Will we survive Las Vegas?

Leaving Anaheim

An early morning start - up before 6am. We had a late night.  The movie Gladiator was on TV!! How many times has Trevor watched it??

We move the RV to the storage area of the Anaheim Resort RV Park. It has power while we are in Las Vegas. The frig will remain on power rather than revert to gas.
Trevor picks up the rental car at 8am; a  large GMC SUV. It will give everyone plenty of room. We leave the RV Park at 8.45. What an adventure!

The traffic is heavy as we drive out of the city. It is a relief to get onto I-15. The weather is overcast; cloudy with fog and mist. We are in the clouds as we climb the Cajon Summit - 4259 ft.  Then we are over the mountains and into sunshine.
We have about 300 miles to drive, most of it in the desert. Normally that distance would take about 5 hours but traffic can be a major factor.
We are lucky. I guess Mondays are not peak driving days to Las Vegas.

We stop at Barstow for coffee.

It is a dusty drive - the haze must be sand being driven across the desert floor.

Primm

When we have just about had enough of the car and looking at desert, we cross the state line into Nevada and there is .... Primm.

Not Las Vegas, but we are in the home stretch. Well that's what we tell Finlay - only 25 miles to go!

We arrive in Las Vegas at 2pm.

Las Vegas is the capital city of Nevada.

Seen by some to be the ultimate escape, it lures 40 million visitors every year, making it the entertainment capital of the world.
Time stands still as visitors party all day and night.

It is the only place in the world where you can see ancient hieroglyphics, the Eiffel Tower, the Brooklyn Bridge and the canals of Venice in the same town..
OK - they are only reproductions but ...??



We stay at Circus Circus Hotel, now one of the older hotels in Las Vegas. We are on the 24th floor - with a great view out to the mountains. We all have adjoining rooms. For Trevor and I it is quite a treat to be staying in a hotel after so many months in the motorhome!

Circus Circus is a hotel  for kids, with an Adventuredome - a 5 acre indoor theme park including a  roller coaster and other fun;  free circus acts beneath a giant candy striped big top and traditional carnival games.

We came here 25 years ago with the boys. They loved it then and Finlay agrees that it is still pretty neat. It is very hard to impress a 13 year old. This is one we get right.

The next 6 days are action packed!!

We spend about the right amount of time walking 'The Strip', also known as Las Vegas Boulevard, a 4 mile long street, the centre of Las Vegas. Circus Circus is at the northern end and Mandelay Bay is at the southern end.

There are some stunning hotels.

Bellagio is a stand out. Inspired by the Lake Como town of Bellagio in Italy, it is a luxury hotel and casino of Tuscan architecture famed for its elegance. One of its most notable features is an 8 acre lake between the building and The Strip which houses the Fountains of Bellagio, large dancing water fountains synchronized to music.














The fountains are unbelievable - difficult to convey the spectacle by photo as there is music playing at the same time.

The choreographed water feature is set to light and music.

A show takes place every 30 minutes in the afternoons and early evenings, and every 15 minutes from 8pm to midnight.







The ceiling of the lobby at  Bellagio is spectacular - adorned with a glass sculpture of 2000 handblown flowers which covers 2,000 sq ft.

Bellagio is also home to Cirque du Soleil's aquatic production "O".  Kim and Finlay go to "O" at Bellagio on Friday night. They are really excited.

We have dinner at a nice restaurant before they head off to the show. Trevor, Mace and I then walk The Strip in the evening - we all get back to Circus Circus about the same time!

Out on the town!

Out to dinner

Bellagio also contains a conservatory and botanical gardens. When we visit, the conservatory is celebrating Spring and features a butterfly house as well as many varieties of tropical flowers.

Mace has the best time photographing flowers in the display. He is getting very good with his smart phone photography! Only the odd thumb ...!

At night The Strip comes alive. There are beautiful sights and wonderfully lit buildings. The dominant icon is the neon sign - the craft of neon sign-making is an art form alive and well in Las Vegas.







Mind you the hotels and casinos are pretty spectacular in the day time as well!

Caesars Palace

We visit New York-New York Hotel for breakfast one morning. It is a mini metropolis and features a scaled down replica of the Statue of Liberty as part of its facade and a host of other landmarks on the New York skyline including the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge and a roller coaster.

 Breakfast was pretty good too.

The Trump Hotel

The Trump Hotel is a 64 story luxury hotel, condominium and timeshare named for Donald Trump. The exterior windows are gilded with 24-carat gold.
It is said that Trump will build a second, identical tower next to the first tower.

Starbucks of course.

We visit  M&M's World. It takes up several floors. I thought Trevor was getting bored but ...  perhaps he is bored!!

There is every store imaginable.  Trevor finds a Zegna store in a fairly ritzy shopping mall.  He spends some time talking with the sales assistant - he tries on a Zegna jacket. Price - $29,900. The scarf to go with it is a mere $3,000. We know the product is made of the finest Australian merino wool but ...

 How many jackets will he take?

Then Mace starts taking photos of a Porsche?

Time to go! We come back to reality at the Coca Cola store.

I wonder what they said?

Downtown Las Vegas, the original town centre is home to the city's oldest hotels and casinos. Its main drag is Fremont Street - 4 blocks which make up a covered pedestrian mall. Each evening there is a light and sound show on Fremont Street.

We spend our last evening there and are blown away by the spectacle.