Anchorage to Seattle and then onto Las Vegas oh yeah baby!! 21st June

Leaving Anchorage (thank goodness!!) going to VIVA LAS VEGAS (I am singing that when I type it!) via Seattle

 

21st June 

 

 

Our view out of our room in Anchorage

 

So here is our shower that we are sharing between I’m not sure how many people in the hostel and I don’t really want to think about it either thank you very much!  Just to cap it all off there were two people (who we felt like were standing next to our ear’s but the gaps at the bottom of the doors didn’t help) one lady broken English and the other lady American having a very loud conversation about random stuff at 5.30am!!  I forgot to tell them I had cancelled my early wake up call, oh boy we didn’t sleep well but Amy did and that is the main thing!

 

Let’s get out of here as surprisingly I don’t feel very clean even after my shower!! 

It is a bit bizarre as we had our times for the flights sorted at 12.30 so we are getting ready when Colin’s mobile goes off.  This was Delta airlines informing us that our flight was delayed from 11am to 11.25am, so Colin says thanks for letting us know but we didn’t know that our flight was at 11am!!  We do generally leave plenty enough time for flights but I think we probably would have missed that flight if we hadn’t got that phone call, that certainly would have been the icing on the cake!!!!  Could you imagine my face if that had happened hee hee!!  All other airlines have emailed us if there are any changes to our flights, weird!!!

 

Amy is happy as we are checking out!!!  Aren't we all as now we have ended up with a few red areas that have appeared, little bites on Colin's forehead, arm and on my thumb of all places!!  Bites of some description and I don't want to think about what has bitten us either just get out of here NOW!!!

 

Oh if I had known that this morning I maybe would have said something to the two ladies

 

It is a yellow cab to the airport, let’s get the heck out of here, no likey!!!

 

Checked in, through security and waiting to board now.  Everyone is excited now for Viva Las Vegas!!

 

The aeroplane we are going on

 

We did a search of who that is on the tail, we all thought someone famous but didn’t know who??  Amy thought it might have been Ben Benson (the guy that designed the Alaskan flag as the tail is on Alaskan Airlines) but no it is a random Eskimo, nobody famous!!

 

Now as you know that we are on a budget along the way too!  But this really takes the biscuit that there are no life jackets only our cushions that make a floatation aid!!  To top it all the flight we are on flies majority of the time over water, we are doomed!!  Seriously I am not having a good 24 hours and Colin's ear is nearly chewed off so we need to get to somewhere that is nicer!!! 

 

Ok so we are trying to get sorted for take off when there is a little boy kicking off a few seats in front of us, the stewardess asks the mum to put him in his car seat as they have taken that on for him to sit in.  So the boy is point blank refusing to sit in it and is screaming the place down!  The boy has good speech so must be 3- 4 years old so should be able to understand the need to get strapped in.  Ok so the stewardess has no luck then a guy steward comes and tries to reason with the boy but he is having none of it.  Next thing is the heavy mob come on board from the check in desk and security and say to the mum if he doesn't want to be strapped in we need you to get off the plane, holy moly!!  So the mum now starts crying saying we need to get this flight and he is tired that is why he won't go in his seat, can he not just lie on the floor, oh what!!  So the prompt answer was 'NO' you need to leave the plane now, so with some brut force the mum man handles the child into his car seat buckles him up and tells him to stay there and there we are we are now preparing to leave.  We hear his seatbelt click on and off a few times and then the stern words of the mum, so a little bit of discipline worked a treat for them as they managed to stay on the flight but boy heck the boy did nothing but cry or moan the whole way.  Does he realise I am on low tolerance levels aaargh!!!  We land okay in Seattle and that is the main thing!!

 

 

Something to sweeten me up is certainly required toot sweet ha ha!!!  We had to buy these as they have the new colours, cool!!

 

Here we are arriving into Seattle for a 5 hour transit time!

 

So we get off the flight and then we check the board to see what our next departure gate is but our flight from Seattle to Las Vegas isn’t listed, oh my what next today!!   So I go and ask at the Alaskan Airlines desk, the guy was helpful and directed us to S gates

 

 

Ok down the escalator, on the train for one stop, across the hallway jump onto another train, one stop, across the hallway onto another train and then one stop, S gates.  So we jump on all the trains but when we arrive at S gates our flight still isn’t listed!!!  So we now ……..

 

NEED HELP???  The voice on the other end directs us to B gates, we have just came from there?!?!?!?

 

Phew when we arrive at B gates our flight is listed at least that is reassuring!!!

So next task is to find some food, we wander through A and B gates, nothing we fancy, we wander through D gates where there is supposed to be a sports bar but the woman tells us that the bar has been advertised wrongly on the airport signs and it doesn’t sell burgers etc only sandwiches.  So we did spy a restaurant we would consider back at A gates so back we trudge again and eventually we.................

 

Sit down with a drink…….

 

and a massive portion of Chicken Tenders that was a starter portion!!!!!

 

Colin and Amy went for a wander whilst I stayed near a plug and charged the laptop and ipads for using on the aeroplane again.  They managed to find USA flag stickers at last, they are not big but safety in numbers will work!!

 

Here is our flight to VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!

 

Oh no it just says Las Vegas sorry I added in the Viva ha ha!!

 

Smiles on our faces again, all of us excited to go to Las Vegas, we are prepared for the zany way of life there hopefully!!

 



 

Wow look at the mountains we are flying over!!!

 

Mmmmm free snacks, biscuits and peanuts with free soft drinks, things are starting to look up!!!

 

The sun has gone down and it is starting to get DARK, something we haven’t seen for over a week!

 

Coming into land, woop woop!!

 

View over the strip, wooooo!!!!

 

COOL!!

 



 

And oh look there is our hotel, the tower with the red spire, how EXCITING!!!

 

We have been back on smaller aeroplane’s just like the Isle of Man where Amy’s hand luggage suitcase doesn’t fit in the overhead locker so it is checked in on the tarmac.  Here is Colin and Amy looking for her suitcase and watching the suitcases offload, the flight was really quiet with only about 16 passengers!!  It was so peaceful compared to our previous flight!!

 

Oh my word as you can tell we are now in Vegas.  When we disembarked off the aeroplane we landed at the gate and as soon as we walked out there were slot machines everywhere!!!!  WOW!!! 

 

Yeehah VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!!

 

The baggage area is absolutely massive, we are collecting our baggage at carousel 16

 

We step outside to catch the public bus and nearly melt with the heat!!  The bus won’t arrive until other 45 minutes as we have just missed one, now there is a debate how to get to the hotel whether to wait or get another mode of transport??

 

Here we go debate over we jumped on an airport shuttle which will take us directly to our hotel, perfect as it is after 10pm!

 

3 Smiley faces tonight, that includes me just in case you thought I had included Yorkie into the equation hee hee but Amy did tell me that Yorkie was smiling!! JJJ

 

Here we go, we have arrived at our hotel the Stratosphere

 

What a cunning plan these people who design casinos have, so we go through the corridor and we are met with slot machines and betting tables but where is the hotel reception, oh yeah all the way through the slot machines to the other side of course make you gamble along the way, clever tactics!!

 

We have checked in, now to find the Select Lifts as the place is absolutely massive there are different lifts around the casino to take you to the right section of the floor that you are on!  There are 2,427 rooms and the casino is spaced over 80,000 square feet, WOW!!

 

We are on the top floor, floor 24, COOL!!

 

Holy moly there is the tower next to us and that is a photo from floor 24, eeek!

 

Here is our lovely big room and we can see the hotel Circus Circus from our room!

 

Amy’s bed has arrived now!!  Time for bed!  Night Night everyone, tomorrow will be a better day after some nice sleep in lovely crisp white sheets, a King sized bed and having a shower in a nice clean shower that is for our use only over these next few days!!