Viva Las Vegas

We can’t stop here, this is bat country!

Today is a sad day. We must return our beloved BMW that has smoothly carried us over hundreds of miles across Nevada, Utah and Arizona. Through baking hot deserts, parking nightmares, beautiful landscapes and horrendous storms, we’re sad to hand the keys back of the car that’s provided so many memories. On the return drive to Las Vegas we pass by the Hoover Dam but there isn’t time to stop so we just get a glimpse. Worried that our car is covered in layers of orange dirt and dust from Monument Valley we stop at a self-serve car wash on the outskirts of Vegas. There are around sixteen options from four different hoses and as two dollars only buys us four minutes, it’s a race against the clock to clean the car. Of course we can’t clean a big SUV in that time so we restart and do it properly this time.

I drop Alex off at the Luxor hotel with approximately fourteen bags of belongings we’ve accumulated and race across Vegas to refuel and return the car before 2pm. All goes to plan and I meet Alex back at the pyramid shaped hotel, ready to check in. I’ve wanted to stay in this hotel since my Auntie and Uncle stayed here pre-millenium and filled my mind with the curious wonder of Las Vegas. I’m sure it’s changed a bit since then but the ridiculous feat of architecture still stands out, even when surrounded by other over-the-top hotels.

We barely have time to inhale our lunch before heading out into the 45 degrees heat to cross the strip to the MGM Grand. Alex has always wanted to see a Cirque De Soleil show in Vegas and has chosen the “Ka” show out of several options. We take our seats in the huge arena, surrounded by giant towers and gangways unsure if they are just for show or part of the show. We soon have the answer as fifteen minutes before the show is due to begin, performers start swinging from the rafters. I won’t go into details on the show but it was fantastic, there were many “how did they do that?” gasps as well as plenty of heart in mouth moments as the dare devils do their thing.

After the performance we wander the strip and stumble upon a Stranger Things experience/store…

We take a break in the huge room within the pyramid. How they keep this behemoth of a building with over 500 rooms (all with pitch black windows) cool in the searing desert heat is beyond me.

For our evening sustenance we take a short walk up the strip, past the giant fairytale castle that is Excalibur and into New York New York, a hotel that even has its own rollercoaster. Vegas is nothing if not excessive, over-the-top, totally unnecessary but why the hell not, and we’re all here for it.

From the Pyramids Egypt to the Canals of Venice

We finally have a full day to properly explore this crazy city and so after a much needed lie-in, we head out onto the strip. We see as many of the weird and wonderful hotels as we can, here are some pictures to try and piece it together.

We take lunch at one of the only ‘cheap eats’ places on the Strip, for some reason even fast food in Vegas is three times the price as usual. Afterwards we decide to be one of the only people to try out the gym at the Luxor hotel. While most guests gamble away, enjoying the excess or wallowing around in the swimming pool with a beer bucket in hand, we want to pump some iron. There’s only a handful of dedicated souls in the gym which works out just fine for us.

Now that we’ve pretended to be healthy it’s time for a night out on the town and of course, try our hand at gambling. We have a wonderful meal at Brewdog (yes they do exist out here) and decide we’ll try our luck at the Excalibur casino.

We’ve already wasted a few small dollars on little flutters, I watched in horror as my $10 disappeared in a matter of seconds on one of the new ‘digital’ slot machines. $5 on Blackjack goes a similar way. Alex tries her hand at roulette and while she does well to stay in the game for quite a while, we end up with $2 change from another $10. So it seems we’re just bleeding money and we’re not cut out for this gambling lark. We decide to pop the last $2 into a relic of a slot machine from way back when. We earn a few extra credits and have no real idea what’s happening until “FANTASTIC WIN” glows in big letters on the screen. The credits tick up and up and I figure we’ve probably won a few dollars. From $2 we jump to $61!

Not a huge win, we won’t be buying a yacht, but still it’s a great feeling to get one back on the house. The next hour or so is a blur as we carefully plot which slot machine might be lucky next. Somehow it works as we end up winning another $51 then $32 in quick succession. Of course our luck runs out eventually and we call it a night around 2am but what a fun night it has been. The maths is blurry but all in I think we came out around $100 up overall. Not bad at all.

Fear and Leaving in Las Vegas

It’s been a whirlwind couple of days in this mad place. While at first we did not understand the hype, we were eventually swept up in the ridiculousness of it all. There is nowhere on earth like Sin City and I dare say that whatever you do here you’re likely to have a good time and never forget it (unlesa you try and recreate The Hangover film of course!). But for us, it’s time to move on. We have a long, long drive ahead of us from Vegas, Nevada to Lodgepole campground in Sequoia National Park. Technically our allocated collection time is 14:30 and it’s at least a seven hour drive plus time to stock up at Walmart and eat along the way. Worried we won’t get to tonight’s camp until 2am, we chance getting there early and luckily they let us pick it up at noon. Time to hit the road again, this time in an entirely new beast…

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Adventure – Exploring the insane hotels of Las Vegas.

Excitement – Winning the jackpot (or so it felt to us paupers). Cirque De Soleil magic.

Trauma – The food options in Vegas are pretty terrible but I suppose that’s to be expected unless you pay big dollars. Not having a fridge or kettle so having to spend $10 on coffee when we’ve learnt every trick in the book to save the pennies on the basics, yeesh.