Bigger and Better

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Before I start let me say that this is my first visit to Vegas and I expect that a lot of readers have been here before. So, let me give you my take on it from my perspective only. Vegas does everything bigger and better. I knew that before I came. Leanne, Craig and Ray are all seasoned campaigners from various tours of Sin City and I’d heard about a lot of the fun that can be had here. To start with, you may know there are some casinos. Well, you can do that if you want, but it doesn’t seem like the best way to spend your time here. Wander into the casinos to see the themed buildings and free shows. Vegas can be very expensive, but this is one way to have fun on a budget. By walking the strip (which is quite a long walk and you wouldn’t attempt to do it all in one day) you can visit Venice, Paris, New York, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Camelot, you name it and someone has probably built it. These places are all so clean and during the day you are glad to be in air conditioning too. Of course, the pool is another way to cool down and we did that most days.

Vegas has great shopping, which I did for about 15 minutes. Leanne, Ray and Craig spent a little longer at the outlets. Apparently, the prices are much cheaper than at home. But they don’t have any triathlon or cricket shops. So, I wasn’t as interested.

From Vegas you can see the Grand Canyon in many different ways and Leanne has done some of them before. But she always wanted to do it from a helicopter and that is exactly what we did. You don’t have to spend a whole day in a bus and the views are amazing. Plus, you fly in a helicopter! A first for Nathan and me! So that is two bucket list items I can tick off; seeing the Grand Canyon and flying in a helicopter. We also drove off into the desert one day to see the Valley of Fires State Park, as we still had our hire car for the first few days in Vegas. This was also interesting scenery. There are a lot of red rocks, kind of like the Olgas in central Australia. Then there are Yellow and white ones too and often you can see sudden changes in the colour like a giant paint brush coloured the layers. In general, the desert is green though. It has shrubs and other small plants that have adapted to the harsh environment.

We drove from LA to get here and stopped halfway to see Calaco, a ghost town. It was a booming silver mining town in the late 1800’s, but the price of silver dropped and the place basically shut down in a short time. Someone restored the old buildings and made a tourist attraction out of it. Now you can pay to visit and then they try to charge you again to do everything else once you are committed by coming through the gate. A bit of a rip off, but still a good way to break the journey.

Then, there are the shows and Leanne, Ray and Craig saw Ricky Martin one night, which they all loved. We also saw a variety show, which I was picked from the crowd to participate in and we saw a show called WOW, which did wow us a lot. This was an acrobat show with a water theme but there was also a lady who used crossbows is the most interesting ways. She shot an arrow at a target which triggered a second arrow from a bow. This happened 8 times before the final arrow, which had been carefully lined up, went over her head through an apple. It all happened so fast; the most interesting and nervous second of the show!

The strip is the newer hotels and casinos. The old ones are still going in another part of town. They are along one street, Fremont St. Fremont St is covered with an archway that projects images like a giant TV above your head. There are bands playing on a number of stages and you can walk along the street with a drink in your hand taking in the Vegas sights on every corner. Show girls, super heroes and more asking for a money for photos.

Another thing they do bigger and better in Vegas is traffic jams. You can’t drive past two green lights in a row. The strip is a permanent traffic jam and walking is the best option. Then there are the Nevada laws. Gambling is fine. We are allowed to walk through casinos with Nathan and he pushes the buttons on all of the pokies. No complaints on that front. But if he goes within a few metres of a bar the staff react and put the place in shut down. If we leave him two metres behind us so that we can order, we are equally bad for leaving him unattended. It seems like a nanny state on this one issue. However, if you are an adult without children, you are encouraged to drink and gamble at the same time. They have screens at the bar tops for people to use whilst they have their morning beers in silence, without communicating with another human being. I guess these people are looking for a different Vegas experience to me.

And as I said this is my perspective of Vegas. A father and husband who is usually walking with his family doesn’t receive a lot of solicitations. But on the occasions that I strolled the strip alone I was offered strippers, hookers and cocaine. That made me feel part of it I guess.

This big adventure is to celebrate Leanne’s 50^th. So, in Vegas we went to lunch at an awesome Brazilian buffet called Fogo de Chao. I can’t recommend it highly enough. The cold food would be enough but be careful that you don’t fill up on seafood and carchuterie. The meat they slice for you at your table is to die for.

One last comment. The panorama above is from M&M world. We all liked it here but I think Nathan got the most out of it and we still have a sizable bag of M&M’s to eat.

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Photos

Calico
We stopped at this old Ghost Town on the drive from LA to Vegas

Valley of Fires State Park
Team Stevenson in the desert.

Valley of Fires Colours
Yellow in the foreground, the red colour in the middle and in the distance is the green of most of the desert landscape.

Venetian outside
Nathan asked if he could have a ride in one of the "kayaks"

Fremont Street
The 'Old Vegas' with live music, neon lights, zip lines overhead and cheap drinks.

Hoover Dam
This structure is enormous and so is the bridge in front.

In the Canyon
Colorado River at the bottom and a mile of cliffs either side.

Lake Mead
This is the water held back by the Hoover dam. It stretches on and on through the course of the Colorado river and its tributaries.

M&M World
Every variety they can dream up. See the panorama above for all of the options.

Fogo de Chao
One of our buffet meals. This was by far and away the best and we had it as the first of many to celebrate Leanne's 50th.

Cosmopolitan Pool
Our place, The Jockey Club, has a dated old pool that is in shade most of the day. The newer Cosmopolitan is 61 stories next door and because it took the sun from Jockey Club, we get access to one of their pools.

On stage in the variety show
Everyone had a good laugh whilst we were wearing masks and doing as we were told. It wasn't until afterwards that Leanne explained to me why it was funny.

Comments

[Nina]

What happens in Vegas!
Jon, I agree with your perception of Las Vegas, pretty much the same as mine. You can do sleazy Vegas, but you can also have a really nice experience with all the themed venues, fine dining and shows. That trip out to the Grand Canyon is really something isn't it! Glad to see you all having fun there, and Leanne is rocking that bikini! (Jealous!!) Looking forward to the Alaska intalment. Happy and safe travels Nina