Back to Vegas with untold luck!!!

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Today is 11^thSeptember (9-11). Touristy things must go on although there is an air of respect throughout all the lodges with the US flags flying at half-mast. Our visit to the canyon is at an end and we must now make the 277 mile journey back to Vegas.

56 miles from the Grand Canyon National Pak is a small town called Williams named after William 'Old Bill' William, a mountain man and trader who often trapped in the area. The town (or is it a city?) has a population or just over 3,000. Williams is just off the main freeway on the historic Route 66. We stopped for breakfast at a real American Diner. Roisin, bless her soul, was very excited as this was the first time she had experienced an authentic diner. The interior was like something out of Fargo complete with truck driver in his chequered shirt sitting eating his pancakes and mug of coffee at the counter!! We took a booth near the door and after studying the menu Roisin ordered a poached egg with hash browns and I ordered ham and eggs.

‘How'dya like your eggs', the waitress asked.

‘Over easy', I replied with an air of confidence.

Roisin then said, ‘Do you actually know what that is?'

‘No', I confessed, ‘but I've seen Pulp Fiction and that's what they say in the diner scene!!'

The waitress saw the humour and asked, ‘How do you order eggs in the UK?'

‘Well', I started. ‘You ask for fried eggs and then you get what you're given!!!'

We wandered around the immediate vicinity after breakfast (although, it was probably more like brunch!!) Some of the buildings looked like a throw back from the Wild West. The Well-Being Centre even used corrugated iron as the building material of choice!! A notice in the window stated: ‘Place Medical Marijuana card in holder'. That old chestnut, I thought. I wonder if you can order a prescription on line?? I'd love to see the face on the pharmacist at Asda as I handed her the prescription. What would it say? One spliff to be taken three times a day??

Moving on down Route 66, we pulled in at the Williams Train Depot where the Polar Express was coupled to a steam locomotive. This service doesn't start running until November where it whisks families off to the North Pole for a memorable encounter with Santa. For now though, it is just another tourist attraction.

A zip line opposite the train deport was in full operation, zipping white knuckle ride enthusiasts down a 750m cable. It's slightly different from traditional zip lines as the ‘punter' is strapped in to a seat. The zip line only travels about 30mph but I'm sure it feels a lot faster where you're up there, I guess we'll never know!! Zipping to ‘Get your kicks on route 66' was a nice touch!!

For such a small town (or is it a city??) Williams certainly had a lot to offer and would make a great base for the exploring the area. The only very, very small issue I have and I don't like to be picky but shouldn't Williams be spelt W-I-L-L-I-A-M'S?? With an apostrophe before the ‘S'??! As the town (or city?) belonging to??!

Before we made tracks (no pun intended!!) we assessed the fuel situation. As we took the option to return the car empty we calculated how much we'd need to make it back safely without giving the car hire company too much back. The tank holds 14 gallons. A gallon is about $2.25 and we have quarter of a tank left. We estimated that $10 dollars of fuel should see us home.

The rest of the journey back was pretty uneventful until we were about an hour or so outside Vegas. We passed a gas station that said: ‘Last stop'.

‘Last Stop before what? I asked Roisin.

‘I don't know', she replied. ‘Vegas??'

‘How much fuel do we have left?'

‘We're OK. We have about a quarter of a tank left. Oh no? Wait. The reds started flashing!! We have 50 miles of fuel left.' Looking at the GPS Roisin then added, ‘…and we have 51 miles to our destination!!

The next 40 minutes was excruciating. The fuel gauge was counting down faster than the GPS. We switched off the air-con to slow down the fuel consumption. Not sure if this did any good but we got a free sauna in to the bargain!! With 30 miles still to go, our fuel gauge was now showing zero. We were officially running on fumes. Do you remember the toes of the bronze statues I rubbed in the Hoover Dam that was supposed to bring untold luck? Well it had just paid off. We had limped in to Boulder City and lo and behold, a gas station

As we only had about another 30 miles to go I was only going to buy $5 worth of fuel but to err on the side of caution I bought $6 worth!!!

The Car hire terminus is well serviced by a shuttle bus to the airport and by taxis. We took a cab direct to our home for the next two nights, a giant 30 storey pyramid, namely the Luxor hotel.

As soon as we walked inside we were greeted by the sheer size of the atrium. The pyramid is actually hollow and looking up you can see all the way up the apex. All the rooms are on balconies that stretch around all four sides of the pyramid.

The hotel has approximately 3,600 rooms so is slightly larger than our last hotel! The approach to the hotel is covered by the shape of an enormous Sphinx keeping a close watch on the pyramid. A 315,000 watt spotlight shines in to the sky during the hours of darkness.

We hadn't had time to draw breath when a smartly dress man approached us, welcomed us to the Luxor and asked us if we wanted to see a show. We had already made up our mind to see the Blue Man Group who, as luck (but not untold luck!!) would have it, had a residency here at the Luxor. Our new best friend told us that tickets start from $75 each but we can have them for a special price of $70 the pair. Now I was always taught that if things sound too good to be true….he then went on to tell us of a brand new development three miles south of Las Vegas and all we have to do is spread the word. At this point he still had our attention but then made a fatal mistake. He started his next sentence: ‘We don't like to call it timeshare as this is a thing of the past…' He then went on to ask us for only 2 hours of our time. We will even get breakfast…free, say 9:15 tomorrow!!

‘So just to be clear, we go with you to this development tomorrow at 9:15. You feed us while you show us around for 2 hours then we get the Blue Man Group tickets for $70 the pair?'

‘Yes,' the man said ‘Only two hours of your time'

‘Do you have any literature or a DVD we can have instead as we have no intention of signing anything so why not cut the middle man out and give us the tickets?' I sneered. ‘Now if you excuse us it's been a long and stressful day and we just want to check in.'

We had to wait in the queue for check for about twenty-five minutes although the process itself was reasonably straight forward and was over in a matter of minutes. Our room, whilst very sizable and in keeping with an Egyptian theme right down to the sand coloured carpet and the hieroglyphics on the wardrobe, did not contain a fridge and we did not have any tea/coffee making facilities. For this privilege we still had to pay a resort fee of $26 per room per night. That is supposed to cover you for free internet, free local calls and a free newspaper. All of which were free in the Casino Royal anyway….and we didn't pay any resort tax AND we had a fridge and kettle!!!

Now we were faced with a dilemma. It had been a long day, we were both feeling tired and, according to one American, still 800 degrees outside (although I think he was from Texas where everything is bigger than it seems!!) The plan was to visit Fremont Street. Part of this thoroughfare is covered and from 8pm every evening a spectacular light show dominates the sky. This would be another ‘one off' experience and when in Vegas has to be on everyone's top five ‘free' attractions. We have just checked in to the Luxor. This is about as far south as you can get on the ‘Strip' without being in the Nevada desert. Only the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino is further away (and that's next door!!) Although, looking at any map, nothing seems too far, the distance from the Luxor to the Fremont Street Experience is 7.5 miles. There is a monorail that travels from the MGM Grand to the Sahara. This takes only 15 minutes and then there is about a five minute walk to the Stratosphere, one of the Northern most hotel Casinos. From there it is still 2 miles to Fremont Street so would entail either the Deuce, a frequent bus that runs the length of the strip, or a taxi. This seemed too much hassle…and we still had to get to the MGM Grand!!!

We have been fortunate to see so much and taste so many new experiences that this evening it was nice to just relax. We visited an Irish bar called the Nine Fine Irishmen. This is within the New York New York hotel. It was nice to hear live music that didn't make the ear drums bleed!! Tomorrow is our last full day. We will decide whether to visit Freemont Street or see the World Famous Blue Man Group. There is another factor thrown in to the mix. A friend of ours is arriving with her mum and dad tomorrow. They are also staying in the Luxor. They don't arrive until 4:30pm and it would be a shame not to say hello before we left. However, for now we were both content to enjoy our Cottage Pie to the authentic sounds of Whisky in the Jar-o, the Fields of Athenry and other foot tapping ditties.

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