Reno -- It's an experience!

I'd been an employee of AIAA for just about a month when I had my first Reno experience. It was 17 years ago, when the hotel was still MGM Grand. I'll never forget it.

I checked in, got my key and went to my room. As soon as I opened the door, I burst out laughing! I'd been given one of the rooms that had a round bed on a platform surrounded by railing with a mirror on the ceiling! The room was the least restful room that I'd ever experienced. There were busy, unmatched, metallic floral patterns and mirrors all over the room. It was hideous. There was no clock in the room. Clearly, they didn't want you to spend a lot of time in the room. And, I didn't.

I spent all week either at the bookstore or in meetings--in rooms with no windows. I didn't see the light of day or smell fresh air again until I took a cab to the airport for my return flight home.

My second year in Reno demonstrated just how small a world we live in. I swing dance and try to find other dancers or swing music whenever I travel.

Some staff and I ventured into town to a club that played 50's music -- great music for Jitterbugging. There were a total of three people in the club when we arrived and one of them was a guy who I knew from dancing in DC! We kept him busy dancing with all the women in our group for a couple of hours.

On a more recent trip to Reno, one of the members of the small jazz combo playing at the hotel was a woman who graduated from my high school in Rockville, MD!

Small world. I wonder who I'll find in Orlando next year...

Janice Saylor