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Published: January 14th 2009
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In Yosemite
Yes, that's pronounced yo-sem-it-ay dummy!! Following the mammoth 15-hour journey from San Francisco to Las Vegas via Yosemite, I believe Franny and I should perhaps look at a map before setting off on these wild adventures. We had wanted to see as much of the country as possible, so we thought it would be a good idea to experience the famous landscape of Yosemite National Park (incidentally, just in case you have an insensitive best friend who almost wees herself laughing at your mistakes: it is pronounced Yo-sem-it-ay, not Yos-eh-mite like I thought). Our GPS did get slightly confused at the National Park system, but we got there eventually. Because of the late hour, we thought it best not to hike up to the falls, as we still had a 9 hour drive to Vegas. Driving around the park was visually stunning, however, and definitely worth the detour.
Later on that night, the fog descended. I literally could not see more than 2 feet of tarmac in front of the car. Luckily we were saved by our knight in shining Mack truck, as we found and followed his slow moving tail lights safely out of the fog. By the time we reached Vegas it was
Big Red Bob and Frances
The only driving she was allowed to do was round this car park. Right next to a cliff, ahem. past midnight, and although we were bleary-eyed, the bright lights and excitement couldn’t really help but have an affect on us. We were slightly less than excited upon arrival at our less than salubrious hostel, but it was a bed, and at that point, that was all that mattered.
The hostel did not improve in daylight, but having found out from our room mates that weekday rates in the hotels were generally quite cheap, we decided to make other arrangements. Nevertheless, we had booked tickets for the Gospel Bruch at the House of Blues, so we drove down to Mandalay Bay Casino to watch the show. The music was awesome and the immense buffet table was packed with fried chicken, cooked breakfasts, roast meat, salads and deserts, which we took full advantage of. There was a lot of clapping and audience participation that I think would maybe have been better appreciated by people slightly more religious than us.
Fully satiated, we rolled ourselves back to the car and on to another great Vegas experience: outlet mall shopping! Unfortunately, there was far too much we wanted to buy and far too little money in our pockets to buy it
with. Where are those famous Vegas sugar daddies when you need one?!
The following day we visited the Hoover Dam and power plant. We took the tour and learned about the history of the structure and then went for a walk along the top of it. The views were spectacular down the dam and across Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake in the world. Our stop in a town-sized Wal-Mart on the way back, meant that we arrived in Vegas in darkness. Well, technically I don’t think Vegas is ever dark, but being that it was night time, we took a drive along the strip to see it as it is supposed to be seen: lit up and dazzling. It was a task staying on the road and not crashing the car as I rubbernecked the whole length of the Strip. It looked exactly like in the movies: the Bellagio, Caesars Palace, the Mirage and so many more. Next we saw it from above, as we went up 350m in the Stratosphere Casino to look over the lights of the city.
Thankfully our pre-booked time at the hostel was over the following morning, so we packed up Bob
and got on our way. The check-in time at our new hotel was not until later in the afternoon, so we travelled gypsy-style with all our belongings all the way to the Grand Canyon. When you are clear of the city, the vastness of the landscape is mind blowing, but gradually after long straight mile follows long straight mile, you start to long for some different scenery, or even a bend in the road. We also learned to take full advantage of the rest stops, as they were few and far between, and when the road intersected with the famous Route 66, we even stopped to powder our noses there too.
Four hours of driving - during which, Franny managed to sit in all six of the other car seats, entertain me with her guitar playing and ask “Are we there yet?” at least 106 times (ah, the joys of a minivan, I don’t know why I haven’t driven one before now…) - and we eventually made it to the Grand Canyon. I thought Franny was going to start crying when we were told at the Visitor Centre that we were still 5 hours drive from the glass walkway
she had wanted to go on. However, I definitely would have cried louder if she had tried to make me drive a 16 hour round trip just to see the bottom of a rocky canyon. So we made do with the scenery that was there. We took many pictures, dodged Japanese tourists, laughed at the rudely named ‘Rim Trail’, marvelled at the massive, giganticness of it all, and then we drove home. I’m glad we got to see it but I think I’ll take a helicopter next time.
Back in Vegas, we unpacked Bob again, but this time into a proper Vegas hotel: The Plaza. There were lights outside, a bar, restaurants, and of course, a casino. It wasn’t the most fancy hotel on the Strip (well, technically it wasn’t on the Strip, but it was close!) but it was far better than the hostel had been. And we had a room to ourselves. Everyone say ‘Oooh’ because we had a double bed to sleep in. Each!
The Plaza was opposite the Fremont Street Experience. This was a street that gave the impression of being a tunnel, as it had ceilings made of a flat screened TV that
spanned 3 blocks - the biggest television in the world, so I’ve been led to believe… There were different shows on the hour, which we caught two of, before and after dinner.
The next day was reserved for scouting locations for our night out. We headed along to Caesars Palace and got free passes to a hip hop club called Poetry. After having Thanksgiving lunch (a day early) in the casino food court, we wandered a bit more and then started to walk back to the hotel whilst running some more errands. On the way back I discovered that walking 6 miles along the Strip in flip-flops is a big, bad idea. Later on, when we were dressed to impress, we went back to Caesars (by bus this time…) and had some pre-club drinks in Shadow, which aptly had silhouetted half naked ladies dancing behind screens. The night got steadily tipsier as we found ourselves in Poetry, which was full of dressed up white girls who didn’t seem to mind the terrible music. Next. Another bar and we found some friends. Another casino and we found some more friends. These friends had a friend that drove a limo which
took us to a strip bar. This was amusing for a while, but soon the night was winding down and I found myself walking along the Strip yet again. But in 5 inch heels this time. When will I learn?
Thanksgiving was spent mostly in bed recovering, watching bad movies and eating rubbish. Again we were thankful for having a room to ourselves. The next day we said goodbye to Big Red Bob after dropping him at the airport. Our time in Vegas was over, but I think we managed to check most of the boxes: eat an obscene amount at a buffet; see a show; drive (and walk) the Strip; buy tacky souvenirs; take part in some gambling, and even leave with a 5 buck chip from Caesars (even if you can’t really remember winning it…). It was an ‘experience’ I think. Not one to be repeated too soon. It’s a bit like eating a whole box of Thorntons Continentals at once: a little bit rich, makes you feel a bit sick and ever so guilty, but you know you’ll go back there at some point in the future. But enough of chocolate, it’s time for a bite
of the Big Apple.
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