26th May 2012

---

Today after a good breakfast (free) at the Hotel La Quinta we left Bishop for Las Vegas.

We started out about 7-30am and took a route through Death Valley. We had a coffe stop at Stove Pipe Wells and paid for a visitor pass into Death Valley National Park. Not sure that we needed to but the money goes to a good cause maintaining the National Parks.

We diverted off our direct route via Furnace Creek to see more of Death Valley. It is usually very hot in the vally but today was quiet pleasannt 68 degrees farenheit.

We had left Bishop which was at an altitude of 5,600ft and now in Death Valley were 195ft below sea level.

Out of Death Valley into Nevada and crossing the state border stopped at Longstreet Inn Casino in the middle of nowhere. We did not participate in the gambling but had a good lunch in their dining room, although we appeared to be the only visitors so far that day!

Then pushed on towards Las Vegas, on route decided to go through Las Vegas and visit the Hoover Dam. Stopping at Boulder to refuel we soon arrived at the Hoover Dam.

The dam seemed very crowded with visitors, not sure if it is extra busy this weekend because Memorial Day Bank Holiday weekend.

The temperature had now risen to 75 degrees farenheit and seemed very pleasant in the sunshine after the cold in Bishop the night before.

We have now arrived in Las Vegas (it seems the same time as about 10 million other visitors) and are still a bit shellshocked at the scale of everything.

The whole experience of Las vegas is indescribable. The noise , the crowds and the sheer OTT was almost too much and I think if the traffic and the money laid out had not been so much we may have turned round and left on the double. It seemed horrendous!

Now we have found some edible food and started to walk around a bit, it is getting more fun. We have just cruised the strip with 20 million others and settled in the Venetian which is quiter and has a canal and gondoliers, rather than our hotel the Mirage which is very noisy.

I think a day is all we shall manage before Vern and Bob get panic attacks. Annette and I think we could manage some retail therapy although the prices are silly. Maybe because we were looking in Tiffanys and Luis Vuitton.

Our room looks out over Trump Towers and Treasure Island.

I will try and get some pictures but it is very difficult to stop as the others keep going and the crowds mean one gets lost very quickly.

I think Excessive is the only word to describe the whole place.

---