Plink, Plunk, PLANK!

Okay, one more activity we did while in Reno.  I only heard about this fad/craze a few days ago and then Nellie had some photos of her Dad participating in said activity, and so I was able to convince my compadres to join in the fun.  This game is called planking. 

Here’s the deal, you find some outrageous spot to lie flat on your face with your arms at your sides, stiff as a board (plank), and someone takes your picture.  Then you post that picture in a public place so you get as many people as possible to think you’re an idiot!  There is a good explanation of this phenomena here but the author also talks about “Owling” and I have no idea what that is!  I managed to escape involvement in the actual posing by being the official photographer.

It started at breakfast when I told my sis and her husband about this new game.  They were skeptical at first but soon the ideas were just rolling out of their twisted little heads.  I followed along with the camera ready to distract Security as these old fogeys ran rampant through the Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, NV. 

They started mild…


…and quickly escalated into wild…


Yes, Sharon and David…that is YOUR sister stretched out on the bar in the middle of the Grand Sierra Resort.  The bar was not open yet but Laila was never one to be stopped by a velvet rope.  I fully expected security to come around the corner at any moment.  I quickly snapped the photos from a safe angle and beat a hasty retreat, deserting my dear and crazy sis in the process.

Not to be outdone, Brian defeated his own velvet rope and made his way onstage.  After a quick bit of karaoke without the music, he planked the stage at Grand Sierra Resort.



Before we got out of the lobby, the ideas were flowing fast and furious.  Brian decided to try the lobby waterfall…the one surrounded by a ledge about 6 inches wide. 

That looks kinda like flames but it is only water cascading down a glass sheet.

Well, ya’ll know that Russ could not resist forever and he soon found his own planking post in front of the central lobby sculpture.  Note that his plank was completed on a soft and raised surface.



And Laila on another bench.


Outside, it just did not quit.  Another horse sculpture called to Russ and duty demanded that he respond.


And then he tried a vertical plank.


But the idea of the day came from Brian.  “I know,” says the oldest and wisest member of our group.  “We all have handicap parking permits, let’s do a handicap parking plank.”  Didn’t anyone ever tell these crazy people that asphalt in Reno in the summer is HOT???  But did that stop them…NO. 



I snapped the picture quickly before any cars came and then had to help each one of these feeble minded bodied people to their feet.  They all assured me that the tiny rocks and melted asphalt embedded in their knees was not at all painful.  In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that we only had one parking permit with us and it was not utilized in the original photo.  A little digital magic and we're in business.

We ended the day by having dinner with my brother David, his wife Linda, and one of their children, Alycia and Alycia’s boy David.  Little David is in first grade and is the cutest, sweetest, most well-behaved child I have ever seen.  We love spending time with him.  My brother on the other hand....


Now I don’t know how the subject came up, I swear I don’t, but somehow the talk at dinner turned to planking.  Some photos were shared and as we left, I managed to convince this sweet little boy that he needed to plank.  He took to it like a champ.



And so ends the planking adventures of the old folks in Reno.  I have a feeling this was a once in a lifetime adventure…at least I hope it was.  The funniest part was, after I had taken all those pictures inside the Grand Sierra, I told Brian and Laila that I had made the whole thing up!  Wish I had a picture of their faces…but I corrected myself and we all had a great time.

Next up…in a few days probably…Hat Creek.