June 25th–Off to Vegas

This morning we slept in until 8am! So good! Another bagel for breakfast – this one with cream cheese. Soon we were off on our rather complicated journey to the car rental pick up place – this consisted of an hour long bus trip, getting off a stop too early and then a long walk with heavy backpacks. There was much happy dancing and shoulder flexing when we arrived.

We had a convertible hired for two days and the choice of cars was ours – we now have a shiny silver mustang (that I named Sally). It is very low and has ridiculous amounts of leg room. Before leaving the city we drove quickly around Beverly Hills -  this is such a different area to the run down streets that appear everywhere. Everything is all so big and grand and perfectly manicured. There is such a divide in this city between the rich and poor!

Of course, this area is famous for the ‘homes of the stars’ tours – we did drive past the Playboy Mansion, but of course it was just a gate with nothing the see. The rich non-celebrity houses were much more fun to look at.

  

Soon, off to Vegas we went! This was a long drive – around five hours in the end. The landscape consisted mainly of big brown hills and desert plains. It was actually quite impressive and Andy loved driving the shiny car around.

There was only one stop along the way – a quick pop into an outlet shopping centre – and around 6pm we were rolling into Vegas. This place is just a bit crazy. We drove past a pyramid, the Sphinx, the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty – everything is tacky and self indulgent but also so grand and very well executed.

   

Here we are staying at Treasure Island on the strip. It’s so nice to be in a fancy hotel, seeing as we are hostelling so much the next four weeks. We drove up in our car and got both a valet and a porter service…oooooooh. Our room is comfy with two double beds… much lounging around on them ensued. 

After our lounging we headed downstairs to book some tickets, eat a very delicious and random buffet (think Thai noodles, mac & cheese, pizza and meatloaf) and then debate our activities over the next two days. We had a big decision as to whether we should attempt the Grand Canyon or not. This would have been a 5am wakeup call, a five hour drive, one hour there and a five hour drive back again – in the end we sadly decided not to. This does however mean…. a long sleep in our fancy hotel room!

After dinner, a quick walk down the north end of the strip, in time to watch the Mirage volcano erupt and the Treasure Island Sirens show (such terrible lip synching, but I forgive them because they sank a pirate ship with fireworks). Bed at midnight – tame for Vegas I know, but we will make up for it the next two nights!