Day 1 - Las Vegas - 22nd June

Day 1 22nd June

Sing along VIVA LAS VEGAS!!!!

 

 

Here is our view that we woke up to, the pool at the edge of the hotel looks very appealing!!

 

And a view out of our window just for you Kathleen and Ken!!

 

This is how close we are to the desert

 

Ooooh look our car is waiting for us to take us to Circus Circus to join the Hop on Hop off tour, oh really do you think our budget would stretch to that, not likely!!

 

Look Col we could renew our vows at the chapel just outside our hotel, sweet,

Please stand up and get off your knee that is embarrassing, you don't need to propose again!! Ha ha Hilarious!!!

That wouldn't be happening, don't you worry everybody!!!!!

 

The Stratosphere Tower  the tallest tower in Las Vegas. So we are walking to Circus Circus as we have been told it is only a 10-15 minute walk, we can do that EASY or so we thought!!!  Oh boy we have walked out of the hotel and now we know how an egg feels when you put it in the frying pan!!  Wow I feel like we are getting fried alive as you feel the heat come from the buildings, pavements, vehicles and everything you touch outside is just burning HOT!!!

 

There are the amusement rides on top of the tower which we are maybe considering to do?!?!?

 

Oh yeah that is where we are staying and where the famous Strip is on!

 

Here we go again as Colin needs mousse for his hair!  So here we have Fat Hair and it says on the can it contains 0 calories!!!  Ideal!!

 

Here we are phew!  We couldn’t have done that walk without diving into CVS Pharmacy for a blast of air conditioning though!!!

 

Here we are on the Big Bus which is he Hop on Hop off bus tour we are doing the Hop on Hop off today and Tuesday with the night time tour on Tuesday night too!  Deal to be had and we got it!!  The lady gave us all a fan of one of the characters which is part of Terry Fator’s show (Terry Fator won America’s Got Talent and currently has a show on at the Mirage hotel!)  We didn’t know who Terry Fator was but we saw plenty of billboards with him on, I just looked him up on the internet though!!

 

Here is a new development that is going to be a massive 87 acres replica of China, including Giant Pandas and replica of Great Wall of China.  It is due to open in 2016, wow and is owned by a Japanese company!!

 

Trump Towers which has nearly 1,300 condominiums in a non-smoking and non-gambling complex with the windows gilded in 24 carat gold, whooah!!  Donald you get everywhere!!

 

 

Fashion Show Mall where they have actual live fashion shows.  This is the largest mall on the strip, 2 million square feet, WOW!!  The mall has over 250 shops and boutiques, holy moly that is massive!!

 

Treasure Island Hotel

 

The Mirage, that is where Terry Fator is performing! 

 

Celine Dion purpose built Coliseum for her to perform when she is in Vegas as part of the Caesar’s Palace

 

The entrance to Caesar’s Palace

 

We found Margaritaville Alison and Bill at least we knew who Jimmy was!!

 

Bally’s with Paris Hotel just behind too!  Weird seeing the Eiffel Tower on the street knowing that we are not in Paris!

 

The world’s largest observation wheel called the High Roller, standing 550ft tall! even taller than London Eye

 

Wow look at the electricity plant and that will probably only do 1 hotel, I’m only joking but it is massive and it has a large buzz when you drive by!!

 

Hard Rock Hotel and Café.  I am sure you can guess where we are going for lunch, mmmm I wonder!?!?!

 

Nearly there!!

 

Hard Rock Hotel, we haven’t seen one of those before!!  John Entwhistle the bass player from The Who died in this hotel in 2002 not something to be famous about!!

 

Here is our bus that has just dropped us off and we can Hop back on again after lunch, perfect!!

 

Here we are, Colin has the Starter of Chicken Tenders, Amy has Grilled Chicken Sandwich and I have Cob Chicken Salad (my favourite from Hard Rock Café)  Colin is happy with his Budweiser and is even happier when the bill came and it is was only $3!!

 

 

Look at the cool door handles too!!  This is a cool Hard Rock Café as there are loads of TV screen showing the music videos and at the bar there is the World Cup too!  Poor Amy can't even get peace from the camera going to the toilet as these are the ladies toilet doors!!  Poor Amy but she doesn't look bothered does she?!?!

 

 

Look how small Colin and Amy look to the world largest guitar sign!

 

We are back on the bus again and here is MGM Grand the second largest hotel in the world with 5,043 rooms.  The original design was based on The Wizard of Oz with the hotel being green for the Emerald City

 

Harley Davidson Café, vroom vroom, looks cool!

 

Most expensive designer shops in the world!!

 

Just been in Tiffany & Co and ordered my new diamonds, oh yeah that would be right that will be exactly same time that Colin says he will renew our wedding vows!!  Hee hee!!!  Never!!!

 

Amy spies the Blue Man Group at the Monte Carlo Hotel

 

Two Hard Rock Cafés in Las Vegas as this one is on the Strip

 

How cool Coca-Cola bottle with a glass lift inside and the M&M store

 

And across the road as part of New York New York Hershey’s shop, chocolate heaven!

 

Statue of Liberty for guess what resort??  Yes you are right, New York New York!!

 

 

Excalibur resort which is supposed to represent a British Castle, never seen one like this back in the British Isles??  This hotel has medieval nights which would be cool but we don’t have time for that!  Excalibur has the only clock on the front of its tower.  It was weird being in Las Vegas as nowhere inside or outside had any clocks, cunning ploy so you didn’t know what time of day or night it was!

 

The clock, woop woop!!

 

Tropicana Resort where a few scenes from Godfather were filmed and Mamma Mia has just started back up as the show for the resort

 

 

The Luxor resort with the rooms all on the diagonals of the pyramid and the lifts go up on an angle too!  The pyramid here is exactly the same size as the Grand Pyramid in Egypt

 

The Pyramid, the Sphinx which was made bigger than the one in Egypt that is a given as we are in Vegas!!

and Cleopatra’s needle 

 

 

Mandalay Bay where they have zoo animals inside and a Shark Reef Aquarium

 

Here is the back of the famous sign with ………….

 

Oh yeah baby!!!

 

 

And here is a massive private jet that is parked in the airport.  So that is how close we are to the airport from the Strip but just remember the strip is 4 miles long from the Las Vegas sign to our hotel The Stratosphere!

 

 

Oh that stance looks familiar, wait a second …..

 

 

oh yeah looks similar!!!

 

 

One of the 50 wedding chapels in Las Vegas, the registrar to get the paperwork required to get married is open until midnight and you only require ID and $60 to be granted your licence, wow!!!

 

The two towers that were due to be part of a ferris wheel/observation wheel but the company ran out of money!!

 

 

Here is Leo the Lion for the entrance to MGM Grand.  Leo is the largest bronze sculpture in the USA weighing 50 tons and 14 metres tall

 

We are coming back along the strip again and here is all of New York, New York

 

 

Tropicana’s Chevrolet Bel Air Sedan parked outside the hotel entrance

 

Mmmmmmm I think a visit there is defo on the cards!!

 

Dolce and Gabana and Gucci stores and the yellow and grey office blocks behind which are on a slant and a twist to the side!

 

Paris hotel from the front, they had a restaurant in the Eiffel Tower and an observation deck which you had to pay for so we didn’t bother, why would we when we have been on the real thing!!

 

And the Arc de Triomphe with Gordon Ramsay advertising his restaurant that is inside the hotel on it

 

 

Wynn hotel which is the Premier resort of Las Vegas, looks plush!

 

There is our hotel with the tower, really are we still considering going on a ride on the top it looks mighty high!!

 

Here we are back to Circus Circus, there are two routes so we have ¾ hour to wait until the next bus so we go inside Circus Circus to have a goosey goosey gander!!  Amy would like to see the circus acts and we would as well as that just sounds crazy in a hotel!!

 

 

Here is Amy really pleased with herself as she got a present from the tour guide, Susan.  Susan took a shine to Amy and thought she was adorable so gave her a set of red beads.  Susan was fascinated by our Big Holiday Adventure tales and when we were getting off the bus at Circus Circus she told Amy she was a lucky girl travelling around the world as she went on her first flight at the age of 21 but Susan told Amy she deserved it as she thought Amy was a lovely, sweet, polite girl and she said you have lovely parents too.  She wished us well and then told Amy she thinks that Amy is her best customer ever with the stories we told and how nice Amy was!!  We all came off the bus with a smile on our faces!!  So off we toddle to Circus Circus!

 

 

As soon as we walk in we are greeted with yes you have guessed it Slot machines!!

 

Circus Circus is a family friendly hotel so it has a green zone where anyone under the age of 21 is not allowed to enter and that is where the gaming tables are, so we walk around the outskirts and then go upstairs to the show area and just as we arrive the acrobats are away to start, perfect timing!!  They were amazing but only lasted about 10 minutes or so!

 

We went to the Adventuredome next and Amy went up on stage with the clown, Amy had to stand with the finger stretched out, the clown spun the ball and then put it on Amy’s finger and woop woop Amy is standing with a spinning basketball on her finger!!

 

Gosh there used to be a quiet little girl that wouldn’t dream of going on stage but she is straight up there now, no fear, great to see her confidence growing!!

 

The drink containers you can buy full of alcohol to keep you hydrated, guitar (holds 100oz), saxophone, high heeled lady’s leg and a funnel!!  Amy would like to have a saxophone and Colin would like a guitar!!

 

 

We jumped on the Downtown tour of Las Vegas now to see what it has to offer!

 

 

The monorail that goes behind the strip

 

 

The Stratosphere tower and our hotel complex next to it, our hotel has 2,427 rooms over the 24 stories

 

Another one of the 50 chapels!

 

Welcome, why thank you!

 

A drive thru chapel so choose your car or your own car and get married in it!!

This place is nuts, what next!!

 



 

This is where the reality show Pawn Shop is filmed, we had never heard of it before but everyone on the bus knew what it was all about!

 

Oh yeah look Graceland Chapel!  I was going to put the noises that Elvis was famous for down but didn't know how to put it to letters  or words ha ha!!!

 

Do you think they are trying to be Scottish or something, the first wedding chapel in Vegas back in 1940

 

The famous bucking cowboy!!

 

Fremont Street where they have a massive light show in the evening which we are coming to watch on Tuesday evening

 

New concept for Downtown a family area with entertainment, parks and food stalls

 

The red shoe on Fremont Street

 

The Mob Museum

 

The Golden Nugget casino being one of the oldest casinos in Las Vegas.  Golden Nugget was built in 1946 and is home to the Hand of Faith gold nugget weighing 874.82ozt and approximately worth 1 million US Dollars.  The palm trees that surround the Golden Nugget have all been imported from Hawaii with a value of $2,000-$5,000!

 

The grey canopy above the shops and casinos is where the light show appears at 9pm and 10pm each night, looking forward to that on Tuesday!

 

So we have found out that we have arrived during a big rave called the EDC Electric Daisy Carnival which is held over 3 nights and is held during the night at the Motor Speedway where this girl is definitely going.  Our guide Susan did pre-warn us that some people are scantily clad so be prepared to see people in random outfits after 6pm and after 6am.  Susan told us that you don’t see much people dressed in this attire during the day due to the nocturnal nature of the rave!!  This event is massive as Susan told us that the tickets went on sale in January and sold out within 5 minutes with a ticket costing from $500+, wow!  In 2012 the 3 day event had over 320,000+ people attend, absolute madness!!

Our guide on the Downtown bus is filling us in with some interesting facts about designing casino’s so they make the carpets ghastly colours and patterns to draw your eyes away from the floor and straight at the slot machines!  They pump oxygen into the air conditioning so you don’t feel tired and there are no clocks so you don’t know what time of day it is.  The air conditioning is a pleasant temperature so you feel comfortable sitting around.  They try and make the exits less obvious so you get lost and potentially spend more time and money in the casino, all very clever and cunning plans to entice you and keep you playing in the casino

 

The circus is in town and look they have arrived by train, reminds me of the old fashioned films!

 

Children’s Discovery Museum looks pretty cool

 

Cleveland Clinic for brain health, that building is enough to knock your brain haywire!!  The Clinic is supposed to be striving to become a national resource for the most current research and information for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis as well as focusing on prevention, early detection and education.  Amazing place in more ways than one!!

 

 

I have never been able to capture the US buses with the space for the bicycles on the front, pretty neat!!

 

Here is Las Vegas Jail where they now film a reality show on people coming into custody, I am sure that makes for interesting viewing with the random soles that roam the streets of Las Vegas.  Our guide told us that there are lots of Police around but they are in plain clothes and generally at every street corner so people can still feel comfortable and free to do whatever they like in Vegas and not intimidated by police around

 

Las Vegas built these condos on the outskirts of the Strip to give people the freedom to paint and graffiti the walls so they wouldn’t feel the need to graffiti in and around the tourist areas, good plan and it worked!!

 

So the Downtown tour stops at our hotel so we jump off and then head to the pool.  The pool is lovely and warm-ish.  We have a lovely cool off in the pool

 

We showed Yorkie her present from Hard Rock Café and Amy told me that Yorkie is so happy her smile has just got bigger, sweet!! 

It’s lovely when Amy comes away with her cute comments and reminds us that she is 8!!

 

The sun is setting over Las Vegas and this is the view from our room, beautiful skies

 

We head down to the shops in our hotel complex and go up the Tower as we can go as often as we like with being hotel guests.  Let’s go check out the strip up top!!

 

 

Here is one of the rides at the top of the tower called Insanity where you start out all the cars start out together and like a claw it spreads out until you are facing down to the ground!!

 

The strip all lit up!

 

We are outside at the top of the Stratosphere Tower

 

The Big Shot that catipults you up to the top of the tower at 60mph and then drops you down, so Amy is tall enough and it is the world’s tallest ride so we are contemplating doing it, but we will see!!!

 

Certainly wouldn’t want to be doing this ride X-Scream where you are on a slope and the car is propelled down and stops sharply when you are over the edge of the tower so you look onto the ground below like way below, no thanks!!

 

We will stay here and get some nice photo’s done thank you very much!!

 

Ice cream for pudding tonight oh yummy!!  And free help yourself toppings, oh don’t mind if we do!!

 

Oh yummy!!

 

Amy happy

 

Colin making a real mess, his toppings are going everywhere other than in his tub!!  Can’t take him anywhere ha ha!!

 

We don't need X-Scream we are the Ice-cream family!!!

 

Here is a new craze that has started up recently and that is an Oxygen bar, you go and have 5 minutes of oxygen and the lady gives you a massage whilst you are hooked up to the oxygen and it relieves muscle stiffness and any ailments that you have, whatever next!!

As we are going up in the lifts someone picks up on our ‘cute’ accents well the Scottish lilt anyhow and asks where in Scotland we are from, Colin says Aberdeen and the woman says I was brought up in Culter (a suburb of Aberdeen) and says she used to take the bus into Aberdeen through Airyhall (where Colin was brought up another suburb of Aberdeen) small world!!!!

It is way past our bedtime so off to bed as we have an extremely early start as tomorrow is Grand Canyon trip, how exciting!!! We are getting collected at 6am!!!