Wednesday, March 25, 2009

GBR-IV Hotel Reservations

This year's Rondy will be held in the Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino in Reno. We have blocked out some rooms at a special rate. By booking our rooms at the Silver Legacy, they provide our hospitality room for us for five days at no charge. There's a small catch, though, that if we don't have enough rooms, then it costs us money for the hospitality room. If we have as many folks as las year, though ,we'll be fine.

We have blocked out rooms for Wednesday the 9th, through Sunday the 13th. Most folks plan on arriving on Thursday, and then leaving Reno either Late on Sunday, or on Monday. Since we will be having GBR activities on Sunday, you may want to consider leaving for home on Monday if you can arrange it.

The room rates are a bit higher than last year as the Silver Legacy is a bit more expensive that where we were last year, but it's supposed to be rated a bit higher as hotels go, too. The rates for a room for up to two people is $69 per night on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Friday and Saturday rate is $119 per night. There is also a $3.00 "Resort Charge" on to of that ,and a 17% (!) Reno room tax. Wireless internet, usually an extra $10.00 per night, is included in the room rate.

To book your room, call the Silver Legacy direct at 1-800-687-8733 and be sure to mention the group code of GBLOG09 to get the reduced rates.

Registration for GBR-IV

Everything is all set for you to register for this September's Gun Blogger Rendezvous at the Silver Legacy in Reno on September 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th. (Note that we've moved it a month earlier to take advantage of the much warmer weather) The registration is $30 per person, the same as last year. The majority of the registration money will go to Project Valour-IT, and part of it will go to GBR expenses and the Pizza feed.

To register, download the registration form, fill it out, and mail it in along with your check to the address on the registration form. Your money will be deposited into an escrow account, so every penny is accounted for.

To download the registration form, click on The Registration Form. Don't wait until the last minute to send it in, as advance registrations give me an idea of how many attendees to plan for.

Thanks, and

We'll See You in Reno!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

New Hotel & New Dates for GBR-IV

The Silver Legacy Hotel & Casino in Reno.

I've got lots of news about next Fall's Gun Blogger Rendezvous. We have moved GBR-IV from the Reno Circus Circus to the Reno Silver Legacy. We have also changed the dates, moving from Early October to Early September. It took a lot of work to work out all the details, line up the facilities we need, and to get the best room rates available.

First, about the hotel, the Silver Legacy: The Circus Circus, the Silver Legacy, and the El Dorado are all connected to each other by Sky Bridges and you can't always tell when you have moved from one to the next. The Circus Circus is on one end, the Silver Legacy is in the middle, and the El Dorado is on the other end. For those of you who have been to previous Rondy's, the Mining Machine and it's dome are part of the Silver Legacy. Looking over the various hotel reviews, it looks like the Silver Legacy is rated perhaps half a star higher than the Circus Circus.

The Dates: This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous will be held on

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,
September 10th, 11th, 12,th and 13th.

This is the first weekend after Labor day.

Thursday will be Arrival Day, and nothing is scheduled until late Thursday afternoon/evening. Reno is amazingly busy clear through next Fall, and getting the dates I wanted wasn't easy! Holding the Rondy a month earlier will make being outside at the ranges really pleasant, weather-wise. Instead of snow, it should be shirt-sleeve temperatures. It WAS a mite "Brisk" at times last year in October.

"Dawn Patrol" Launch at last year's Reno Balloon Races.

For those of you who will be attending the Rendezvous but aren't quite as "Hard Core" about getting out to the range for the shooting, there will be plenty of other things to see and enjoy. While we are in Reno they will be holding the Annual Reno Balloon Races.

Quoting from the Balloon Races website:
(RENO, Nev.) - The nation’s largest free hot-air balloon festival, The Great Reno Balloon Race, will paint the sky again September 11, 12 and 13, 2009 at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park. What began with just 20 balloons in 1982 has grown to showcase more than 100 balloons and pilots from as far away as New Zealand and Switzerland. On average, 140,000 spectators from all over the world come to share in the wonder of this three-day event.
This year's Gun Blogger Rendezvous is going to be by far the best one yet, so circle the dates on your calendar now! I've got a number of other things about to be announced regarding GBR-IV, but I've got to get final details sorted out first.

Sunday, March 01, 2009

GBR-IV Updates

Believe it or not, it's already time to start putting all the pieces together for next October's Gun Blogger Rendezvous.

I've got plans for some new stuff this year, including a second range day. One day at the range we used last year, mostly for rifles, and one range day aimed (a pun?) towards action pistol shooting, something along the lines of a few Steel Challenge Stages to shoot. Maybe even a mini Steel Challenge Fun Match?

If we can get all of the ducks in a row we'd also like to coordinate with the Cowboy Fast Draw Association (located only 20 miles outside of Reno) and see if we can set up some Cowboy Fast Draw shooting and additional fund raising, possibly on Sunday. We have tried to put this together for two years now, but scheduling kept getting in the way. Maybe this year, I hope!

We will be having our fund raising raffle for Project Valour-IT, our all you can eat pizza feed, the regular BS sessions well into the night, and all the fun stuff like we have done in the past.

I do, however, need some feedback from you all who might be considering attending this year's Rendezvous. What I need is some feedback from all of you as to your projected attendance at GBR-IV. I realize that October is a long way off and things can change between now and then, so I'm not holding anyone to their positions, but I do need to get some idea of what everyone wants to do. In particular, I'm interested in hearing from folks who haven't been to a GBR in the past and are hoping to make this be the year.

You don't have to be a Gun Blogger, or even a blogger, to attend. If you enjoy shooting, if you read some of the gun blogs, and would like to meet some of the gun bloggers in person, here's your chance.

Leave us a comment if you are thinking about attending this year!