Vegas, baby.

RIght so, Vegas.  After several hours of driving through the desert, we arrived at the Vegas Info centre. We called in to pick up so vouchers and get some info.  They had a massive roller coaster there, but everyone was keen to get to Vegas, so we didn´t stop.  Back on the road then.  Driving into Vegas is mad.  It´s just a city in the middle of nowhere, and suddenly it´s upon you.  Everything is massive, and each building seems to compete with the next to be more extravagant, and more brightly lit.  Most of the buildings on the strip are themed, so you have the Paris hotel, which has a massive Eiffel Tower in front of it, and the New York New York hotel, which has a Statue of Liberty outside, that kind of thing.  Turns out I´m more like my dad than I realised, and my first thought was that it was totally over the top (in a bad way), and was not impressed with the no-expenses-spared extravagance of the place.  I thought it was tacky and wasteful.  But you kinda get used to it.

We decided that since it was Vegas, we should stay in a themed hotel.  Luxor had been recommended as cheap, so we headed there.  After quite a bit of hassle, we managed to blag ourselves a room at a pretty cheap rate.  Luxor, by the way, is Egyptian themed, so the hotel itself is a big pyramid.  We checked in, then went downstairs for a drink at the bar.  That was the first big mistake - it was super expensive.  So we asked around, and were directed to a bar off the strip called O´Shea´s, (no, it was not my idea to go there!) so we headed there.  It wasn´t an Irish bar anyways, it was just another casino that had cheaper drinks.  I had been told of this free drinks while you gamble malarkey, but there was no sign of it yet.  We had a bite to eat there, and a bit of a mess on some of the games, but nothing too serious.  We headed back to the strip, and watched a Treasure Island show - it was basically a massive big boat on water outside one of the hotels, and they put on a bit of a show with some scantilly clad ladies diving into the water, that kind of thing.  You can just walk past it on the strip. 

Mike wanted to have a look at some places he had seen on Streetfighter (this became something of a regular nerdy occurence), so we jumped in a taxi to the old strip.  After taking his re-enactment photos, we went to Hooters (the boys were quite keen to) and did us some gambling.  I had no interest in slot machines, so I learned how to play Roulette and Craps.  I made friends with all the croupiers on my tables, mainly because they had to teach me what to do!  They were really nice though, and were clearly my new best friends, as the photos demonstrate!  My slightly excessive spending may have been attributed to the rather generous JD & coke we had been served in O´Shea´s, but I actually did really well, and ended up winning loads!  At one stage the boys went missing, and Nikki was really worried, but I was getting so into Craps that I figured that if they were really missing, they´d still be missing by the time I finished my game!  They turned up anyways, and we spent a bit more time there.  Then Rick and Nikki went missing, it´s all so messy!  Anyways, we headed home at around 5am, only to find that the massive beam of light that had been shining from the top of our pyramid had been switched off, so it was a little more difficult to find than we had thought!

The next day we were all pretty tired when the alarm went off, so I phoned down to reception to see if we could book another room at the same rate.  I started laughing uncontrollable after just saying hello, and while the guys are quite used to me laughing at anything, they were understandably confused by this.  What had happended was that I got put through to the front desk, and guy answered the phone and said "Luxor front desk, this is... Rick, how can I help you? Sorry I forgot my name there!"  That got me started, but then he went on "Oh no, I shouldn´t have told you that bit, now everyone down here is laughing at me too!"  I guess you had to be on the phone to find it funny, but I wanted to get that story in there so that I don´t forget it.  It really tickled me.

We got up quite late, and went out for food.  That didn´t go so well for us, and Mike and I totally faded after the first bite!  Rick and Nikki went to buy tickets for the comedy we planned on going to that night, and Mike and I headed back to the hotel for a kip.  We stopped off in some places along the way, including Gamezone next door to the foodhall, where we found a stand selling tickets for the same comedy show we were going to that night - meanwhile Rick and Nikki were on what turned out to be a 2 hour round trip bus journey!  We called in to New York New York to find out about the massive rollercoaster on the roof.  We came across a stand selling all different kinds of toffee apples - one was covered in toffee and then popcorn and then caramel - gross!!

We got the skytram back to the hotel, and had a bit of a kip.  The other two arrived back and went to the pool for a bit.  That evening, we all got ready and headed out, this time determined not to buy any of our drinks!  We headed to the Riviera, and paid $15 for an unbelievable food buffet.  With our bellies full we headed to the comedy in the same building.  We saw Bobby Miyanoto (compere) Marty Polio, who included a lot of really cool juggling in his act, and Dr Mylo, who played the guitar and gave relationship advice.  They were all pretty good, but not great.

We gambled for a bit in that casino, and again my luck was in on the roulette table - at one stage I managed to turn $15 in $97 in the space of about 10 mins!  That would have been a good time to cash out.  We also got our first free drinks, so it wasn´t all bad.  We played there for a while, then went back to O´Shea´s.  We decided that we should at least see Caesar´s Palace, so we headed there next.  Oh my god, even the toilets were, well, palacial.  Mike decided to go for another of his one off bets - $100 on one hand of blackjack.  If only he hadn´t been wearing his unlucky shirt.

We had to check out the next morning, so Rick and Mike headed home via the shop, and Nikki and I went via New York New York, to try to get on the rollercoaster, although it turned out to be closed.  We spent about 45 minutes trying to get directions to the tram, which a) was closed when we eventually got there and b) wasn´t actually what we were after in the first place.  Not at all annoying!  We eventually got back to the room, and we all realised that we didn´t have to be in the Grand Canyon till the day after next, and could have stayed out after all - oh well!  Sat up chatting for a bit, and paid for 24hrs of the internet in our room to book accommodation.  For some reason we never did this, and all I remember from the time spend on the net is Derv´s favourite place in Vegas...

The next morning it was time to go, but not before Rick had a moment to contemplate.  He thought that we hadn´t fully appreciated our hotel, and came out with a brilliant Rickism: "I think this is the first time I´ve ever slept in a pyramid"!!!  You gotta love them.

We bought a map in Walgreens and spent about 45 minutes trying to get out of Vegas. Driving in America is a bit funny.  Once you´re in a town, or on the highway, you´re flying.  Signs, however, are a different story.  In short, they´re rubbish.  Exits off freeways are numbered, rather than telling you where they go, even though the numbers of the exits aren´t on the road maps.  Lanes can split without advance warning, leaving you playing 50:50 when deciding which one to take.  But we made it eventually.  And that´s the end of my Vegas trip.

Click here for all the Vegas photos.