Las Vegas

Las Vegas ate us both alive.

The drive leaving relaxing Palm Springs, to Las Vegas was absolutely incredible. Best drive yet. Stunning scenery and long desert roads, disappearing over the horizon in the blazing heat. It was everything I had ever imagined and it felt great to be doing it. When we had our horse ride in the morning, the lady said there are two ways to get to Las Vegas; the dense traffic way, or 'The Hills Have Eyes' way. We went the latter.. It was pretty creepy at first going past all the little shacks and ranches as we were departing civilisation, but once we were in the desert it was great. We hadn't managed to get to Joshua Tree National Park whilst in Palm Springs, but drove along side it for a while and saw the trees so I was satisfied with that! We saw another coyote, it ran across the road in front of us and then looked back as we went by, very startled. Poor thing. I don't expect it comes across roads and cars very often. And we drove through the Mojave Desert Reserve too. After about 3 hours, I really had to stop for a wee, having not come across a soul for hours I figured I'd be OK at the side of the road.. Just as I'd found a spot, of all people, out of nowhere, a highway patrol car comes along and stops to ask if everything is OK! So I thought I better wander back to the car, he just advised us not to go far off the side of the road as there are a lot of snakes in the bush, and that there was a service station about 50 miles away and that we could get food and 'other things' there. It was hilarious but I was totally embarrassed and couldn't believe that had even happened. But I definitely couldn't wait 50 miles so stopped again further up.. It was a very eventful journey but we got to Las Vegas after about 4 hours and 45 minutes and with no problems.  

Long desert roads

We checked into the first hotel I'd booked, which was way posher than I thought, so it was a nice surprise. It was very, very nice and had a little kitchen in it. It was about 5pm when we got settled, so we cooked our meals and had some beers, and headed out to explore The Strip. We only managed MGM Grand, Excalibur and New York New York, before being lured into the Monte Carlo by a promoter for the VIP club experience. Things were already beginning to blur by this point. We were given our own table/barmaid and a bottle of vodka with pineapple juice to mix. It was all very nice until my mind goes blank. Next thing I know, Phil and I have lost each other, but he has my bag with everything in it, and the hotel key. Security come over and sit me in a wheelchair and take my details. Ring home (!) saying I'd lost my purse. I tell them which hotel I'm staying at and they get me back there, but you can't actually get into the hotel past 10pm without the key, not just the room. So I have to get reception over to issue another key, my nose starts pouring with blood, I get to bed and conk out, still minus Phil. I wake up the next morning with a bloody pillow, but with Phil by my side thankfully, and all my belongings. We both just look at each other and say.. What. Happened.?? Turns out Phil didn't know how we lost each other either, and next thing he knew he was wandering up and down The Strip talking to himself, struggling to navigate himself back to the hotel, when he eventually did he was very relieved to see me there. Couldn't believe that happened on our first night!

The beginning of the end for us that night

We both felt extremely rough the next day and had to check out by 10am. We went to the next hotel which was absolutely stunning, but couldn't get in our room until 2pm so wandered around until then and just  flopped for the afternoon. We went out in the evening to explore the rest of The Strip that we had intended the night before, but sober this time. We saw a little show outside Treasure Island, went to The Mirage and saw the volcano, Ceasers Palace, The Belagio and saw the beautiful fountain show, and finally The Flamingo. All hotels are just incredible, it's hard to take it all in.

The next day we got on The Deuce and went to Fremont Street Experince, North of the Boulevard. It's better to go there when it's dark though as there is a huge roof made out of LEDs which put on a show. But we stopped in a casino to spend a few quarters in the slot machines which was fun. Stopped at Stratosphere Tower on the way back, but you had to pay just to go up it, so we didn't bother. Carried on and went further South of The Strip to Mandalay Bay, Luxor, and went back to New York New York again where I got some sweets and also went back to the Flamingo to see the outside habitat bit. We then went to 'O Shea's Casino and had a couple of drinks.. I had an Irish car bomb which is Guinness, Bailey's and Irish whiskey, but I didn't do it properly and it curdled so it was pretty disgusting. Then we wandered back, via Harrah's for an expensive cocktail, and walked through The Venetian and Palazzo to get back to our hotel - Wynn Las Vegas. We had a couple of beers in the room and then went to the casino and played some more slots. I won a fair amount of money before spending most of it again!! But it was all good fun. I absolutely loved it in Vegas and want to come back when we're not on such a tight budget and really get out of it what it has to offer.

Our hotel

So this morning, we ended up leaving later than planned for Williams (near Grand Canyon), had a pretty stressful time trying to leave Vegas and wound up in a dodgy area again. We stopped to get some food from a supermarket and the cashier said to me 'Are you German?' I said no, English. And he said 'ah close enough, I can tell you're European, you don't blend very well round here' .. Eek! But he was perfectly friendly himself and asked about our time in Vegas and wished us a good trip, but we definitely knew to leave, pretty sharpish! After an hour, we finally get onto the road we were meant to, and we were on our way. But it wasn't a particularly nice journey, there was heavy rain which made some of it a bit dodgy to drive. Big trucks causing problems, nearly got pulled out in front of by one, luckily we both forced heavy breaking to avoid a collision, but it wasn't a relaxing drive. Though we did have some nice scenery, including a glimpse of Lake Mead. We got to our place after about 5 hours! It's on West Route 66 which is really cool, there are a lot of souvenir shops along the road. We'll get an early night tonight and head up to Grand Canyon tomorrow morning before heading back to Lake Mead / Hoover Dam later in the day.