mybigadventures.com

At 9am this morning our breakfast was  delivered. We hadn't known what to expect as although it's called Sorrento Charm B&B, we're actually in an apartment so its not the usual hotel setup. Breakfast consisted of two trays, piled high with pastries, breads, meat,cheese, yogurts, juices and a choice of tea or coffee. So we had breakfast in bed, trying to eat it all, but finally giving up and putting some in the fridge for later. 

We decided to spend the day in Sorrento today, planning day trips for Capriand Positano for the other days that we're here. So we started with a meander into town, making our way through some of the bustling side streets, taking care not to get mown down by the plethora of mopeds zipping about. Just like in Rome, every crossing is like taking your life into your hands, as you close your eyes, cross your fingers and step out (OK, maybe not eyes closed). At the other end of the shopping area, we headed down a narrow lane leading to, what we thought was, the coastline. And it was! We were looking down onto Marina Grande, and could see across the Bay of Naples to Mount Vesuvius. From there we wandered along, stopping at viewpoints on the way. We arrived at Marina Piccola and could see down to the man made bays in the marina. The water was crystal clear and there were lots of beach huts lining the different sections. Ben had a cheeky icecream while we cooled off under a tree. There is a lift down but we decided to walk down, saving the lift for the more arduous journey back up. From there, we headed to the Porto, to find out about tickets for our planned day trips. Got the necessary info and I had a sandwich.

Feeling hot and tired we got the lift back up to the top for a euro each then walking back through the shopping district buying a couple ofsouvenirs and stopping to look in couple of churches one of which was in the process if being setup for a wedding. Decided to head back to the room to cool down a bit and feeling peckish ate some of the leftovers from breakfast.

Headed out about 6.30 to get some dinner, deciding on a place we'd seen on trip advisor called Divina Sorrento in town. The food was very nice and we treated ourselves to dessert too. Took a short stroll to a view point and watched the sunset taking some photos as it got dark.

This is just a quick one to wish Dani a very Happy Birthday. Hope you had a great day at the zoo and enjoyed the cake! 

I got up to the alarm, while Ben ignored it. I went down to Starbucks to get breakfast - they were particularly busy, so I had to amend our order. We had tea and I had a yoghurt granola pot and Ben had a classic sausage sandwich. While drinking our tea, Ben had a bit of a chat with Audrey on Skype and I got ourselves organised to leave.

We headed down to check out, posting our postcards on the way, at about 11:15 AM. Checked out, paying $125 (for parking). In the garage, we had to get a valet to move the car blocking us in, and then we were off!

On the way out of LA, we stopped to get petrol at the 7-Eleven and we also got some drinks and chocolate chip cookies for the journey. About 90 minutes in, we stopped at an out-of-town shopping centre for lunch. There was a Walmart, which we went in as we wanted to compare the prices. It was quite an odd place - food seemed to be very minimal - it clearly prioritised other items, from fishing rods to TVs. We had a look at the Lego - a bit disappointed to see the Lego set we had bought for less, but nevermind. We were going to buy some more, but decided against it. Bought some other bits and then went to the in-store McDonald’s for lunch. We were served by a teenager who seemed new, and consequently the service was a little slow… Ben had a Big Mac meal and I had a bacon cheeseburger. The regular size came with large drinks by UK standards, and, it has to be said, most of the other customers were quite large... We had to wait for our number to come up to get our food - slightly unusual for ‘fast-food’! Took our food out to the car to eat as the actual McDonald’s was a bit quiet and depressing.

Got back on the road again and almost immediately got stuck in a huge traffic jam. The SatNav kept telling us the road ahead was closed and suggested a diversion that would take an additional three hours. Despite this, we persevered on the original route and stayed in the slow moving traffic for about an hour before we hit the cause of the delay. There were a number of fire engines and helicopters carrying water, that seemed to be dealing with a smouldering hill. Traffic gradually picked up speed again and we cracked on for another hour, stopping for a break at another McDonald’s before we tackled the desert stretch. It was already very hot, so we had an ice-cream each (an Oreo McFlurry) and enjoyed the air conditioning in McDonald’s.

Set off again, planning on diverting off the interstate to go up Death Valley Road for a bit, to see the ‘infinite road’ (the road that seems to go nowhere!). However, about 30 minutes on from leaving McDonald’s - having gone in the wrong direction for a junction - we slowed to a stop. We were on a dual carriageway, with no alternative route, as we were going through the Mojave Desert. We crawled for over an hour, covering about 10 miles. It was nearly 6 PM and we still had about 170 miles to go. It was quite frustrating, not to mention hot. We had to keep turning the air conditioning off to prevent overheating. But we did manage to take some fun photos of Bruggers ‘driving’ the car. Eventually, we got going. Even once we got going, cars kept weaving in and out, which kept slowing everyone down, so we didn’t get up to speed for ages. We decided against going up Death Valley as we were already much later than planned.

The final stretch seemed very long, but we finally saw the lights of Vegas emerging. Followed the signs to the car rental return, which was so easy! Remarkable, in fact. ‘Checked in’ with the car rental, as it were, got our stuff and left, with a little receipt. Got into a taxi, and $17 later we were at our hotel.

Joined the substantial queue at check-in, but didn’t have to wait too long. We were disappointed to not be staying in the pyramid itself, as it is on a first-come, first-served basis. We instead got an ‘upgrade’ to the tower; a few extra feet and a bath. Whilst checking in, we tried to reserve a pyramid room for the night after Grand Canyon, and although the receptionist put us down for it, it is not guaranteed. Headed up to the room and dumped our stuff, a little underwhelmed. We have to pay $18 a day for services - which we can’t really use, as the Internet is wired. We went downstairs to get something to eat, heading to the food court. We had chicken and chips and then had a wander around the casino. We won a few dollars on blackjack and had a drink in the bar. We were appalled to find our 2 pints of lager cost nearly $20!! A little staggered, we decided to venture out, to explore some of the Strip. We walked through to the adjoining Excalibur hotel and casino, which looks a lot like a Disney Palace. We had a go on some fruit machines and roulette with mixed success. Went to bed about 2 AM, a few dollars down, I think.