Well, today was a real day of contrasts! The day started in Flagstaff and then we dropped in on Seligman, Kingman and finally Vegas! read on and you will see how the contrast is quite wide!
Cases were picked up at 8am and departure was 9am. Breakfast was included in the 'deal' and so they ate downstairs! They had time for a quick walk before heading off. Today was predominantly a driving day! Two stops were planned during the day but these were really food stops or rest stops!
Flagstaff was a nice location - from what we saw of it! But our fist stop was at Seligman! Seligman is stuck in a time warp! It is a blast from the past - a town that is stuck in the 1950's! It is on the original Route 66 and survives today by attracting bus tours to come in and stop to see what 'old America' was like! The whole town was like something from Grease or Happy Days! There were quite a number of shops vying for trade but they were directed to 'The Rusty Bolt'! I are not sure whether the tour guides have deals set up but they all followed the advice and poured in to the shop! Now, the shop was very interesting! First of all, the outside was decorated with a large amount of 50's memorabilia ranging from cars, wax models of people dressed in the clothes of the period and signs from the period! Inside the shop had obviously not had an upgrade since it originally opened! They sold a wide range of Route 66 souvenirs, Arizona souvenirs and a large selection of biker gear!
Apart from just being a shop they offered a range of extras to entice the bus tourers in! You could get a free coffee from the little booth at the back of the shop! You could also use their 'restrooms'! However, they were quite progressive in that the toilets were unisex.....you just all queued in the shop! However, the toilets were missing one thing - doors! Each toilet had a curtain! Now, I would not like to be using that if I had an upset tummy! Anyway, the queue was ever constant and added to the charm of the place!
An old guy was sitting outside and was playing his guitar and signing! This was next to the large Route 66 sign you could take your photo with and the 1950's car which had its very own Elvis and Marylyn standing beside it at the back! You could sit in between them and have your picture taken! I had my photo taken there and beside the sign to prove I had been on Route 66! In fact, it was my second time on the famous route! We had visited the end of the route when we had been to Santa Monica a few days ago! I also had a rather compromising photo taken there...not of my doing....but I seemed to moon the camera! I blame Steve who was supposed to be helping me reach the top of the sign! Anyway, let's move on!
The one thing we did wonder was whether Billy Connolly had visited here on his journey along Route 66 for his TV series! We will need to check when home!
So, they were off once again! This time they were heading for Kingman! Our guide, who is constantly sharing information about the places we visit, asked if we had the Jerry Springer Show on TV at home? He said that when we visited Kingman we would meet some of the potential audiences and participants on the show here! This stop was purely a lunch stop! He went over a few possible options for lunch, but most seemed happy to visit one of the fast food chains there or go to one of the supermarkets which had small food outlets! They could go to Smiths or Walmart!! He pushed Smiths, just because it was American and not supplied by Chinese products like Walmart!
A number of us went to Smiths and had sandwiches and a drink! A had a bit of a fight with a bottle of coke and it seems to win! Just as well he was dressed in black!
After lunch they bought some supplies for Vegas and looked for a small thing of washing powder! No luck there so they went to Walmart!
Walmart.....was HUGE! Now, Kingman is a small place! But, the retail park we were in was vast and the number of food outlets was quite staggering! Also, to of the outlets offered a drive through facility! Now, this is not unusual I hear you say! But these were Drive Thru PHARMACY's!! Yes, they really are that lazy! Instead of parking and going to the shop they will just drive up and pass their prescription through the window!
Anyway, the Walmart was VAST! Imagine TESCO in Inverurie....but probably three or four times the size! It sold everything, and I mean everything! However, they succeeded in finding a small pack of detergent, but failed in their quest of finding the one aisle they wanted to find! Now, what are shops in the UK lacking? You know, the things you need to pick up at the shop when you are out! Well, next to the toy aisle is the GUN aisle and bullet aisle! Yes, you can go to the supermarket in Arizona and buy a gun and stock up on bullets! No wonder there is a gun problem! However, why not just go the whole way and have a Drive Thru Gun section?
So, they had gone back in time to the 50's and had tried to buy a gun for their holiday safety. How could you top this?
Well, just come to Las Vegas and it will top everything! Words just will not be successful at describing what Vegas is like! It is the craziest place they have ever been too! I have been lucky to visit a number of great and interesting places while away with A and L - but nothing has compared to Vegas! It is truly remarkable! It is amazing and awful at the same time!
The bus eventually crossed in to Nevada from Arizona around the time they passed the Hoover Dam! They got a brief sighting of it on our run in - and I am looking forward to going there tomorrow! As the. Bus headed in to Vegas you could easily see the 'strip' from quite a distance away! The hotels and accompanying buildings rose out from the desert and you could easily see the start and end of the strip. However, the first thing you notice is how close the airport is to the centre of the city. You literally could land at the airport and walk in to the centre of the city!
The bus drove down the strip and Craig had gone over the different hotels on The Strip before we hit the city! Nothing prepares you for arriving on the boulevard! If big is best....then what does gigantic make it? The first hotel we passed was the Luxor - the Egyptian themed hotel which boasts its very own pyramid! The pyramid, built out of glass, is as tall as NINE jumbo jets stacked up on top of each other! After that each hotel appeared to be trying to out do the one next to it! Bigger, taller, flashier, more statues and attractions in the lot or just more eye catching seems to be the order of the day!
After some driving about due to roadworks they arrived at the hotel. The bus drop off is at the back of the hotel. They got off the bus and entered the hotel through the rear entrance! Nothing could have prepared them for what met them! The hotel was decked out in gold and looked like something from the Liberace School of Interior Decorating! Craig got the tickets as usual and they were soon on their way up to the 11th floor! A was disappointed they did not get to the 35th floor?
The room is very much like some of the Others they have had. The room has two large, double beds and a large bathroom. The cases arrived quite quickly and they unpacked them for the first time in over a week. With three nights there they will be able to repack so they can split the clean and dirty clothes!
Anyway, they were soon ready to go off exploring! Again, NOTHING could have prepared them for what they would find - and that was Justin their OWN hotel! They are in 'Harrah's' and is right in the centre of the strip - an ideal location!
So, they set off down to the lobby for coffee! After a bit of a mix up being overcharged at Starbucks they were ready to explore! The hotel lobby is full of large shops selling all sorts of expensive goods? They pushed on and then hit the casino area! Well. This was the first major eye opener! They did not really know what to expect! The hotel suddenly just merged into the casino! The slot machines were first and as they continued to walk and walk they passed bank after bank of slot machines! The noise was incredible and the number of people sitting there a'the machines was incredible! Each machine had a large, comfortable chair and the majority of the people looked like they were ensconced there for the duration! Many were drinking while others had obviously come prepared with food and drink! They obviously did not want to waste time by heading off to get food and rink incase their machine paid out in the meantime!
Then the pontoon tables came next! The tables were crowded with people playing pontoon and gambling on each hand with the dealer! Some tried to look cool while others, who like us, knew nothing about gambling were ready to loose their money! The came the 'craps' tables with people betting on the throw of two dice!
The spectacle was amazing! It was exciting! There was a hustle and bustle that they had never experienced before! But there was also a feeling of despair a out it! Here they were in the middle of the desert, in a city that looks like no other city on earth and all these people were sitting inside in dark rooms, with. No windows and no clocks sitting there slowly, or not in some cases, losing a packet in games of chance that statistically they have little chance of winning! The thought of coming here for a fortnights holiday and dong this filled A and L with despair!
Having walked about the length of two football fields they discovered that they could go round at the top end of the room and come back down the other side! More crap tables, more slot machines and more card tables! Then there were the restaurants, 11 in all I think, and the shops and people everywhere! They had not even left the hotel yet and they were just incredulous!
So, they decided to venture out! As soon as you leave a building the heat just HITS you! They are so glad that it is actually cool at the moment! Unusually it is only in the 90's - early 100's and so it is just bearable! Ha!
The whole idea is that each hotel has a range of attractions to lure you in in the hope you will go to the casino! We walked to TheVenetian first! It is based on Venice, as if you hadn't guessed, and they wanted to see the gondolas! They bumped in to one of the families coming out and they said you have to keep going until you get to St Marks Square! So....we headed in. We took the walkway up into the hotel and as soon as you enter it is like being transported to Venice! The hotel lobby and foyer is like Tesco's in Inverurie! The cavernous room is done out in Rennaiceance European style and the roof, which is vast, is a huge fresco that would not look out of place in the L'ouvre! They walk about taking everything in! They conti ue through the hotel and casino. It is more like a huge shopping centre than a hotel! Shop after shop, most of which are high end designer, stretch ahead and are all decorated to suit the theme of the hotel! Then they discover the gondola canal! You can take a gondola through the canals inside the hotel and out into the huge plaza out the front of the hotel! The whole indoor area is decked out like Venice and right the way through the roof is painted as if the sky is above you! If you did not know you were inside you would be none the wiser!
They continue on, walking for what seemed ages, and eventually come out in St Marks Square! This other vast space looks like a square from the middle of Venice and once again the roof is painted to be like the sky! Restaurants and shops surround the square and gondolas float through! It really is just crazy!
Now, this is where the fun begins! How do you get out - how do you escape? They retraced their steps and spent the next 30-40 minutes trying together out! They really don't want you to escape...they want your money! Eventually they made it out and actually ended up coming out of another hotel!
How could things get any better?
On the continued and they went to 'Fashion World' another vast shopping centre on the strip! (They have lost count so far how many HUGE shopping centres there are!) they were looking for the Tickets booth to get tickets for a show! However, it was closed and so that would be the fun for tomorrow!
They had tea in a huge Food Hall and L went for a Panda Express while A went for a wrap!
So...on again! Evening and night time is when Vegas comes alive! Their aim was totake in a few of the shows at the hotels as the evening went on!
First was the Pirate Show at the Treasure Island Hotel! This show is put on a few times every night and is free to all the passers by who wish to watch!the show was spectacular! In the lake in from of the hotel two pirate ships were heading for each other! One is crewed by a crew of scantily clad females who had captured one of the male pirates! The second boat, full of the dashing male pirates, was coming to rescue their crew mate! Singing, dancing and acrobatics ensue from both ships! Some of the crew mates dive off the top of the masts or slide down the ropes from the top of the masts to the deck? Canon fire rings out and masts are destroyed and huge plumes of smoke and fire shoot into the air during the battle! This is all going on as thousands of people passing by stop to view and take photos! If you get caught in the middle you just have to wait! It was stunning but at least they did not have to spend much on the costumes as the rest of the set would have cost a fortune! At ne point the male pirates ship sinks before your eyes and the pirates scramble for safety!
Again, how could this be topped?
Next along the strip was The Mirage which is almost directly across from their hotel, Harrahs! The showers is a volcano erupting in a mix of smoke, fountains, fire and fireworks! The volcano starts to come to life and lights appear from the lake surrounding it! Then huge blasts of flames shoot out from the water! Then the volcano comes to life and smoke, light, jets of water and huge bursts of flame (which create a real surge of heat for those viewing) shoot into the air from the volcano! Again, another spectacular show - justto try and outdo their competition and get people in to their casino!
On they go again! Now there is a track up The Bellagio which is world famous for its water display in the vast lake that is located at the front of the hotel. They get there and people are waiting for the next show! They go every 15 or 30 minutes through the evening and into the night! They get a good spot but luckily some people decide to move on and they get right up to the wall surrounding the lake! A perfect spot to view and take photos!
The music starts up and then the water fountains and lights kick in and are choreographed perfectly to fit in with the music. The water dances and the night sky and the back drop of all the lights make it a magical experience! Again it is a shore display but one you would not want to miss!
So, after all this excitement it was time to make their way back to the hotel. It was late, and dark and the city had come to life in a blaze of neon lights! The heat was still oppressive and eventually they made it through the crowds to the hotel! Still, as with the other hotels, the casinos were still humming with the sound of music, chatter and the glare of the lights as people, many of them old ladies, conti used to gamble in to the night!
As for them it was off to bed! A nearly start tomorrow as they were off to The Hoover Dam for a tour they were really looking forward to!
More pics coming soon when I can get wifi!
Ted
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