Viva Las Vegas

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Hey Gang
Sorry there have been no blogs for a while but there was no internet access at the hotel in
Vegas unless you had a laptop. So I am writing this having already arrived home to Oz.
Had my make-up done at Sax 5th Avenue which was about the only thing in the store that we could afford and that was free! Very pretty Christmas decos though.
Got to Kennedy Airport and bumped into Sting and Trudie Styler...literally. They were before us in the queue to go through security check, so we have seen Sting minus shoes, and Trudie had her perfume confiscated,; they seem very pleasant and friendly. Nice to know that everyone is treated equally when it comes to security.
Arrived in LA intending to hire a car to drive to Vegas, however, Credit Card was maxed out so had to return to LAX with no plan on what to do and 4 very heavy suitcases. Met a Limo driver who advised us that we could buy a plane ticket on Southwest Airlines as they have a flight to Vegas every half hour. He very kindly drove us round to that terminal where we bought tickets. In the end it worked out better as it was a 40 minute trip instead of a 6 hour drive. Bit disappointing not driving part of route 66 though.
Anyway, on to Vegas. boy this place is unreal. Our hotel the Sahara is OK for it's age (it was built in 1954) but it is starting to look a bit ragged around the edges.Heard that it snowed in New York today.
The newer casinos are fantastic. Caesar's Palace is spectacular. MGM Grand is enormous..it took us 20 minutes to walk through this place. Mandalay Bay very stylish, New York New York astounding, Luxor incredible, Venetian incredible, Excalibur a teensy bit tacky, Treasure Island very tacky. The piece de resistance was The Bellagio. This casino is absolutely beautiful, breathtaking, awesome and absolutely a must see. For those who are contemplating a visit to Vegas, save a bit more so you can experience this. There is a dancing fountain outside that comes on every 15 minutes after dark......you really should not miss this. I didn't even mind that it was dancing to Celine Dion.There is a chocolate fountain inside the hotel and the most unbelievable Autumn display in the Conservatory. Everything about The Bellagio shows it is a class above all others (except Caesars Palace). We are told that the new Wynn's Hotel is even more beautiful, but we didn't manage this one. There were still about 10 big ones that we couldn't manage but we managed to capture a few frontages on camera. We heard that the Rolling Stones were going to be at the MG Grand on Saturday night so we raced down to the ticket office and there were only 2 tickets left. Tim decided that 311 dollars each was just too much. Disappointing...opportunity of a lifetime. Pollution in Vegas is the worst we have ever experienced...quite sickening.
If you are a cocktail lover you can buy a yard long Frozen Daquiri complete with matching straw, and you get to keep the glass. Not sure how you would transport a few of these around after a heavy night. It is a bit disconcerting to go down to breakfast at 7am to see people drinking cocktails and playing the machines, roulette and poker. Don't these people ever sleep?
Tuesday was our trip to The Grand Canyon. What an experience! 27 miles long, mile and a half deep. The bottom 50 feet of the canyon represents the time man has been around. The colours of the rocks change with the setting sun and are just staggeringly beautiful. It makes you realise just how insignificant man is compared to natures' awesome forces.
Hoover dam was very disappointing. We were epecting this huge thing, but it was really puny and pathetic looking. The mountains in the Mojave Desert were spectacular and we've finally seen a Joshua Tree. There is a very strange looking creature living around these parts... called a Jackalope. It is about the size of a regular Jack Rabbit but it has antlers like a deer. Quite bizarre!
And so to out last day. Boo Hoo!
Our flight to LAX was delayed 2 and a half hours with no explanation sowe had about 15 minutes to get our connecting flight home. In the end that took off an hour late because a woman did not get on the plane (for some unknown reason) and her luggage had to be taken off. It all worked out in the end and we arrived back inSydney at 8.10 this morning.
See some of you at work on Monday, but I'll bet you all have reached saturation point and will not want to see endless photos.
See y'all soon.

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