Kevin and I decided to head to the Orleans Casino hotel for a buffet breakfast. I quickly went to the loo to make myself as empty as possible and we took a bus to our destination. The casino was not on the main strip but nevertheless it was still impressive. This was my first experience of a Las Vegas casino and it was just full of a variety of slot machines and other ways inexperienced gamblers could burn their money. The breakfast hall was simply massive and had everything on offer and I mean everything. Cake, fruit, Mexican breaky, French breaky, American breaky, to name but a few.
We spent about 90 mins eating and chatting and decided that my priority for the day were to get some maps and organise a tour to the Grand Canyon. This will allow me to head directly south east from Vegas and avoid the high mountains and inevitable bad weather with it. The plan now is to head towards Phoenix and then along the Mexican border allowing me to stay as south as possible. The disadvantage of this is that I will not be able visit Bryce and Zion National Park, however I always knew the weather would be a dominant factor on this trip.
For the first part of the trip I had been using AAA maps that you can get for free if you are a member. I headed to the local depot with my fingers crossed that I could have some more as I am not a member. I spoke to the lady at the counter who initially really wasn’t playing ball. “No sir, if you are not a member you can not have them and we don’t sell them.” she kept repeating. I discussed buying a membership but she said I had to have an American address and then I told her I would buy it for my friend but he didn’t have a car which seemed to be a problem (AAA is an automobile association). I asked her to cut me some slack and repeated what I am doing and the fact I was doing by bicycle. With a but of persistence she said she would go speak to the manager who later joined me. Another quick explanation, she happily helped me and gave me enough maps to get me from Vegas to Florida! Thank you AAA.
I returned back to the house and after lots of shopping around I purchased a tour for the Grand Canyon departing a t 0625hrs tomorrow. With all my stuff completed, I trotted into the heart of Vegas and experience the so called paradise. I got there in the daylight and it was packed and I wasn’t feeling the vibe. It seemed so over the top from the billion dollar casino halls to the line of Mexicans handing out calling cards advertising women to your door in 20 mins! It was a far cry from the isolation I had experienced over the last 10 days.
I grabbed some coffee and people watched as the sun dropped. I wanted to watch some of the free shows on along the strip. The first was the Sirens Pirate show outside Treasure Island hotel/casino. By 1900hrs a massive crowd had formed and the show got underway. In short, there were two pirate ships opposite each other. One being occupied by beautiful scantly clad ass and the other by macho dudes. With lots of dancing, music and pyrotechnics the show climaxed with one boat sinking into the water and the women ruling the world. As cheesy as it was I actually enjoyed it.
Next stop was the Freemont St Experience located in downtown at the other end of the strip. I got off the bus, heard lots of cheering and realised the 6 min show had just finished and the next was in another hour. I soaked up the vibe of various casinos along the street and grabbed myself a beer. At the stroke of the hour the Freemont Experience begun. This street is enclosed by a roof several 100 meters long that is covered in thousands of light bulbs. The results is a massive TV with an explosion of light and music that shows carefully choreographed images. The show is different every hour but mine was to the music “American Pie” and the animation was awesome. You couldn’t help just looking up with your mouth open in amazement. I pulled myself together when I noticed a tap in my toes and a slight swagger in the hips! Old folks do that! Vegas was starting to infect me and the vibe was exciting and so different to anywhere else on earth.
The final stop was the fountain display outside the Bellagio Casino. I had seen this one briefly in the movies and didn’t think I would be that impressed. Boy, how wrong could I be. Every 15mins a song is blasted out into the street and the sprinklers get to work in time with the music. The jets of water were being blasted in the air as high as 80meters. I enjoyed it so much I stuck around for a few more displays.
It was starting to get late so I headed back to the bus stop via Caesars Palace casino. I had a flutter on the slots and walked through the shopping mall. The ceiling is painted in the design of the sky and you could easily loose track of time but that is obviously their intention! I got in around midnight and went straight to sleep as I had to be up in 5 hours. Night!
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