Thursday, July 15, 2010

Las Vegas

Vegas baby here we come!

DAY 1

After a long hard day out on the road driving through Death Valley we finally arrived in lively Vegas, the city that never sleeps.  We found the Excalibar Hotel (just like a castle) where we were to spend our next 3 nights.

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The hotel was great and the bed was amazing… We had a 46 inch plasma we didn’t even use and the room was so cheap! We spent some time walking around and checking out the nearby hotels and casinos.

This really did blow our minds, it is like stepping into another world in Vegas, casinos taking up whole blocks, you have no idea what the time of day it is, and there are so many slot machines it is crazy.

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DAY 2

We got completely suckered, along with every other tourist into “checking out a new development” they provided free lunch and a free show ticket each.  Turns out they wanted to sell us a time share… I think we’re both over educated in the science of timeshare apartments now! It was pretty interesting in itself but took half the morning.  It was also amazing how much the price dropped each time we said NO!

We got our free show tickets so it wasn’t all bad.  We also managed to barter ourselves some extra tickets at a low price while we were there!

We hit the pool/bar in the afternoon. You can buy small yardies full of various cocktails and then refill them for half the price! The crushed ice ones go down pretty well when you’re in 40C heat and in a swimming pool! 

CANYON TIME!

Great recommendation Glen and Emma! The helicopter tour was a definite highlight so far… It was great being able to walk around inside the canyon too! Although the pilots warning about snakes made Mike a bit paranoid about walking close to bushes.

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Hoover Dam

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Entering the Grand Canyon

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Picnic & Champagne in the Canyon

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Sun setting on the way back to Vegas

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Looking North at the Vegas Strip from the Helicopter

As we got back from our Helicopter ride quite late we were limited in the shows we had available to us… Unfortunately… Very unfortunately… (Mike wrote this) We went along to “Fantasy”  - a topless strip/dance show.  After the show the dancers insisted on having a photo with Mike. See below :)

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DAY THREE

Checked out the top of the stratosphere, it’s pretty much a tower like the skytower except it has a bunch of rides on the top deck which over hang the edge – Mike did all the rides (Trace was too chicken). 

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  Trace insisted on checking out a wedding chapel… No comments necessary!

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We went to another show “The Tournament of Kings” which had a meal with it, no cutlery though… First time we’d been served a whole chicken each!! Not a big one but still a whole chicken.  Trace fell in love with the horses in the show.

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Then after the show we just walked / mono railed around the strip occasionally gambling (Trace rates herself at deal or no deal as she came out in positives from that one).

DSC_0425The Mirage volcano eruption show

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This was an inside water way where you could pay to catch a gondola.

DSC_0471 The Bellagio water fountain display

 

We both really enjoyed Vegas, it was like being in another world . . . . a place we will return to one day.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Oh wow!! Wonderful photos! What an amazing place Las Vegas is! And your helicopter trip looked brilliant. So glad to hear things are still going so well and all your careful planning is working out just as you wanted! Looking forward to hearing about New York and London now!
xxxx