December 2nd
On our first night in Vegas we ended up arriving tired and late so after a quick up and down of the strip to take in all the lights we parked at the nearest Walmart and crashed.
December 3rd
After a sleep-in we woke up and did the usual rearrange of the bed between a quick breakfast. We then chucked Scout back into the car and went in to use the bathroom and brush our teeth. Afterwards we shopped for the all the food we would need for the two nights in our time share. But back at the car we tried to book our time share accommodation and were informed that we couldn’t check in until the following day. In need of a shower we agreed we would stay at a Motel 6 that night.
The day was young so we set out to where else but the Gun Store where Will booked us package deals to blast some shots down range. I shot an AK47 and a Glock pistol. While Will shot an MP5 submachine gun, an M4 rifle and a SIG Sauer pistol. Before we did any shooting we thought we had better give Scout a run so pulled into a park behind the shooting range. Scout had his run and we were just about to leave when two Police cars pulled into the parking lot blocking the exit. It wasn’t us they were after as they quickly arrested a guy driving an old Cadillac but we were still blocked in. We waited patiently for about 15 minutes with the car running and facing the exit but the cars remained. I figured I would get out and see how long they might be but before I could even say anything the macho Police officer said something along the lines of get back in the car and wait. Eventually they moved and we escaped to the Gun Store. At the Gun Store we were armed with safety glasses, ear muffs and for a few brief seconds some guns. After we had shot each one it was quickly taken from us by our huge enthusiastic biker guy assistant. It was fun but over very quickly for the money you pay. With our free T-shirts in hand we headed to The Strip.
On our first night in Vegas we ended up arriving tired and late so after a quick up and down of the strip to take in all the lights we parked at the nearest Walmart and crashed.
December 3rd
After a sleep-in we woke up and did the usual rearrange of the bed between a quick breakfast. We then chucked Scout back into the car and went in to use the bathroom and brush our teeth. Afterwards we shopped for the all the food we would need for the two nights in our time share. But back at the car we tried to book our time share accommodation and were informed that we couldn’t check in until the following day. In need of a shower we agreed we would stay at a Motel 6 that night.
The day was young so we set out to where else but the Gun Store where Will booked us package deals to blast some shots down range. I shot an AK47 and a Glock pistol. While Will shot an MP5 submachine gun, an M4 rifle and a SIG Sauer pistol. Before we did any shooting we thought we had better give Scout a run so pulled into a park behind the shooting range. Scout had his run and we were just about to leave when two Police cars pulled into the parking lot blocking the exit. It wasn’t us they were after as they quickly arrested a guy driving an old Cadillac but we were still blocked in. We waited patiently for about 15 minutes with the car running and facing the exit but the cars remained. I figured I would get out and see how long they might be but before I could even say anything the macho Police officer said something along the lines of get back in the car and wait. Eventually they moved and we escaped to the Gun Store. At the Gun Store we were armed with safety glasses, ear muffs and for a few brief seconds some guns. After we had shot each one it was quickly taken from us by our huge enthusiastic biker guy assistant. It was fun but over very quickly for the money you pay. With our free T-shirts in hand we headed to The Strip.
First on the agender was to check out Tix4Tonight to find some cut price tickets for a show. We settled on David Coperfeild’s magic show but it soon occurred to me I had nothing to wear. We asked the ticket lady about cheap clothing stores and she pointed us to a "Ross dress for less" store where we both sifted through the ramshackle racks of clothes looking for something decent. For less than $50 we bought a dress, shoes, a shirt and socks! Then after checking out the ridiculously huge M&M store it was time to head over to the Motel 6. At the Motel we showered, had dinner and left Scout behind while we headed to the MGM Grand and the home of the David Copperfield’s show. We downed a Red Bull and some cask wine in the car before heading into the mind boggling show. Obviously its not real but any man who can make a whole car appear in the blink of an eye is working some pretty good magic in my eyes. After the show we returned to the car for some more drinks then braved the unusually bitter winds to cross the street and enter the Hooters casino on the look out for some cheap casino tables. We gingerly had our first play but it didn’t come to much so we headed back to the Motel for the night.
December 4th
On this windy cold Saturday morning we again wandered The Strip and brought tickets to a Sin City comedy show. We also snapped the customary Vegas photo next to the famous sign and I bought myself some new makeup and a replacement iPhone from the amazing Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace, complete with a sky painted ceiling and indoor french canal. For lunch we tried to eat our weight in food at an all-you-can-eat buffet that had everything you can imagine! Then in the afternoon we checked into our time share room; for some reason we thought we were getting a drive up villa but it turned out to be just a normal hotel type setting with the only difference being that each room was actually a small apartment including a kitchen and laundry. We wondered how we would deal with Scout given the no pets policy but after a bit of thinking we decided we would leave a security door slightly open and smuggle him in the back up the elevator and into our room in a duffel bag. It sounded easy but Scout was making quite a lot of noise so if anyone had seen us it would be pretty obvious what we were doing, fortunately we went unseen. After we got him inside we decided thats where he would stay for the next two nights so we had to teach him to pee in the bath. He didn’t like it at first but before long he was going to the bathroom on command.
On this windy cold Saturday morning we again wandered The Strip and brought tickets to a Sin City comedy show. We also snapped the customary Vegas photo next to the famous sign and I bought myself some new makeup and a replacement iPhone from the amazing Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace, complete with a sky painted ceiling and indoor french canal. For lunch we tried to eat our weight in food at an all-you-can-eat buffet that had everything you can imagine! Then in the afternoon we checked into our time share room; for some reason we thought we were getting a drive up villa but it turned out to be just a normal hotel type setting with the only difference being that each room was actually a small apartment including a kitchen and laundry. We wondered how we would deal with Scout given the no pets policy but after a bit of thinking we decided we would leave a security door slightly open and smuggle him in the back up the elevator and into our room in a duffel bag. It sounded easy but Scout was making quite a lot of noise so if anyone had seen us it would be pretty obvious what we were doing, fortunately we went unseen. After we got him inside we decided thats where he would stay for the next two nights so we had to teach him to pee in the bath. He didn’t like it at first but before long he was going to the bathroom on command.
The Sin City comedy and caberat show at Planet Hollywood was hilarious with one comedian especially standing out beyond the rest. There was some free 70s disco show that we planned to see afterwards but we got to carried away having fun at the roulette table where the free drinks just kept on coming and missed the show. At one point I think we were up about $60 but soon enough it was gone again! Our loss of the original $20 was nothing compared to the amounts we saw others lose, regardless we called it a night not far past twelve.
December 5th
We enjoyed our first day at the time share by watching Alaskan TV shows and eating food from the oven that we usually can't cook with the MSR on the road. By 4:30pm we thought we better get our a into g and buy some costume accessories for the 1920’s prohibition anniversary party at the Mob Museum we were going to with Chelsea. We hadn't met Chelsea yet but had been put in contact with her via her parents that we'd stayed with back in Colorado. At Party City we found a feather boa and some pearls for me and a bowler hat and suspenders for Will. Will and I felt like we were on a blind date as we waited for Chelsea to pick us up from the lobby. We hit it off immediately which was ideal as we would be staying with Chelsea and her boyfriend Leon over the next few days. Chelsea is the corporate events manager at the Bellagio while Leon is the night house-keeping manager at the Winn.
The Mob Museum party was a blast; we sampled a few cocktails, chatted with the Las Vegas mayor and wandered through the museum. My only gripe was that the beer truck was outside so to get your free beer you had to venture out into the icy cold.
We enjoyed our first day at the time share by watching Alaskan TV shows and eating food from the oven that we usually can't cook with the MSR on the road. By 4:30pm we thought we better get our a into g and buy some costume accessories for the 1920’s prohibition anniversary party at the Mob Museum we were going to with Chelsea. We hadn't met Chelsea yet but had been put in contact with her via her parents that we'd stayed with back in Colorado. At Party City we found a feather boa and some pearls for me and a bowler hat and suspenders for Will. Will and I felt like we were on a blind date as we waited for Chelsea to pick us up from the lobby. We hit it off immediately which was ideal as we would be staying with Chelsea and her boyfriend Leon over the next few days. Chelsea is the corporate events manager at the Bellagio while Leon is the night house-keeping manager at the Winn.
The Mob Museum party was a blast; we sampled a few cocktails, chatted with the Las Vegas mayor and wandered through the museum. My only gripe was that the beer truck was outside so to get your free beer you had to venture out into the icy cold.
December 6th
Our last morning at the time share was taken up by a mandatory 90 minute time share presentation. The deal was you paid $99 for two nights at the time share and you received $150 in Bass Pro Outdoor Shops vouchers and had to attend a presentation. The deal sounded good to us all we had to do was get through the presentation. After the free drinks, cookies and tour of the penthouse room we could see how some people would find it hard to say no but us poor travels from NZ weren’t about to fork out for anything. Even when they brought in the sales manager who offered us his “best deal”. We had some laughs with them all and then breathed a sigh of relief that it was over. We checked out of the time share once again sneaking Scout out in the duffel bag and went to pick up our Chevrolet Camaro that we had hired for the next twenty four hours. Will was adamant about doing this so we decided to put it to good use and visit the Hoover Dam for the morning 40 miles away.
Our last morning at the time share was taken up by a mandatory 90 minute time share presentation. The deal was you paid $99 for two nights at the time share and you received $150 in Bass Pro Outdoor Shops vouchers and had to attend a presentation. The deal sounded good to us all we had to do was get through the presentation. After the free drinks, cookies and tour of the penthouse room we could see how some people would find it hard to say no but us poor travels from NZ weren’t about to fork out for anything. Even when they brought in the sales manager who offered us his “best deal”. We had some laughs with them all and then breathed a sigh of relief that it was over. We checked out of the time share once again sneaking Scout out in the duffel bag and went to pick up our Chevrolet Camaro that we had hired for the next twenty four hours. Will was adamant about doing this so we decided to put it to good use and visit the Hoover Dam for the morning 40 miles away.
First though we drove over to Chelsea and Leon’s place to park the Dodge. They also had a labrador named Omelet who loved playing catch and had this cool doggy door access into the house. We chatted to Leon while Scout and Omelet got to know each other and after Scout eventually figured out the doggy door we took up Leon on his offer to dog sit and left Scout behind.
The famous Hoover Dam is located on the Colorado river which at this spot divides the states Arizona and Nevada. Built between 1931 and 1936 (finished two years a head of schedule) and using over 2,480,000 cubic meters of concrete it was an awesome structure in its time and Will and I enjoyed the tour we took down into the tubine room. Back at the Camaro we searched Google Maps for a more exciting drive home rather than the straight highway. The best we could find was through Lake Mead National Park so with no one else there we burnt some rubber around some of the tight corners. The handling was a long way from the big heavy Dodge thats for sure!
Back at Chelsea and Leon’s place that evening all was well and Chelsea encouraged us to go and visit the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum as Leon wouldn’t be finishing work until late. The wax museum was pretty fun especially the Hang Over and the Jerry Springer set ups. Though J-Lo’s cheeks flushing when you grabbed her butt was more than a little cheesy.
Back at Chelsea and Leon’s place that evening all was well and Chelsea encouraged us to go and visit the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum as Leon wouldn’t be finishing work until late. The wax museum was pretty fun especially the Hang Over and the Jerry Springer set ups. Though J-Lo’s cheeks flushing when you grabbed her butt was more than a little cheesy.
Back at Chelsea and Leon’s place once more we enjoyed blobing out on the couch until 10:30ish when we drove into town in the Camaro to meet Leon. In town we walked around a few hot spots but basically I can’t really remember what we did this night other than it was loads of fun... the photos suggest that we went to the Bellagio christmas display at 2am then saw the Bellagio water show at 3am and I do remember having Leon teach us how to play Craps on the electronic tables and the last photos of the night are of Will and a sexy black Mustang at 6:30am on our way home.
December 7th
After two hours sleep Will and I had to get up to take the Camaro back before 9:30am, we then drove straight back to the house and went back to bed until well past lunch time. We woke up to find Leon watching a Football game in Philadelphia that was still going despite the eight inches of snow on the ground. We watched in amazement and Leon said snow was in the forecast for Las Vegas too as he walked out the door to work. We lounged away the afternoon until eventually we decided to do something. Chelsea being as awesome as she is organised us some super cheap tickets for the Mandalay Bay Aquarium and for the Cirque du Soleil Zumanity show. She even had to come down with us to get the tickets and when there was a problem she asked for the manager like a boss!!
The Aquarium was cool definably more of a kids thing but touching the stingrays was something I hadn’t done before. As for the Zumanity show well that was something else all together with its super sexual connotations I was defiantly glad we weren’t sitting in the front few rows. The people up front were often taken onto stage and encouraged to do outrageous things. The naked girls in the tiny round pool was pretty amazing as was the aerial silk performance. At about 10pm we drove back to the house just as Leon arrived home. He changed quickly and we headed out to old Vegas for another night of fun.
After two hours sleep Will and I had to get up to take the Camaro back before 9:30am, we then drove straight back to the house and went back to bed until well past lunch time. We woke up to find Leon watching a Football game in Philadelphia that was still going despite the eight inches of snow on the ground. We watched in amazement and Leon said snow was in the forecast for Las Vegas too as he walked out the door to work. We lounged away the afternoon until eventually we decided to do something. Chelsea being as awesome as she is organised us some super cheap tickets for the Mandalay Bay Aquarium and for the Cirque du Soleil Zumanity show. She even had to come down with us to get the tickets and when there was a problem she asked for the manager like a boss!!
The Aquarium was cool definably more of a kids thing but touching the stingrays was something I hadn’t done before. As for the Zumanity show well that was something else all together with its super sexual connotations I was defiantly glad we weren’t sitting in the front few rows. The people up front were often taken onto stage and encouraged to do outrageous things. The naked girls in the tiny round pool was pretty amazing as was the aerial silk performance. At about 10pm we drove back to the house just as Leon arrived home. He changed quickly and we headed out to old Vegas for another night of fun.
After a stroll under the Fremont Street Experience we met up with some of Chelsea and Leon’s friends at a piano bar, we made it just in time for a final rendition of the hit song ‘I like big buts and I can’t not lie’. It was hilarious but over all too soon so we moved next door to an interesting bar filled with huge board games. A few drinks later we hit the old school Casino Royal for some more electronic craps. Leon won big but we didn’t have mush luck so we moved closer to home at the Silverton Casino. We all had fun but terrible luck even at the roulette so just as the sun was coming up we gave in. On our way home we stopped in for some delicious Mexican food then crashed.
December 8th
I’m not sure why I’ve written the dates really because we spent most of our time awake during the wee hours so they don’t really mean much. Anyway we woke up sometime in the afternoon said good bye to our new friends and after a brief stop at the massive Bass Pro Shop we set the GPS for Death Valley National Park.
Vegas you were truly a blast!!!
Rochelle & Will
I’m not sure why I’ve written the dates really because we spent most of our time awake during the wee hours so they don’t really mean much. Anyway we woke up sometime in the afternoon said good bye to our new friends and after a brief stop at the massive Bass Pro Shop we set the GPS for Death Valley National Park.
Vegas you were truly a blast!!!
Rochelle & Will