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23.11.2003: Zion NP - Las Vegas
We managed to survive the cold night but it was still -4 degrees the next day, despite the sunshine. We made ourselves bacon and eggs for breakfast and then drove 154 miles to Las Vegas, going across 3 states - from Utah, through Arizona and into Nevada. Although it's a Sunday there was still a lot of traffic on the freeway into Las Vegas and we had real problems trying to change lanes on the 6 lane freeway. People just don't want to let you in! Fortunately we managed to get into the right lane in the end, to get our turn off. We also gained an hour as we'd gone back through a time zone.
We got to Circus Circus RV Park at 2-30pm and checked in. You can't call this a campground - it's a giant car park with electricity, water and sewage hook ups dividing the parking lots! In fact most RV parks are like this which is why we prefer campgrounds. We booked in for 3 nights at $19-62 per night - still cheap for Las Vegas!
The first thing we did was to have a much needed shower and then we walked into the maze that is Circus Circus Hotel. We read later that the hotels do everything to keep the clients disorientated - not sign posting the exits, no clocks, a dazzling display of thousands of noisy slot machines. The noise level is unbelievable but it doesn't stop lots of (sad?) people sitting and playing sometimes 3 machines at a time! It's more fascinating to watch than play, and of course cheaper! But then no risk of losing also means no risk of winning! But hey! We're in Las Vegas so we spent $10 dollars on a few different machines. We won a bit but then just put it straight back into the machine.
Then we walked down "The Strip". Past massive hotels, and they really are big. Each with its own theme. It doesn't take too much guessing what the theme at Circus Circus is! But it does mean a lot of children! The best time to be on the Strip is of course at night with all the lights, neon signs, fake trees with canned bird song played through speakers! That's no joke either!
We made the mistake of hunting for coffee and cakes and thinking that the Venetian Hotel might be the place to get it! This hotel has copied Caesars Palace and has a ceiling that looks like the late afternoon sky complete with moving clouds. We managed to find a café and then ordered two small cakes which were put onto a dirty tray for us! Then the woman said $10-21 (approx 7 pounds fifty) and we thought she was talking to someone behind us and so we both looked round! Then, to our horror we realised she was talking to us! We paid, begrudgingly, and knew that we would not be returning! We ordered just one coffee to share!
On our way out, we met Luciano Pavarotti and Helen sung a duet with him! Well at least it drew a few people who laughed! Helen also met Whoopi Goldberg! By the way, the tickets to Madame Tussauds were too expensive so we only "met" the free statues!
Next stop was Caesars Palace to buy tickets for Celine Dion. We bought the cheapest - $175! Then we went to the Mirage where Siegfried and Roy used to perform with their tigers until Roys terrible attack by one of his tigers nearly 2 months ago. We saw one of the tigers in his pool though. Then we went to the Bellagio to buy tickets for Cirque Du Soleil's "O" show - $187! We've only just got to Las Vegas and already we've spent almost $400!
On the way back we stopped at Treasure Island to watch their free pirate battle show. An American lady next to us summed it up very succinctly "Now I´ve seen it, I know it sucks!" It was really cold so we hurried back to Circus Circus and shared a hot dog before going back to Winnie.
24.11.2003: Las Vegas
After all the excitement of yesterday we came down to Earth and did the washing. Later we walked to the Riviera Hotel and asked about room prices as the tickets for the two shows we've bought means coming back twice to Las Vegas. But they were not very helpful and too expensive. Then we walked to the visitor centre which was shut and then went along to the Hilton - at least we can say we've been to the Hilton in Las Vegas! We thought they'd have upper class slot machines! But they all look the same to us!
Next stop was the Sahara Hotel where we had 2 vouchers for $2 off their Dinner buffet. So we spent $15 for all you can eat! There was a very wide selection - soup, a large salad bar, pizza, pasta, carvery, all the accoutrements (mash, roast, veg etc) all sorts of very sickly looking deserts along with tea, coffee or soft drinks. It's definitely value for money.
Then we went to the Stratosphere but the tower cost $9 each which we didn't want to bother with. So we decided to play one of the slot machines - and just one this time. We've since learned that you should stick to one machine rather than going from one to the other and just putting a few coins in each. We picked a 5 cent machine and Kirsten went in search of change for a $5 note. She came back and we realised that the machine took notes! Real profis we are!!! We got very black hands but at least it took us longer to lose our money!!
Then we made the mistake of walking North of the Strip to find the Fremont Street experience which is listed in the Lonely Planet as a great free light show. Well it was a long walk up there through darkened streets where we didn't exactly feel safe, only to find that the "Light show" was static ie just loads of light bulbs and no where as interesting as the Strip. (Now we've seen it we know it sucks!) We came back on the bus.
25.11.2003: Las Vegas
After showers and breakfast we went for lessons in Black Jack, Roulette and a game called Craps! The lessons were really good but there was a lot to remember and we were only taught the basics. Craps is really complicated even to watch! Everything is just too fast and we saw a lot of people losing a lot of money!
In the afternoon we walked to the visitor centre and used their free 20 minutes of internet. Then we asked for various info for the National Parks around Las Vegas and used the free phone to find out hotel prices for the nights of our upcoming concerts. But it was still a lot cheaper to stay at the RV park. The man at the centre found it surprising that we'd actually walked to the centre!! The Americans drive everywhere, even round the corner!
After writing a few more days of our website diary we decided to try our hand at Black Jack! There can be up to six players at the table and each player plays against the dealer, not against each other. Unfortunately, we'd learned basic Black Jack but that wasn't being played on any of the tables. So we picked one of the versions of Black Jack called Lucky Ladies! We now call it Unlucky ladies! We couldn't believe how much luck the dealer had and decided that the cards must have been loaded against us! We had set ourselves a limit of $40 (peanuts by most standards!) which of course we lost! Our first dealer was Barry who at least made us laugh for the short time he was there. But then he got replaced and the next 2 dealers got really annoyed with us as we were beginners. Well if they don't want beginners to play then why give free lessons?
The last dealer was a Bulgarian who was quite nasty, throwing the cards at us, giving us looks to kill and making a scene when we made a mistake! One of the mistakes was the dealers fault as she only paid out 9 to 1 odds on $1 instead of the $2 stake that we had on the table. We didn't even realise a mistake had been made until one of the other players spoke up and told the dealer, who promptly accused us of making a mistake! Anyway, to cut a long story short, we lost but decided we would try out Black Jack in Winnie tomorrow to see if the dealer had cheated with the cards as they had so much luck. Read on to find our amazing discovery!!
26.11.2003: Las Vegas - Red Rock Canyon
We hovered out Winnie, then dumped our dirty water and then checked out at 11 am. We went shopping at Albertsons which was expensive and then went to Starbucks for coffee and cake. The waitress thought Helen asked for a cheese Danish instead of a cherry Danish. When Helen took it back she got the cherry Danish she wanted plus the cheese Danish for free. YES, We've finally won something in Las Vegas!! The cheese Danish is actually a cheesecake filling and was really good!
Then we went to the library but had to make an appointment to use the internet which would mean at least an hours wait which we didn't want. But at least we found out that we can't download our CD onto the internet so we don't need to go back! So we went to the libraries second hand book store and bought seven books for $2.
After filling up with petrol and getting some propane gas we drove in all the traffic out to Red Rock Canyon, only 20 miles from Las Vegas. In fact the outskirts are right next to the park due to the expansion building. Yet another housing estate is being built virtually on the door step! We went to the visitor centre and found that the campground we wanted to go to was closed years ago but there was one 2 miles back on the road the way we'd come. So we found a spot and paid $40 for four nights, even though the only facilities were drop toilets!
That evening we tried out playing Black Jack with an invisible dealer. Would you believe it!! The dealer had so much luck it was unbelievable - and we definitely had not tampered with the cards!!! Lets face it we should have known that we couldn't win. If the customers won then there wouldn't be so many hotels still being built in Las Vegas!!
Outside, it was really bright - not from moonlight, but from the lights from Las Vegas! And we could see the 1 mile high beam of light coming from the Luxor Hotel.
27.11.2003: Red Rock Canyon
After bacon and eggs for breakfast we drove to the scenic route which is a one way 13 mile loop around Red Rock Canyon, so called because of the ... wait for it ... Red rocks! It was really crowded, hoardes of them in fact. And we were trying to get away from the crowds! Happy Thanksgiving!!!
We drove up a short and very bumpy 4 wheel drive track to a car park and went for a walk along one of the many trails. We ended up chatting to people more than we walked! We found that we didn't really feel like doing much walking anyway. There were so many people around that we just finished driving along the loop and then went looking for dry camping spots as we were basically paying $10 per night for dry camping anyway. But we didn't find anything suitable. So we went back to our campsite.
28.11.2003: Red Rock Canyon
Today was one of those days where we didn't feel like doing anything in particular. Maybe all the bright lights and excitement of Las Vegas had taken more out of us than we thought and we just needed a day to rest!
We washed our hair even though the water was freezing cold from Winnie's tanks and then we made a cheesecake and tried out the hand whisk that we'd bought. We spent the day just reading and making things to eat! When it got dark we had to get the gas lamp out as Winnie hadn´t driven far enough to recharge his batteries!
29.11.2003: Red Rock Canyon
The scenic drive wasn't so crowded today but there were still a lot of people around. We parked up at Willow Springs and went for a 2 hour walk (3.3miles) up to La Madre Springs - a pool with lots of dogs in it, one of which decided to shed all the water in its fur all over us!!
On the way back we got covered in dust by loads of offroad motorbikes who raced passed us. There were so many of them that we were getting really annoyed. We had to cover our noses so we didn't keep breathing in dust!
So we went back to the campsite and chilled out a bit more. We weren't really in the mood for doing much and with all the dust around and no showers we were actually looking forward to Las Vegas again tomorrow and Celine Dion!
30.11.2003: Red Rock Canyon - Las Vegas
We tidied up a bit before getting ready for the short drive back into Las Vegas. We went shopping and filled up with petrol on the way and checked into the RV park at 2pm. Then we went for well deserved showers! It's the simple things in life that make us happy!
We had a late lunch at 3pm and then Kirsten worked on the computer for 2 hours whilst Helen did three loads of washing/drying. Then we both changed into our one set of "smart clothes" that we've brought with us (some would say the only smart clothes we have!) to go to the Celine Dion concert at Caesars Palace! We were really looking forward to it. Even though we had the cheapest tickets, it was still expensive and our expectations were high.
We walked a mile down the strip, hoping to find an all you can eat buffet. But the queues were too long so we had to make do with a hotdog! Plus Helens shoes were rubbing and she got blisters - probably because her feet were used to walking boots!
We got to the colosseum where up to 4000 people would be trying to find their seats. The cheap tickets were up on the fourth floor but we'd brought binoculars with us so got to see Celine in close up! We noticed that we were sitting in the middle of all elderly people - hardly Celine Dion's target group! The show was 15 minutes late starting but the camera man made the audience laugh by pointing the camera at various people in the audience which we could all see projected onto the large screen on the stage. It was really funny watching peoples reactions to seeing themselves on the massive screen. One man kissed his wife/girlfriend and another man squeezed his partners boobs! The Amis are all show!
Anyway, the concert finally started to a very slow song with Celine Dion shown walking down steps that looked more like a projection than the real thing. She had long, blond, Marilyn Monroe style hair that didn't suit her at all ( longer than in the photo on this website) and made her look at least 10 years older than she is. Her natural colour was far better. But ... There seemed to be something wrong, and not just because the show was late starting.
After the first song we found out why. All alone, and seemingly lost on a massive stage, Celine Dion told us in a very broken voice that her father had died that morning. Loud sighs of sympathy from the crowd. Whilst crying, she went on to say that she had decided to perform tonight and dedicate the concert to her father - her greatest fan. She asked the public to help her but she couldn't stop the tears and suffered throughout the concert. Poor thing.
She shared a personal tragedy with 4000 strangers. Respect. But one of the songs she sang was "I´m alive" - why didn't she leave that one out? Also, the show was written and directed by the creative head of Cirque Du Soleil. Which meant that it was like watching a Cirque Du Soleil performance and Celine Dion singing her songs in the foreground! Well, the two concepts just do not mix. Either Cirque Du Soleil OR Celine Dion but not both together. It just didn't work.
She bravely carried on and despite what had happened, still managed to hit the notes and perform. But we all knew she was barely managing to hold back the tears. We even thought the music was from a tape until, right at the end, she introduced the band and singers who were all hidden from our view until she introduced them. She even asked the audience to get up and dance with her to "Love can move mountains" and we were the only two, on the whole of the 4th floor (at least 800 people) who stood up and danced - more in support as anything else! She got standing ovations.
Celine managed to sing the Titanic song flawlessly and the next song was the last of the evening, which she had to speak rather than sing as she was crying too much.
This is Helen now writing. I have found it very difficult to write about this concert because most of it has been negative and in light of what had happened I have tried not to be disrespectful. However, I feel that I was forced to be a witness to a stars personal tragedy. That was not what I wanted or expected. And it did not have to be like that. I feel that the concert should have been cancelled.
We walked back to Winnie, feeling quite depressed.
01.12.2003: Las Vegas
Today we had to do a spring cleaning job on Winnie. We had accumulated so much dust from Red Rock Canyon that we had to get everything out and done our best to get all the dust out! It took us nearly four hours just to get rid of all the dust without even sorting out all the cupboards.
Things have been a bit chaotic around here as the RV park has been taken over by KOA (Kampgrounds of America) so there have been loads of people walking around in bright yellow T-shirts. No doubt the costs of the overnight will go up as KOA are renowned for being expensive! Boy are we glad we've reserved at the lower prices!!
After all our hard work we went to the Circus Circus buffet dinner, all you can (not) eat! Then we came back and worked on the computer diary as we are so far behind on the website! It's a hard life!
02.12.2003: Las Vegas
Today was warm and sunny but we still had work to do on the computer. So Kirsten wrote for the whole day and Helen made a carrot cake, washed up and did another load of washing at the launderette.
At 7pm we decided to save 50 cents by using the Trolley bus to go down to the far end of The Strip to Mandalay Bay Hotel. Well we might have saved 50 cents but the trip took at least 45 minutes longer than the bus and was the bumpiest ride we´ve ever had! Our backs were sore from the wooden slat seats as we were taken round the backs of every hotel, over every speed bump in Las Vegas and caught every red light! It was so uncomfortable we had to sit forward on the seats and hang onto the hand rail. There are some things in life you only do once! The trolley in Las Vegas is one of them!
We finally got to Mandalay Bay but got dropped off at some back end of beyond entrance where there wasn´t a soul to be seen and ended up walking miles to get anywhere! We got lost and had to ask where to go! It´s a very stylish hotel, though, with shiny marble floors and large exotic fish tanks. We thought we might go for a Chinese but the restaurants in the hotel were too expensive.
So we got the connecting sky rail tram to the Excalibur Hotel - very fast! - and walked along the strip to find the Chinese we´d seen. Unfortunately, it was on the wrong side of the road and it was too far to get to the pedestrian crossing, so we found another one. Big mistake! It was the worst Chicken Chow Mein we´ve ever been served with. Kirstens meal was ok but we didn´t pay for Helens which she couldn't eat anyway. Then we went over to the original one we should have gone to in the first place. Yummy!
Then we went into the Tropicana Hotel and got free packs of cards and discount vouchers. Helen made the mistake of falling for the lucky $20 game. Pay $20 and play $50 on the machines. The $20 went in less than 5 minutes but at least she won a Tropicana sweatshirt! After taking photos of the strip, we went into New York, New York hotel but weren't that impressed so we walked across the replica Brooklyn Bridge and further up the strip and watched the fountains outside the Bellagio which "dance" to Frank Sinatra and other famous singers. That entertained us for a while. We got back to Circus Circus at 1-30am.
