2002 - Western USA
Mohave Desert and Hoover Dam
After our all too brief visit to Zion National Park we quickly made our way to the Interstate and heading for Las Vegas.
However, rather than taking the Interstate all the way into Las Vegas, we chose to skirt Lake Mead and take in the Hoover Dam on the way.
This route took us across the Mohave Desert and miles from any kind of civilisation. Personally, this was the greatest feeling of remoteness I felt all week, with no sense that someone would always roll by and offer assistance (as the Rangers, supposedly, will in the National Parks).
There were also surreal signs on road saying 'Hunting area' followed, a couple of miles further on, by 'no hunting area - no loaded guns to be carried'. Are you expected to hunt from your car as you cross the desert?
The final few miles to Hoover Dam bought us back to civilisation (and traffic jams), but, in intense heat, we parked in the multi-storey car park next to dam and wandered down for a look.
I don't know what most people's mental picture of the world famous dam is, but I'd imagined a wide expanse of dam wall. So it was a great disappointment to find a dam only a few hundred yards across. To be fair, it is, on the downstream side, VERY high (726ft!), but this wasn't what I'd imagined I'd see and I couldn't help feeling disappointed - Interestingly, the website features lots of statistics, but not (as far as I can tell) the length - seems no-one's too impressed!
It was extremely hot out of an air-conditioned car, so after buying (very expensive) ice-creams, we briefly strolled halfway across the dam and then went back to the coolness of the car and drove into Las Vegas.
Las Vegas
By the time we arrived in Las Vegas it was late afternoon.
Our booking at the Excalibur casino/hotel was confirmed until 6 and it seemed we had plenty of time as we started following 'The Strip' past lots of seedy motels, strip joints, etc.
However, as we got further north (and started to reach the more salubrious and famous Casinos, such as Circus Circus) the traffic became heavier, until we were virtually at a standstill, so we switched off "The Strip" and followed a parallel road and then crossed back, to reach our hotel at the North end of the Strip.
With just a few minutes to go, we parked up at the Excalibur - (which I'd booked over the internet a few days before we left San Francisco, because it was the Labour Day weekend whilst we were there) and went in search of the check in desk.
As with nearly all the other Casinos, you have to walk through Casino floor to reach the check-in desk, but we were lucky enough to arrive in a lull and were checked in straight away.
The Gambling floors (in all the casinos we visited) are kept in perpetual half light, meaning players never know if it's day or night and many people seemed to be spend all of both at the nearest slot machine, Black Jack table or roulette wheel!
After going to our room, which was pleasant, comfortable, roomy, but nothing lavish, Lauren and I quickly visited the pool. It was a surreal experience - sitting in the pool looking at the Pyramid shaped hotel to one side and watching the roller coaster on the roof of New York, New York on the other, whilst basking in the heat of the Nevada desert.
After a quick dip, we returned to our room, changed and set off down the Strip. As I'd been warned, there are lots of hawkers handing out flyers for strip joints and such things, which makes it feel decidedly seedy (a shame, since the major casinos are not).
As night fell we enjoyed the lights of the Strip, which, especially from the Casinos, were as impressive as you'd imagine, but even at night, it was very hot and quite humid.
Tacky souvenir shops vied for space with car rental places with Ferraris, Porsches, Corvettes and Vipers to rent by the hour, but we had a great value dinner in a Denny's diner. Even the kids were happy to eat here and my Steak was excellent value.
After a while, Ryan and Mandy returned to hotel, but Lauren and I continued on past more casinos and through the shopping centre attached to the Alladin, which is laid out (very convincingly) as a cazbah with stalls amongst the shops and a sky which even rains in places, at times!
We walked as far as the waterfall front at the Alladin and were about to return, when I spotted a large lake outside the Bellagio. As we crossed the road to look at it, spotlights suddenly illuminated parts of the lake and opera started playing.
All around the lake, people gathered as a stunning son-et-lumiere display accompanied dancing fountains (shooting scores of feet in the air at times!). In spite of the noise and bustle of the Strip, there was an awed silence around the lake and spontaneous applause as it finished. Lauren wanted to see it again, but I knew it wouldn't be the same if we watched it again, so we returned to our hotel.
Following a good night's sleep (my best for some days!) in our spacious room at the Excalibur, followed by breakfast Lauren, Ryan and I enjoyed the pools and Ryan, especially, was much taken with the hot tub!
We then walked back down the Strip in the hot midday sun to meet Mandy's sister and family, who were staying in Las Vegas for a few days before returning to the UK. They'd flown from SF, so were interested in how we'd got on.
They were staying in the Mirage, which has a volcano in the forecourt, which erupts and a white Tiger, which forms the centrepiece of the Siegfried and Roy show (lampooned on the Simpsons TV show) in a glass fronted enclosure (it's better than it sounds - like a good zoo environment) in the casino foyer.
We had lunch (waited a while to get seated, with 11 of us!), visited their room (which was much the same as ours) and then drove (in their car) back to our hotel (they've been in the US a few years and there friends were American, so walking was out of the question!) and started to explore some more of the Casinos.
First up was New York, New York, right next door. This has a roller coaster on the roof and most of the others (Excluding Mandy, Ryan, our youngest nephew and I) went on it, but at $12 at time (once round!) you had to really want to go on it!
We then went over to the MGM Grand casino - their gimmick is lions in a glass cage. The Lions looked bored and by now, so was I…
We then took the monorail from our hotel to the Mandalay Bay, which was impressively grand, but not (to me, anyway!) clearly themed. By this time, everyone else seemed to want another meal, but I didn't and was not much taken with the attitude of the restaurant staff who told us we'd have to pay a 17% service charge (I think this was the tip, basically, but don't even get me started on tipping in the States!!!!), so we split up from our relatives and returned to our hotel, stopping briefly outside the Luxor, the Egyptian themed casino, which (from photos we've since seen) looked worthy of more investigation.
Neither Lauren or I was hungry, so Ryan had a McDonalds. Whilst he and Mandy were in there, Lauren and I went to investigate the scrum outside the Excalibur shop (a great place to buy swords, miniature suits of armour, flags, lances, etc…). At first, I thought the attraction was the grey haired man in the middle (he looked familiar, like an old time actor), but I then heard someone say "He's the one in the red jacket". I couldn't see anyone in a red jacket, but Lauren (on my shoulders to see over the crowd) could. She didn't know who it was though, so I asked a woman coming back out of the crowd and she said "It's Michael Jackson".
I was, frankly, sceptical. Why, as I said to Lauren, would the famous recluse put himself through all the attention of the, admittedly small and secluded (it was upstairs away from the gambling floor), crowd to look at the contents of this shop.
However, as we started to leave, so did the entourage, making a path through the crush. It just so happened that I was crossing directly in front of the crowd as it was parted by the security man and I was face-to-face, about 10 feet away from the man in the red jacket and I must admit, if it wasn't the real Michael Jackson it was a remarkable look-alike.
Talking to the staff in the shop, they seemed in little doubt that he was the real thing and even went as far as to get his autograph. Another member of staff said he pops in a couple of times a year, so who knows…?
Next morning we had an expansive (but also not inexpensive!) breakfast, checked out and set off for Death Valley…
