gangstas paradise

first it was the valley of death and second it was Vegas, another very full day.




And it all began in another home of spaghetti westerns (we had visited one of its other homes on a previous trip to Hollywood) but Lone Pine has claims to locations for a lot of movies, past and present.  It even has a film museum to celebrate this fact, not open for our dawn departure, but available for photos, and providing a fabulous back drop to begin our day on the road.

wagon from John Wayne 'the cowboys'

parked beneath the sierra nevadas

Another 4 hours of driving today, this allows us to provide the grand total of our ground journey to date, in miles for the past 7 days from Vancouver to Vegas we have covered 1655 
This has meant a lot of classic rock!

First part of our journey today was the preamble to Death Valley,  lots of long roads into the horizon.

are we nearly there yet?

A lot of descending occurred into the Valley at sea level, you might remember we were at a height of around 4000 feet. Some of the descent today was what I expected at Tioga yesterday, sheer drops and switch backs.

going round the bend

In the Valley itself we took in the amazing Sand Dunes and Furnace Creek, where the second highest ever temperature has been recorded (first in the Libyan desert for reference) back in the early 1900s.  Pretty hot today too, surprised there is much appetite for hiking in this National Park.

sand castle time

it ain't half hot mum

On leaving the park it was not long before we entered Nevada, a couple of border towns with the casinos, legal cannabis and other 'adult entertainment.'   Also found the local heavy rock station just as we were leaving the Valley.

Pahrump .. bless you

Last bit of road drama for us was me playing petrol chicken to fill up the tank just outside Vegas, we were in the red and more or less free wheeling into the gas station.

our beasts oasis

schoolbus,school bus, take a bloody photo

Outskirts of Vegas and people going about their business, we found the Avis parking lot at the Mandelay Bay and said goodbye to 'The Beast'.

the beauty of the beast

Upgraded our room to a little suite, will close my eyes to the credit card bills when we return.  The likelihood of me making it all back in Vegas pretty slim based on my first poker tournament although I did make a random $40 on a Ron Burgundy slot machine, stay classy I say.

KK beaten by a Flush .. almost the only hand I played

money drainer

afternoon delight

Met the rest of the gang back in the room, as they had been down the pool.  Took our now traditional walk and photos at the lower end of the strip. Managed to find a budget food court meal, who says you can't dine cheaply here!!  And then managed to waste any savings made in the slot machines.  The only winner tonight was Carys in the Excalibur Dungeon.  Chrissi and I had a night cap in the Mandalay Bay watching loads of drunk conference types in one of the many bars.




-Carys-

We all  couldn't wait to get to Vegas, so we left Lone Pine reasonably early. We ate cold pizza for breakfast, along with a few other snacks we'd recently purchased. The drive to las Vegas was around 4 hours, and included a few bathroom breaks and gas stops. A lot of the journey was along Death Valley, and when we stopped to get out for a break, we realised it was around 40 degrees.  It is one of the hottest places on the planet. I don't cope amazingly with heat, so I was struggling not to stress out, but the Visitor Centre we visited had a ton of interesting information.

In the end, after a lot of driving and heat, we arrived in Fabulous Las Vegas. We dropped off our rental car (it was sad to say goodbye) and went to check into our at Mandalay bay. However, we were delighted to find out that we would be staying in the Delano - another part of Mandalay Bay - in a suite! It turned out to be amazing. There was a bedroom with two double beds, a living room with a sofa bed (and an extra single bed they brought up for us), two toilets and a large bathroom. I don't know if I'd ever felt so happy.

Dad went off to do some gambling, so mum, bryn and I went to check out the 'beach and pool area'. It was really cool. The resort had a pool shaped like a beach with sand, and a wave machine, as well as a lazy river and an assortment of regular pools. I'm just amazed at how beautiful it all is. We spent a few nice hours down there, and then met Dad back up in the room.

Post showers, we went out for a walk, and to find some dinner. WE walked across the bridges between hotels (Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Exalibur, New York New York & MGM Grand)

We refamiliarazied ourselves with the lovely sights and luminous lights, and wandered through each hotel and shop area. After our little explore, we settled in the Excalibur food court. Bryn and I shared a corndog box, me having most of the corndog, him having most of the chips.

I quite wanted to go in the arcade - the only place I'd be 'gambling' - so we did just that. I was shocked when I won 500 tickets (you can cash tickets in for prizes) on a game! I'd hit the jackpot. But then, I played it again, and got 500 more tickets! I was super excited. I don't recall winning anything like this ever.

I cashed in the tickets for a mug and lots of sweets, so I think that 10 dollars worth of games was well spent. Sleepily, I've come back to the room now, ready to go to bed.