29 Sept: Las Vegas (Day 3)

 (Again, told from memory and notes, too many years in the future!)

We got up early to get ready for our helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon. The transfer took us through almost every other hotel on the strip as we were the first pick up. It was a cool way to see them all (I guess). We joined about 500 other people at the helicopter place – and we slowly made our way to it being our turn to take off. We watched lots of other choppers take off first, and they all (nicely) flew along hovering just above the ground for a way before lifting off into the air. I don’t think I was the only person there who was terrified of the height thing. Don’t be scared people, just take a valium (yes, I did).

We met our pilot, Daniel and we were lucky enough to score the front seat as the 2 Irish girls, and 2 Spanish girls with us didn’t want to sit in the front. I remember climbing in and I sat on the outside. It was just a glass panel beside me and under my feet. A good view indeed. (Glad I took the valium). Once we took off though, I was fine. It was actually pretty good! We flew over the Hoover Dam (isn’t that big!) and across some plains on the way to the Canyon. We travelled alongside it for a bit and then Daniel let us know that we were about to ‘go in’, threw the theme from Bonanza into our headphones and down we went. It was magnificent, awe-inspiring, mind-blowing and a once in a lifetime adventure. Words cannot describe how fabulous it was. And we were down in amongst it all. It was a bit of a short ride as it was so twisty and turny, but still breathtaking even if it was only a few minutes.

We headed over to the Grand Canyon skywalk and landed there for our next fun valium need-inducing moment in time. It’s a big loop hanging 1200m (4000 ft) high out over the canyon with a glass floor to walk over. (You’ve probably seen/heard about it but if you haven’t, here is their website). There were people freaking out walking onto it, and about a third of those who came back were still freaking out – the other two thirds were pretty mindblown, so I figured the odds were almost in my favour. I put on my little paper nurse booties, and very delicately stepped out. Next thing I knew, a photographer was urgently saying “stand here, sit here” blah blah so that he could take the included souvenir photo. It all happened so quickly, that next thing I knew I was sitting on this glass floor smiling up for a photo. Then it was up and over to the edge for another photo. I’m kind of glad really, because once that all happened, I was more than ok to stand there looking out or down, and shuffling along with everyone else. I think it (almost) cured me of my fear of heights.

After that, we wandered outside and looked over the edge at a different spot and tried to take a couple of selfies. What’s with it with people that want to walk behind you and stand there though when they see you taking a photo! Who does that? Well, lots of people actually. Back to the skywalk to grab our official photo (my notes say that Mark wanted a different photo but we got the one I chose, go figure) and then back on the chopper for the ride back. Mark sat on the outside this time, and I got cosy and warm between him and the pilot. If you are in Vegas, this is a must. Expensive, but a must.

We got back to the motel to find that Jamie had been stuck in the room all day because she didn’t have a room key. No comment. No comment here about ringing reception either. She had a nice relaxing day either way. We all headed out to have a look around Caesars and Ballagio again, checked out the harvest/fall display and had some Gordon Ramsay’s fish & chips for lunch (not bad). I have a note that says “peach and ginger lemonade and iron chef with spiky hair”. Not sure what that’s all about but obviously something that impressed me at the time. We headed back into the Flamingo, found a shop that had a flamingo hat that I simply HAD to try on while watching my family walk away from me with shame. I liked it though. Saw a big Donny and Marie cut out so I had to have my photo taken with them, and Mark sat down to the biggest glass of beer known to man.

We had arranged to meet Connie and Kelly at 6pm to head out to dinner and we ended up at Margaritaville. Crumbed coconut shrimp and some watermelon cocktail meant that it was good. We wandered down to see the volcano explode (hotter than a KISS concert) and had a little gamble at the Mirage. It was the first time Connie and Kelly had played poker machines, so it was really just an educational experience ;-)

Back at the Flamingo, Connie and I (a little drunkenly) did the now world famous ‘Flamingo pose’ made popular by Celine Dion. Whether we succeeded or not depends on how many drinks you’ve had when you look at the photos.

Pictures (many) are here.

27 Sept: Las Vegas (Day 1)

Williams was pretty sleepy in the morning, aside from the multitude of hikers getting ready for their early morning hikes. We headed to a little cafe for breakfast that we had seen the night before. It was called some coffee brewery company and so Mark figured he’d get some good coffee there. Alas, the search continues. Brekkie was pretty bad, and the tea, well, it’s the first time I’ve not been able to drink tea (even after the hot milk with a tea bag in it in Spain). It was really, really bad and smelt like it was from the dregs of an urn. There was a table full of old guys next to us and one turned out to be pretty chatty. He’d never been to Australia but had shared a tour bus with a load of Aussies to Disneyland. His opinion was that Aussies knew how to party and so he just wanted to visit Australia sometime. He was a nice guy actually, didn't try to teach us about Australia (unlike others) and then wished us fun for the rest of our trip.

Before we left the town for Vegas, I found Smokey the Bear and we had a little chat (see photos) and we saw the Grand Canyon steam engine getting ready for its day of work. We were a bit late heading out of town as we’d really taken it slow and easy this morning, but soon enough, we were on our way to Vegas baby!

What a crazy town! You just immediately come alive as everything is buzzing, electric and alive. It was an instant burst of energy. We found the Flamingo and tried to get into the valet parking - this in itself was an ordeal. Too many lanes, too many circular driveways, too many cars, and too many people. But we eventually ended up in the correct lane and a nice man took the car away after unloading our bags for a nice sum. Walking into the actual hotel part, we were greeted by an enormous gold cage that housed a beautiful macaw parrot. While he was lovely to look at and coo over, we both felt a bit sad that he wasn’t free to fly around. I had images of that macaw in the animated movie ‘Rio’. He should have been out there looking for his girlfriend.

Both Jamie and Connie had arrived and as we were walking through the massive complex that is the Flamingo, amongst the throngs of people, we saw Jamie walking towards us. It was so good to see her again, it felt like it had been forever and what a place to reunite. On to the lobby only to find that we couldn’t use the self check in as our passports were safely locked away in our luggage.

While we were standing there trying to figure it all out, someone behind me wrapped their arms around me. I froze as I knew it was Connie and I didn’t want to turn around too quickly. Ten years of being online with each other, skyping, sharing birthdays and Christmases and so many stories. I was so excited to actually be in the same room with her, to be able to hug her for real. When I turned around, we both looked at each other, burst into tears and just kept hugging. It was fabulous. Skype doesn’t do her justice LOL. We’d chat a little, hug again, cry again, chat some more - hit the repeat button here. So, so good.

Jamie and Mark headed off to wait on the massive line for the check in and were somehow, bumped up to the silver class for check in, so we all walked through some pretty snazzy doors. Alas, we still needed the passports, so it was down to the valet, grab the right bag, grab the passports, and then start again. Needless to say, Mark and Jamie looked after all of that so that Connie and I could chat, hug, cry, chat, hug, cry…… etc.

We were given a room on the 27th floor (out of 28) which was on the strip. We were pretty excited until we got to the room. It needed some work. That’s the best way to say it. Plus, it was very small. We saw into a few others around us during the few days we were there, and yes, ours was very small in comparison. Even the guy who brought our bags up noted that we were in the smallest room on the strip side (without prompting - and he said he was baffled as to why it was a small and dodgy room, again, without prompting) BUT, the view was amazing and made it so worthwhile that we didn’t ask for another. We were directly opposite Caesar’s Palace and the Bellagio fountains were just to the left, so we had a great view of them. The Mirage was just to the right, and that was where we saw the Cirque Beatles show ‘Love’. So we were right in the middle of the strip and looking down on all the action. We went for a quick tour of the hotel and saw the pool (what a crazy party place that we were about 30 years too old for) and the flamingo enclosure. The flamingos seemed pretty happy. They were all standing around, like flamingos do, and having a big wing flap here and there. It was pretty cool - flamingos at The Flamingo. We wandered out to have a look at Caesars and the Bellagio fountains. It was bloody hot in the sun, so we headed into the little mall near the Bellagio and I fawned over the Harry Winston jewelry window display. As we headed back towards the street exit, the fountains went off. We watched them through a window in the air conditioned mall, and they were dancing along to Elvis with ‘Viva Las Vegas’ which seemed entirely apt for our first hours in Vegas. We didn’t realise at the time that the fountains play a different song every time.

Mark and Jamie had a little snooze (poor Jamie had been awake for almost 30 hours at this stage) and I went to Connie and Kelly’s room. Connie brought her friend Kelly along for the ride (very pragmatic of her) as she knew there would be times that we’d be doing our own thing. It worked out well for everyone. Connie had brought some LuLaRoe Disney leggings for me and so I got to try them on and decide which ones I wanted as well as a very funky top. Needless to say, I’m living in them at the moment. It was lovely to meet Kelly and sit around laughing and having some fun.

After everyone was awake and refreshed, we headed down for some dinner. There was a little arcade strip beside the hotel which had some great little restaurants. We found a place that seemed right, and headed in, along with what seemed to be 500 other people. It was loud, and frantic and very Vegas. We had a booth and craft beers and cocktails and a heap of laughs. Kelly tried her hand at learning some Aussie words (and pronunciation) and it had us all in hysterics. ‘Mate’ and ‘ridgey didge’ were just hilarious. We all had tears streaming down our faces and Connie and I complained about how much our tummies hurt from laughing so much. It really was such a fun night. Laughter, good friends, good food and some nice little drinkies.

Jamie needed to crash and so Mark, Connie, Kelly and I headed out for a little wander. Connie needed a little help walking (what can I say! She was tired?) and we saw the Bellagio fountains do two shows, one to Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ and the other to ‘All That Jazz’. They are pretty amazing to watch. I can’t get over how totally packed the streets were on a Wednesday night. There were people everywhere and some were really interesting to look at LOL. We saw Iron Man and a very dodgy looking Chewbacca. People were handing out hooker business cards and “free” offers to this and that. Seriously, there were people everywhere. We all decided that we were buggered and headed back to the Flamingo. It was an excellent introduction to Vegas. Tomorrow - the wedding!

Click here to see some pics.