Up Country Woodworks

The Sierra Arts Foundation has a very simple mission: to nurture, teach and support by giving back to the local community. Sierra Arts offers various education programs, music seminars and lessons, and presents their very own ElderCare Concert Series that is designed to continue to bring music to the lives of the elderly in the area. The gallery also features nationally renown artists with various rotating exhibitions that continue to help support this organization's noble mission of community-minded service.

Maybe hitting the river with a group of experienced rafters who know how to have a good time is more your style of rafting recreation. If that's the case, then get ready for a wild ride along either the American River or Truckee River thanks to the students at the University of Nevada's Campus Recreation Department. They are not only well-versed in riding the whitewater waves, but also in having an excellent time doing it.

If you love cars, then make plans to be in Reno for Hot August Nights, a festival that features hundreds and hundreds of custom hot rods and restored muscle cars. It happens the first week in August every year and entire parking lots across the city turn into car shows. So get revved up and don't forget your camera and a big tube of sun screen to survive the heat.

Reno's downtown area is rife with historic buildings and architecture; to enjoy it while staying relatively cool, take a walk along the historic The River Walk District. The walkway winds through downtown and is not only scenic in its own right, it highlights the whole downtown area giving it an added touch of natural beauty amid the busy commercial landscape.