Winning in Vegas

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Our first shock on arrival in Los Angeles was changing money, as the exchange rate was $1.21 to the pound, far less than when we were here last and far less then we had budgeted for.

We only had two days in Los Angeles but luckily we spent it wisely. We arranged a full day sightseeing bus tour which took us round all the sights and we had them described by an excellent tour guide who entertained us with his comments as only Americans can do.

We moved on to Las Vegas which has grown immensely since Terry was last here in 1984. Apparently, the population has been doubling every 3 years, it is now a city. We had booked into Circus Circus and from our room on the 23rd floor we had a panoramic view of much of Las Vegas. We walked and walked. We watched roulette and craps (how do they understand that game) in almost every casino. We saw people losing indecent amounts of money without remorse.

On the Friday we rented a car and drove to the Grand Canyon, however, Terry said this hadn't grown at all since he was last here! For once we could use the much understated (or is it overstated?) word in its true sense, it was 'awesome'. We drove along the south rim stopping to have photos taken whilst trying not to show the freezing weather and fear of heights. That evening we stopped in an old cowboy town called Williams where we found a homely cafe. The men in the cafe must have still thought they were cowboys, still wearing traditional leathers, cowboy hats and boots.

Next day, Saturday, we set out for the canyon's west rim. There was a shortcut up an unmade road so we took it. Along the way Michelle saw some strange cactus trees and wanted her photo taken next to one(she has a thing about cacti). So we both jumped out and Michelle went to pose at the tree. Unfortunately, she moved too close, was pricked by the spikes, jumped sideways and hurt her finger on the tree. The hospital says she may be able to take the splint off her broken finger in 4 weeks! We eventually reached the west rim and could see the canyon again, however, we refused to pay the exorbitant £35 each for the cumpulsory bus ride to the edge. The £200 helicopter ride was similarly out of the question, so we returned to Las Vegas for the last night of our trip.

Sunday morning we had a lazy breakfast and decided that we had not gambled at all in Las Vegas so off we went to the Riviera Casino. Michelle put a $1 note in a simple 25 cents slot machine and we took it in turns to pull the handle. We managed to improve the $1 to $1.25 so we cashed in and took our 25 cents winnings. We must be one of the few to leave Vegas with a profit, however small!

Later that day we flew back to the UK arriving at Gatwick on Monday morning 2nd Feb only to find utter chaos, which snow seems cause in the UK.

This concludes our trip. We have had a great time. Considerably poorer in pocket but richer in knowledge and friendships.

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Photos

All men are the same!
Judging by the wear on the bottoms he was not the first!

Michelle and her cactus tree.
Doesn't appear to be anything wrong with her finger there!