterward Mrs. Drang went off to sample the spa tub in our room (we splurged) and I went to try and be social (for a change).  Then to bed.

Other events in Reno include the annual Balloon Races; this is the sight that greeted me from our room this morning:

Breakfast was provided by the NRA.  (Which is fine, although I'm still waiting for the wheelbarrows of cash they supposedly pay bloggers...)  Then to the range.  Mrs. Drang did not go, her ankle has been bothering her where she broke it years ago, so she decided to take it easy. 

I mostly shot my 10/22  TD; determined that the red dot sight I have on it is way off; then the battery dies, so I removed it and tried again with the iron sights.  Did better, although the 30 +/- knot crosswinds provided a handy excuse.

Kevin Baker let me try his AR in .458 SOCOM, which I suggested was prefect for the Cape Buffalo Zombie Apocolypse:

I was getting tired, and since no one seemed to need my services as chauffeur, I came back to the hotel to take it easy in the room with Mrs. Drang. 

The Friday afternoon "Show and Tell" session starts shortly, followed by dinner, and more socializing. 

I'll try to hold up...