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Published: February 22nd 2007
Hooter Hotel and Casino
What a place - I would get married there if I wasn't already marriedFor those who know him, Jamo arrived in Jacksonville on the 8th of Jan which just happened to be the day Fi flew out to San Diego for a work conference - this gave Jamo and I a couple of days to explore the bars at Jacksonville before we flew to Vegas on the 10th. Needless to say a good time was had, no stories that need to be told though……..We did behave ourselves on night when we went to see the Jacksonville Barracudas take on the Columbia Cotton Mouths - the local ice hockey team. Well the stadium was packed with about 200 people and the 'Cudas got absolutely flogged. The most entertaining part was the chearleaders.........
Before heading off to Vegas we realised that we were going to the US desert and although it can cool down in the Aussie desert, we knew it would be a bit colder here so we thought we should pack appropriately….well, understatement of the bloody century, but more will be revealed about his at a later date.......
We flew out on the 10th and arrived in Vegas at about 10:30pm. We met up with Jacko and headed for our hotel. We
Snow on the Drive
This is a photo we took on a small portion of the old route 66 which was on our way to the Canyon had the pleasure of staying at the ‘Hooters Hotel and Casino’ which is a very classy establishment. Jamo and Jacko were enticed into playing blackjack and their money will be funding Hooters’ girl boobjobs for many years to come. Fi flew in on the 11th and we had a good night before getting up on the 12th and heading for the Grand Canyon.
We unsuccessfully attempted to leave early - mostly because Jamo was as hungover as a very hungover thing in hungover town after the first annual beer mixed with every possible spirit festival. A hearty breakfast at the International House of Pancakes got him operating at above 50% and we hit the road in our flash as Michael Jackson hire car. We went via Hoover Dam which was ok I guess - not overally impressive. I got my first taste of snow - and wasn’t it just an excellent experience, it snowed for a whole day while we were driving from Vegas to the Grand Canyon which turned a 4-5 hour drive to about 9 hours. Numerous photos were taken of Fi trying to catch the snow in her mouth as it fell - this got heaps
The Canyon
This is an amazing photo Jamo took of me using Jacko's camera. Says nothing about Jamo's skill and only shows how spending money on a good camera can make even and idiot a good photographer of weird looks from the locals who obviously see snow a bit more than us. Anyway we arrived at the Grand Canyon after dark in the middle of the snow storm and were a bit concerned that we wouldn’t be able to see a thing. We head across the road to the local steak house where some 'genuine' local Indians annoyed the piss out of us with a dance show - too many 'hey-ya-ya-ya's, and not enough shutting the hell up for my liking. We enjoyed a hearty meal with free salsa chips and potato skins whilst honing our poker skills for our return to Vegas.
When we got up in the morning it was a beautiful crisp clear day and a balmy -17 degrees. We loaded up the car before realising it was so cold the boot had stopped working so we drove the car with all our luggage in an open boot. We got out to the park and were met by the most attractive park ranger known to man - Jamo and Jacko beefed up the accents and turned on the charm to no evail. I couldn't open my drivers window to pay park entry because
The Iced up Car
You can see the icicles on the car from the water freezing on it - this kept happening throughout the entire day the ice had seized in closed. Although it was really really really really really really really cold, the landscape of the Park was amazing. It is the biggest hole in the ground we have ever seen - about 1.5km deep, The Rim of the Canyon had a layer of snow on it which contrasted against the reds and yellows of the canyon. Anyway, needless to say we froze our arses off and Fi couldn’t feel her feet most of the day but it was pretty incredible. We walked the major areas of the rim and found a place selling the most awesome hot chocolate ever. We then headed for lunch on a rim top restaurant which was quite delightful. After finishing our site seeing there we set off for Monument Valley which they use as the back drop for pretty much every western movie ever made. We drove there that night (about another 5 hours) and arrived at a little known town called 'Mexican Hat' which would be our lodge for the night.
Somehow motivated we rose before the sun (I think it was the first day we hadn’t had a beer which could explain how we managed to
Fi and I at the Canyon
Here's a pic of Fi and I at one of the lookouts get up early) and headed out to watch the sun rise. Once again nature turned on a beautifully crisp day of around -15 and we froze for 30 mins waiting for the bloody sun to rise. The cold got a bit much for us so we retreated to the warmth of the car…..except for Jacko. Although he packed worse than all of us he was the most determined to get that perfect photo. Thanks to USB cables now we all have that great photo, so a big thanks to Jacko. After the photos we took a tour of the reservation with one of the local Indians which was well worth it. It was pretty spectacular scenery with giant pillars of rock standing in the desert sands. After finishing the tour it was time to head back to Vegas for a week of fun.
We took Jacko’s Utah Tour and headed back the scenic route which, for the first time ever, was actually scenic. The first stop was at Moki Dugway which was about 1000 feet above the plains below. It had amazing views across the plains as you can see in the photos. We crossed the Colorado river and
Afternoon Storm
This is an amazing photo that Jacko took as an evening storm closed in - the contrast of colours and shadow is spectacular. the scenery was continually amazing and after nearly running out of fuel we enjoyed a service-station meal before heading back to Vegas. After driving for about 7 hours it got down to the coldest temperature we had seen, -22 celsius. This gave us the brilliant idea to pull over and get out of the car and see what it felt like. Well……in pulling over the car we managed to slide off the road (at about 8 kph) and get bogged in about a foot of snow. So here we are on a back road (thanks to the scenic route), at 8pm (very dark) with the car bogged and its -22 (very cold), awesome! Reference my statement earlier about packing for the desert - well, we were all certainly feeling our lack of appropriate clothing now, except Fi who was giving us some excellent ideas of how to get the car out of the snow from the warmth of the car!!! (note from Fi - I wasn’t one of the stupid boys who wanted to feel how cold it was…was plenty cold enough in the car) Luckily the local sheriff drove past and called a tow truck who pulled us out,
Monument Valley
This is the group of us in front of West Mitten - it was really really cold which is why we are all rugged up so much so we were only stuck for about 90 mins, but we certainly achieved the aim - we got to feel what -22 was like! On the drive back to Vegas it actually got as far down as -26 which is just freakin’ ridiculous. In summary, Utah sucks.
Anyway we arrived back in Vegas and checked into our AFVC accomodation - Fi and I had our own 1 bedroom place as did Jacko and Jamo, so no more spooning for them (I think Jamo was a bit dissappointed). Unfortunately the Hotel was a long way from town so we had to Cab it in which cost a bit. We spent the nights in Vegas basically Casino hopping going from place to place and really they all look the same on the inside. All the Casinos have different themes, so on the strip you can see a Giant Pyramid, the Statue of Liberty complete with New York Skyline, the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, A Giant Castle, The Sphinx, the Arch de Triumph, 25 Acres of Dancing Fountains, and a Giant Gold Statue of the MGM Lion. Casino's of note were the French streets lined with Poker Machines in Paris and the
The classic Monument Valley Photo
Here we are again posing at the classic Monument Valley Movie Scene absolute luxury of the Venetian. Ceaser's Palace was also pretty ritzy with pillar and Roman Baths all over the place. Vegas is exactly what you would expect it to be, extravagance, grandeur and wealth on a kitschy neon backdrop all right in the middle of the bloody desert!! Top performers are playing there all the time, some of the names while we were there are: Elton John, Jerry Seinfeld, Celine Dion, Justin Timberlake and Bette Midler.
Nights of note was our one big gambling night at 'Slot's of Fun' - the cheapest Casino on the Strip. We arrived and Fi, Jamo and Jacko managed to get a seat at the $3 blackjack table. I managed to slink off and win at the pokies for the first time before giving Fi a dollar to stick into the giant Pokie out the front - of course she won $10. I sidled up to the table waiting patiently for a seat while Fiona continually won money even though she was hitting when she had 17 or 18!! After getting dissed by the drink lady I found myself a seat and took control of half of Fiona's winnings - which was about $20.
The bogged Car
This is how we were for about 90 minutes in -22, so much fun! I promptly managed to loose this while Fiona kept winning. Soon we were all done and Jacko was the only one left - trying to salvage something from his remaining $20. Fi, Jamo and I had lost all our dough, but I happened to have exactly $9 so I thought what the hell and bought us all back into the game - What a move!! Between the three of us we kept each other in the game - Jamo would loose, but I would win so I'd give him my winnings to keep us in. We were playing on the skin of our Scrotums for about an hour before Fi and I hit a purple patch and started winning. We all eventaully finished the night about $30 up (except for Jacko who drew his $20 out the whole night before finally loosing it), but what a great night - we played for around 3-4 hours had free drinks the whole time, won money and then headed out!!
The next day we decided to do some hangover recovery shopping - and what good day shopping it was - Fiona cut loose by herself and bought up big. Some of her
New York New York Casino
Looked fantastic on the outside and had an awesome roller coaster. bargains included $20 cowboys boots and $20 jeans. Jamo got himself and new wardrobe and all the boys bough new leather Jackets. Dan picked up a $299 leather Jacket for $49 and Fi and I both picked up warm 'puffer' jackets for $25. These would come in handy for the coming nights walking up and down the Vegas Streets.
Whilst walking through one of the Casinos, Fiona and I were propositioned by a mob trying to sell timeshares. To cut a long story short we attended a timeshare presentation for 3 hours one afternoon and in return recieved 3 free tickets to the Rat Pack tribute show, 2 tickets to an all you can eat buffett and three nights free accomodation in Vegas (which Jacko took to bring Jen back later). So - after listening to their crap, we said no thanks and went to our all you can eat buffett - seafood everywhere, what an awesome meal. We then rolled our way around to the 'Greek Isles' Casino to watch the Rat Pack show. Well, what a dodgy little place, but it just happened to house the chapel where Elvis married Pricilla and Marilyn Monroe married Joe Demagio.
Luxor Casino
Obviously Edgyptian themed, and the hotel rooms are inside the pyramid The show was fantastic so all in all it was a greate night.
Finally our last night in town arrived and we decided we would go to 'Coyote Ugly'. Well....they happened to have a frozen Magarita bar and Jamo purchased himself 'The Boot' - a big plastic sucker which held enough alcohol to kill ten men. We took our drinks and headed downstairs to where a bad was playing. We ran into some Canadian girls who were celebrating their Aunties wedding and spent the night drinking frozen magaritas from Jamo's boot dancing. Next morning Jamo was once again really really really hungover...........
All in all it is a very surreal city but certainly worth a look if you visit over here. I’m not going to go into more detail of our Vegas adventures in this forum or I will certainly ruin both Fiona and Jacko’s reputation (I have nothing to worry about……), and we all know Jamo didn’t have a reputation to begin with……
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
You made me laugh
I've been reading your blogs this evening. It is always interesting to hear a foreigners experience and impression of America. You made me laugh not realizing how cold it would be in Vegas. Thanks for sharing.