mybigadventures.com

As we had packed up our stuff last night, when we got up around eight, we were ready very quickly. In preparation for our flight from Vegas, we had tried to sort out our stuff really carefully, even laying out our clothes for today! So, we were ready to leave about nine-ish. Packed up the car and then went to check out. Checkout was very straightforward - the staff were very friendly and we were allowed to keep the key cards, which have beautiful pictures of the canyon on, unlike the slightly less-PG key cards from the Luxor hotel (containing pictures of semi-naked women!).

On the first step of the journey, we drove back through Kaibab National Park. It was very picturesque and we saw a number of birds of prey hovering, with whiteheads. We think they may have been bald eagles. A couple also had white beaks, so we’ll have to look them up when we get home. The journey was straightforward - very straight roads and light traffic. We got to Kingman around 12 PM and stopped for lunch. We went to Denny’s and it was a very friendly and typical small-town diner. I had a salad, which turned out to be vast! Mixed leaves with grilled chicken, apple slices, dried cranberries and glazed pecans, with balsamic vinaigrette - delicious! Ben had a club sandwich with fries, and it had virtually a whole turkey in it, it was so vast. As we hadn’t had breakfast, we decided to treat ourselves to desert. I had pancake puppies - little balls of pancake batter, with syrup for dipping - for $1.99. Ben had a huge chocolate ice-cream sundae, with Oreo cookie chunks and cream - a bargain at $2.99. The whole lot only came to about $25, including a tip. Amazing!

Having had lunch, we crossed over the road to get some petrol. We put in $30 and it didn’t completely fill the tank - it seems a little more expensive to fill up than the previous rental car. Once back on the road, the rest of the journey was really good - more straight roads and easy directions. Once again, we stopped at the Hoover Dam to go up on the bypass bridge to look down to the dam. Although was very hot, it was windy, so the air wasn’t so ‘heavy’ feeling. The view from the Bridge was spectacular and we caught Bruggers on camera again! There was some interesting information about how the bridge was constricted and why - as a bypass to connect Vegas to Phoenix more easily and ease congestion around the dam. We approached Vegas at about 4 PM. We found a petrol station and put in another $15 so that it was full for return. As we headed into Vegas, the directions were leading us towards some particularly heavy traffic, but we recognised where we were, so we diverted, making it back by about 4:20 PM, in plenty of time for our 5 PM deadline.

Up in the Luxor car park, we unloaded the stuff by the door to minimise carrying it in the heat. Ben parked the car, while I waited by the stuff. Going into the hotel, Ben checked the car back in while I joined the queue for the hotel check-in. Ben wasn’t impressed that no one was available to check the car over with him, to authorise that no damage had been done and hence we couldn’t be charged. We dislike the way that they just hold you over a barrel. The check-in to the hotel was also less than impressive. The woman was less than helpful - lacking the necessary skills and communication - and barely told as anything. We went up to the room to dump our stuff, and discovered that we had got a room in the pyramid - with a view over the five pools. As there was no fridge in the room - you could hire one for $25 a day, but we didn’t think this was worthwhile - we collected ice from the ice machine and filled the sink, chilling a bottle of water and Coke - perfect!

We headed down to the casino floor and gambled a bit, and then headed out, to take photos of the hotel at night. We went to the bridge over to the MGM, to take photos down the strip, a slightly different viewpoint from before. It also got the MGM building in, although there was work being done on the main building, so their lights weren’t on.

From here, we went into the Disney Palace, visiting a gift shop, for more ‘tat’ items. However, found some awesome items and ended up going back again to get more gifts! Went to McDonald’s for some tea and then went back to the room to grab the tablet in order to check in online for our flight tomorrow. We headed down to the lobby to get onto the Wi-Fi - the hotel has now sorted Wi-Fi access, but it’s limited to only two hours. We got connected, but struggled to check-in. I had to go to get the charger plug as the battery on the tablet was critically low. Ben tried to get Lorna to help, but it wasn’t happening. We gave up and ended up heading back to our room to phone. I inadvertently called 911 in my attempt to ring out, but eventually succeeded and very helpful woman from United Airlines sorted us out, resolving the issue with our check-in. We finished the evening back in the Luxor, gambling on our favourite blackjack and roulette machines. Though we were up at many points, we took some heavy losses, having gambled big and lost (we are talking about $0.25 machines here!). We called it quits about $40 down.

Got up particularly late today - not surprising given our late nights! Took quite a long time to get ourselves organised and out. I felt quite hungry so we went into Starbucks - I’ve possibly forgotten to mention the number of Starbucks here - there are three within the actual hotel! Very nearly a Starbucks on every corner! This particular franchise had a limited supply of goods - Ben ended up with a bottle of orange juice and I got a turkey sandwich -  a little overfilled where the turkey was concerned but okay, if expensive. Sat in the corridor for a bit - sounds weird, but it seems to be the only place to access the free Wi-Fi in this so-called ‘luxury’ hotel. Checked bank accounts and totted up the money so far, and I e-mailed mum and dad as we haven’t been able to chat on Skype for a while. Not the comfiest place in the world to sit however, so kept it brief.

Then went in search of some ice cream - some quite elusive ice-cream, as it turned out! On Sunday, we had seen a Haagen-Daaz counter (Ben’s favourite chocolate ice-cream brand) and we wanted to get some. We thought it was in the Disney Palace, so checked literally every corner, in search of it. Had a go on the slot machines en route, but otherwise spent a good hour searching! Were on the verge of giving up in Disney Palace, and we were about to go next door to the New York New York hotel - when lo and behold, there it was! Success! To celebrate our achievement, we both had ice-cream - Ben had his favourite Belgian chocolate and I had peanut butter and chocolate. Well worth it! Sat and ate them in the very small seating area, before moving on.

Went across the pedestrian walkway to the MGM Grand hotel, one of the bigger and more well-known resorts. Have been struck by how much more interesting the other hotels are than ours; this one, for no apparent reason, had a rainforest-themed restaurant as you went in - I guess it adds a slightly unique touch. We went down into the casino and managed to win some money on the roulette machine. Result.

From there, we went back to the Disney Palace, to try our luck on the machines there, but had only limited success, with a bit more failure. So, decided to head back to our hotel and the trusty blackjack machines. Lost a little, but then seemed to pick up, doubling our money on roulette. I also accidentally bet $10 on one hand of blackjack, but it came through, virtually trebling our money!! Amazing! Cashed out and left it there. Went to the hotel’s public house, the same place we went to on Sunday, but this time with a two-for-one voucher, so the prices of the drinks didn’t make us wince quite so much!

From there, went to dinner. We had decided to go to Buca Di Bepo, an Italian restaurant, mainly because Ben liked the name. We had to wait about 10 min per table, but it wasn’t bad. It was designed for families - the dishes were designed to be shared rather than ordered separately, so we took the plunge and ordered an appetiser to share and then a main. Our bruschetta starter came with a large bowl of tomato and mozzarella topping, enough for the 12 pieces of bread that came with it. We then had a huge chunk of lasagne - rather dominated by ricotta cheese so it wasn’t quite what we had hoped for. Needless to say, we didn’t eat it all! It was okay in terms of price, but the portions were too big! We decided to call it a night after this, as we’d have a long drive tomorrow. Grand Canyon!

Got up late after our late-night - just before midday. Showered and got ready, then headed down to get something to eat. Our plan for the day was to see more of the Strip. So we started off with brunch! Using our welcome vouchers from the hotel, we sought out something other than pizza or burger and chips. In the Excalibur hotel (we call it the Disney Palace) we found a sandwich/salad place. I had a turkey Cobb salad, and Ben had a chipotle chicken wrap. My salad was huge! It had egg, bacon, avocado, tomato, turkey and salad, with Caesar dressing and croutons. Very tasty!

From here, we headed out onto the strip. Our hotel is set quite far back on the main road and it’s hard to see the Strip from it, so it took us a while to locate the right direction. Plus, it was like being in a fan oven, as it was so hot, so we were quite eager to get into the next air-conditioned building. We stopped at the CVS pharmacy to get a bottle of water to help combat the heat.

We headed north on Las Vegas Boulevard. As we walked, we popped into the different hotels and casinos. We went into the Monte Carlo, which was very glamorous, with strings of jewels hanging in swathes, with lots of glass and mirrors. We had a little dabble on a roulette machine and lost a little bit, but then won it back.

As we wandered up the Boulevard, we stopped outside the Bellagio - the one with the fountains. Ben took some photos and then we started to walk up the side passage to go inside, but, overhearing some people talking about the water show, we decided to hang about. When the show began, it was amazing! The water was actually dancing to music, wiggling and weaving about. And there was also water fireworks - spurts of water that shot out, with a thundery-type noise. It was brilliant!

We then went into the Bellagio itself, past all of the designer shops - so it’s clearly the posh one. We lost $5 straight away on a roulette machine - we hadn’t realised it was $5 a bet! We then found the one dollar version and trebled the money we gambled, so we were up by about $10!

After our gambling, we wandered to the lobby of the Bellagio, to admire the luxury! There were glass flowers covering the ceiling, which was so colourful - stunning! There was also a conservatory with some exotic birds in a large aviary. One of the birds looked like a little, tiny duckling - it was just a yellow ball of fluff! There was a wedding taking place - a pretty setting, but it must be quite annoying to have random people in the background of photos!

Outside again, we went a little further on, towards Caesar’s Palace and took a few photos down the Strip. Crossed over - all the pedestrian routes go over the Interstate, via bridges, so we had to keep going up and over! Then wandered down the Strip the other way. Outside the Paris Casino, we admired the Eiffel Tower and the model hot-air balloon. It is all very theme-park-like, but with less rides - it’s like an adult Disneyland. We went into the Paris Casino, but weren’t impressed to find neither blackjack or roulette machines! What kind of Casino is this? Lost quite a bit on the fruit machines, so left a bit disgruntled. Walk further along and had a similar experience in Planet Hollywood! Oh dear! So gave up for a bit.

Dropped into McDonald’s for a drink as we felt very dehydrated - it’s like a fan oven - I think I’ve said that already! Spent a while drinking and resting our weary limbs. We had decided to go to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, so decided to start heading over. As we walked that way, we went into a few ‘tat’ shops, looking for a sew-on badge for Las Vegas. We bought some postcards and keyrings as potential presents, and after a fair bit of searching we found a Las Vegas badge, although it wasn’t the nicest! Made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe and had a look in the shop first. Found a nice sew-on badge! Straightaway! We admired a little bear, which was really soft and wearing a Hard Rock hoody, but we didn’t buy him - yet…

Went upstairs and waited to be seated. While we waited, we played with the interactive wall, which displayed information about their rock music memorabilia. We had a pager, which, when it buzzed, meant we had to go and have our picture taken and then be seated. Our server was very enthusiastic, recommending all sorts of things on the menu. I had a cocktail called Gini Hendrix - gin and Cointreau, among other things! Yummy! Ben had a beer in a free glass, except the beer was pretty expensive! He had an ‘ultimate burger’, with everything in, and I had a pulled-pork barbecue sandwich with beans and coleslaw. Then we shared a chocolate brownie dessert. When it came over, the waiter got them to take a photo of me with cream on my nose! A little cheesy! It was all very nice - about $81 all in. We had to collect Ben’s free glass on the way out from the shop below.

We walked along a bit and had a look in the Coca-Cola shop and the M&M shop. Both had a spectacular range of merchandise - who knew they made so much! We headed back along the strip, past the Bellagio again, where we watched the night version of the water show and took some more photos. By this point, we were getting very tired, so plodded on towards our hotel. Feeling very tired and thirsty we dropped into Excalibur for a drink. We then hobbled onto our hotel casino where we played blackjack unsuccessfully and then recouped a bit on the roulette wheel before heading up to our room. Were surprised to find a room hadn’t been cleaned? A bit strange. Went to bed very tired, about 2 AM again!