What Happens in Vegas

Las Vegas - it doesn't really need much of an introduction. Yep we were back in sin city and looking forward to a great time on our last stop before Canada. We arrived around midday and got in our shiny black super stretch limo complete with celebratory champagne headed for our hotel, The Flamingo. The drive down the strip was fun and oh so much better than the constant walking up and down we would experience over the next 4 days!

The only limo company we use in Vegas - fantastic service, fantastic price

W,A,C, me and D ready to partay

It was dry, hot and busy, just as it was 2 years before. The Flamingo although dated in certain rooms and areas was fine for what we paid, and our upgraded GO room was a definite novelty with electric powered drapes, a TV in the bathroom mirror and pink accents throughout. One thing that bothered me more than last time was walking through the smokey casino floor whenever we had to leave the hotel (a trait  of most of the strip hotels) and I think next time we visit (which won't be for a long time) we will go for a slightly smaller less crowded hotel without a casino (K&N stayed at the MGM Grand Signature Suites and they were stunning and seemed like more our vibe now that we're old).

The Flamingo GO Room, so funky

D - Money ain't a thang

With us at the Flamingo were W, A&C - we werent able to check in straight away so left our bags and headed for Maccas for a cheap lunch and free wifi. There are plenty of great things about Vegas but one of the things they do backwards is their internet charges at most hotels - it is about $15 per 24 hours and considering we were on a budget we just walked elsewhere to use it for free which did get frustrating. Vegas is such a spectacle, you see all kinds of people from all walks of life - it is alive 24/7 but this in turn makes it exhausting... especially with the guys and girls flicking their nude girl cards in front of you at every corner. When day breaks the cards litter the street. That night we all met up and walked around the strip watching the free strip shows including my favourite The Bellagio Fountains. Just walking from one hotel to the other is tiring because they are so massive! We decided to call it early and headed back for a restful nights sleep.



D & me at Bellagio fountains - love them could stand there all night

The strip

D didn't want to leave the states without shooting a gun that he wouldn't get the chance to shoot at home so despite my reluctance we were off to the Las Vegas Machine Gun Experience. Along for the ride were W,A&C. The boys had shot guns before however C&I were complete novices. My hands were so sweaty just standing int the lobby in front of a wall packed full of pistols, rifles, semi and fully automatic weapons. It was scary for someone who had never really seen 'A' gun in real life to be suddenly surrounded with the things. Despite my love of America this is one thing I believe they have totally backwards here. Their gun laws are archaic and it's no surprise to the amount of murder victims the country unfortunately churns out. I decided to have a go anyway, seeing as they had pink guns and donated proceeds for the use of those to Breast Cancer research. Surprisingly I really enjoyed the challenge of getting shots in the right place on the target and I was pretty good with the rifle... not so much the handgun though. From memory we were there for about 3 hours, and we had a huge load of guns surrounding us, the boys went all out! It was a lot of fun but I got burned on my boob from a hot shell that flicked down into my bra, I had a blister for days and still have a mark there!



Machine Gun Experience

The wall of guns, I found it very scary

D was a pretty good shot with this sucker!

I was asking for constant instruction - perfectionist

Afterwards we met up with K&N and all jumped on The Deuce (the double decker bus that runs up and down the strip 24 hrs a day) toward Freemont St. Freemont is the place where Vegas began, the bigger hotels start to thin out and a bunch of crappy little wedding chapels appear on the way up there (D&I were remarried at one of them on our last visit there). It's old school and much more daggy and shady looking than the glitz and glamour of the 'new' strip. The street is covered by a huge screen that lights up every hour playing a music and video show, it's probably the coolest free show in Vegas apart from the fountains of Bellagio. Another great thing about downtown is the drink prices. $2 shots, 50 cent beers, you can have a huge night on less than $10, and that's exactly what we did! We walked up and down the street (which was MUCH less busy and long) watching the street entertainers - again the spray painter was a favourite and K&N bought us an artwork to hang on our wall in Canada, and went to see the world's largest golden nuggest (from Australia) before settling into a bar throwing back cheap drinks until the wee hours of the morning. I can't remember much of that night but i know I had a fantastic time. I snuck onto the Deuce home without a ticket as in my drunken state I lost it - a big moment for me as I am not a rule breaker in any way and we got back to the hotel around 4am before eating stale maccas and passing out.

The Freemont Street Experience - Queen OH YEYAH

Freemont was full of creepy creatures for Halloween - and i'm not talking about the devil

Me & D enjoying the show

The boys got up early the next day to go and play golf in Henderson about 1/2 hour away. I felt so sorry for them all going off, most definitely with hangovers to play in the hot desert sun after that huge night we just had. I stayed in bed before C phoned me and came up to my room where we both 'slept it off' for most of the day and had a quick visit to the shops in the afternoon. K did the same at her hotel. By the stage they got back from golf we were well and truly all still buggered but the rest of our extended family had arrived in Vegas that day so we really wanted to try and see them all. We all arranged to meet up at dinner at MGM Grand however on arrival it was too expensive (I understand gratuity but NOT for a freakin buffet where you serve yourself and NOT compulsary!) so unfortunately we only got to say hello and missed out on the dinner. We had made late arrangements for a hypnotist show at Planet Hollywood so grabbed a quick dinner and headed back there. My feet were so blistered and sore from all the walking and I still felt so sick from the night before I just wanted to go to bed but the show turned out pretty good and funny so I'm glad we went afterall. We were in bed around 12pm on our last night in the USA.

On our last morning we got up early and checked out. W,A&C came down to see us off in the taxi - the last time we would see them for at least a year. We made our way to the MGM Signature to see K&N before we left but they were on a Grand Canyon tour that morning so we dumped our bags in their room and headed to get some breakfast in the lobby and a quick dip in the pool. As it turned out their return helicopter left them at the canyon so they were running extremely late and missed lunch and riding the rollercoaster at New York New York with us and the extended family. It was a really fun ride and great to spend a last hour with the crew, I hadn't been on a rollercoaster since our last visit to the states! K&N arrived back and we had about 1/2 hour before we had to leave so we quickly said goodbye and headed for the airport. There were no tears and no fears. Our goal had been realised and we were finally in the moment we had been working towards. No turning back now.

The NYNY Rollercoaster with some of our family members