USA Road Trip - Part 2

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Hello

We arrived at Williams after a 7 hour drive from Palm Springs. This was our stop for Grand Canyon and we stayed there 2 nights. To stay inside the national park is so expensive which is why we chose Williams which is the nearest town and only half hour away.

We headed there the next day and it was packed with people. We finally got a space in one of the car parks and set off to do a walk of the south rim. It was amazing - better than I thought it would be. It seemed like it went on forever and the colours were great too. We had hoped to see the glass platform but apparently it was over a 200 mile ride away. Doh! We walked around for a few hours in the boiling sun stopping every minute or so to take pictures - the view just kept getting better and better! We went in search of a cold drink and ended up in this bar. We only wanted a soft drink but obviously we had to show ID (no-one here believes I'm over 21 even when I show them my passport!). Not only that - we had to sign a form and put loads of information on it threatening us that it is an offence to drink underage! Blimey! I only had an OJ!!

After more walking and looking at all the viewing platforms we headed back to Williams and I chilled out by the pool.

The next day we set off on a 4 hour journey to Las Vegas!! We went via the Hoover Dam which was quite cool. We arrived in Vegas 40 minutes later and found our hotel on the strip - Circus Circus. I can't believe how huge the hotels are, I still couldn't get by bearings by the time we left! Circus Circus has an indoor theme park, 2 casinos, loads of shops and restaurants and even a Krispy Kreme (I resisted though!).

We settled into our room and headed out to check out the strip. It was so hot it was ridiculous. I couldn't walk more than a couple of minutes without feeling like I was going to collapse - it was unbearable! We got as far as The Venetian which was amazing. It has an indoor canal which is really cool and loads of great shops.

We decided to check out the Vegas nightlife on our first night and headed out to The Luxor which is a huge pyramid shaped hotel and went to the club in there which we had to queue for an hour to get in. It was quite good and huge inside and we had to keep fending off men who thought it was their right to touch us wherever they felt like! How rude! Headed home hours later with sore feet - haven't worn heels for nearly 6 months!!

The next day we went hotel hopping but this time we took the car and parked in the hotels! We started off at Caesar's Palace and had a look in there. I can't believe how huge the hotels are and they make it very easy for you to get lost so that you can't get out and end up gambling all your money!! We also went to the Bellagio which was really nice and saw their huge fountain display where I got soaked! I found a dollar on the floor and decided it was a sign and was to be lucky money so I tried to have a go on one of the machines and it didn't go too well! I put the note in and we didn't know what to press and ended up pressing the return money button which printed out a receipt and we had to go to one of the desks to retrieve the dollar which was very embarrassing! The lady laughed and said "big win!". I tried again and didn't win anything :o( We ended up shopping again after that which took most of that day so we headed home to get ready to go out after getting some advice off a shop assistance as to where was best to go.

That evening we headed to Polly Esthers - the club inside the Statosphere. We were promised some cheese and they did deliver! There were 3 rooms inside and one was dedicated to 80s music - yay! The only problem was the air con was broken and it was so hot and sweaty which was not very attractive! We chatted to random people all night and during a break in one of the rooms that did have air con we met a group of guys from St Albans and ended up spending the rest of the night with them. It was nice meeting people our age for a change!!

We headed out the next day, with hangovers, for some more hotel hopping. We parked in Excalibur and checked that out and then went on to the Luxor before heading to New York New York which has a scary rollercoaster all around the outside. We had to queue for an hour to get on it and you had to leave all your stuff in lockers at the front so Deaks had to lead me around the queue like a blind person as I couldn't wear my glasses! Was glad that I couldn't see in the end as it was so scary and quite dangerous - I've never been knocked about on a ride so much ever! After that we headed to MGM, the biggest hotel, and saw gorgeous lions and then got the tram from there to Mandalay Bay. You can spend a whole day in each hotel and still not see it all and it takes about an hour just to find your way out!

That evening we headed to the Stratosphere in order to go up to the top for the cool views and to go on the Big Shot ride which shoots you up and then shoots you back down a few times. Normally I wouldn't find this too scary - but 108 floors up and in the dark I was a bit nervous! We had to queue just to get up to the top. The lifts go up 108 floors at a speed of 21mph - 3 floors every second which sent my ears popping. We realised when we got there that there were actually 3 rides at the top now - the other 2 have been built since Deaks was last here 6 years ago. They looked horrendous but we decided to go for it and got a ticket for all of them. The first ride was called Insanity and believe me it was insanity. It was right at the edge and once you're safely seated and locked in the machine moves off the edge of the Statosphere so you're just dangling looking down 108 floors in pitch black. You then start spinning round really fast. We kept watching whilst we were queueing and the people on it were screaming with fear. Deaks looked terrified and decided that she couldn't go through with it - the first time she's ever bottled out of a ride! I carried on in the queue with a 12 year old girls whose parents asked me to take her on it. I was shaking with fear and had sweaty hands but still wanted to give it a go and didn't want to lose face with this little girl who didn't seem phased at all!!! It turned out to be the scariest ride I've ever been on and I was glad that the girl agreed with me at the end!

Next we queued up for X Scream. This ride looked no better. It was right on the edge again but this one didn't spin, it just shot you off over the edge and then stopped suddenly just as you thought you were going to die! Deaks looked petrified and decided she couldn't do this one either so I went on alone and it turned out to be even more scary than the first one if that was possible. Every time it shot us forward everyone let out a really nervous scream - men included! When we got off one of the men said that it was the scariest thing he's ever been on and I had to agree!!

By this point I was a nervous wreck and there was only the Big Shot left which Deaks gladly went on! We sat there for ages before it decided to shoot us up at full speed. On the way back down I was actually lifted off my seat, between screams! Once we got off I said I didn't want to go on another ride for a very long time!!!

It was gone midnight by the time we got back down to the bottom so we decided to have another go on the machines. I decided to live dangerously and go on the 5 cent machines - money is far better spent on shopping I think! I put in $3 and decided on a sequence of bets that I followed and on my very last credit I pressed spin and the machine started ringing. It went on for ages and I got really excited and when it finally stopped I pressed the "collect cash" button and it said I'd won $27! Not a bad return!!! Maybe I was good at this after all!

For our last day in Vegas we drove to 2 outlet malls to look for bargains which took up most of the day. I must stop shopping at some point! That evening we headed very excitedly to The Venetian to see Phantom of the Opera! It is a custom built theatre for the show and had never before seen special effects. It was amazing. I kept getting goosebumps every time they sang but that could have also been due to the freezing aircon - they seem to have it up higher at night! We went to the Mirage for a drink afterwards and I was distraught not to be asked for ID - must have aged in the last few days! We headed home after that in a cab with a nice driver who I was chatting to who informed me that the current temperature in Vegas was 111 degrees and still over 90 at night! That is not normal!

We got up early the next morning and checked out of Circus Circus. I was really sad to leave Vegas but glad to be getting away from the heat or so I thought! I drove 5 hours to our next overnight stop - Lone Pine. We drove through Death Valley which was really cool. It was so hot I thought the car was going to melt and the car started shaking every time I braked which was scary. There were signs on the road to turn off the aircon to save the engine from overheating but we ignored them otherwise we would have melted! Luckily we arrived in one piece. There wasn't anything to do in Lone Pine so I spent the afternoon chilling by the pool ready for another long drive the next day.

Bye for now.

xx

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