Days 1 to 4 - 26 to 29 July 2015

Well, I was right I have been a bit tardy with the blog to date.  That is only because I have been spending my time visiting the cultural highlights of Las Vegas and improving my knowledge of the history and geography of the region.

Anyway, back to the beginning.  Donna picked me up at home at 6.00 for an uneventful drive to the airport.  The check-in gate was open and I dropped off my bags and made my way through immigration and found a café for a heart starter coffee. 

The flight boarded about half an hour late and was late taking off.  I must admit that I was impressed with premium economy and it seems to be an acceptable compromise between business and economy class, particularly for the money.

We made up time on the flight and descended through the usual Las Angeles smog on time.  After making my way through customs and immigration and having the usual jokes with the homeland security peole I was waiting at the baggage carousel for my luggage when I heard the announcement that the luggage from the Virgin flight from Brisbane was available for collection.  I knew that this was the flight that Flashy and Lady P were on so I kept an eye out for them and later saw them ahead of me in a rather lengthy queue for the exit from the airport. 

As I came out from immigration Flashy and Lady P were standing with the various limo drivers and they had amusingly prepared a sign with my name on it.  We caught the shuttle bus to our hotel, the Four Points by Sheraton (LAX), which by the way I would recommend.  We arrived at the hotel at about 8.30 and although check in time check in time is usually 3.00pm they had rooms ready for us by 10.15.  The rest of Sunday was spent lazily by the pool and collecting the hire car from Hertz. 

Warren, Tammy and their daughter Mikayla arrived from New Zealand (henceforth known as the NZer's) and made up the balance of the party travelling to Las Vegas the next day.  Further drinks and some food was partaken and then an early night prior to driving across the desert to Vegas on the Monday.

Everybody was up and about early on Monday (early for folk on holidays anyway) and after breakfast the car was packed and we headed off for Vegas, or so we thought.  Unfortunately the GPS hadn't quite come t grips with life in the northern hemisphere and took a while to get its bearings, meanwhile taking us in meaningless circles around the less salubrious parts of LA.  Fortunately Lady P and her phone and the GPS (eventually) got us on the right track out of LA and on the way to Vegas.  Everything was going well on the drive across the Mojave desert until we came across a major traffic jam.  Eventually the traffic was stopped on both side of the interstate and stayed that way for an hour or so.  We never did find out what had happened to cause the traffic jams. 

New York New York

We arrived in Vegas later in the afternoon and checked into the New York New York hotel and casino.  Most of the party who have come to Vegas for the birthday party are staying at NYNY.  NYNY is a theme hotel (as are many of the hotels in Vegas) and the exterior is designed to look like copies of NY buildings and the interior represents various NY streetscapes, it is well done and good fun.

After meeting up with more members of the travelling party, including Jo (the birthday girl) and partaking of more drinks we hopped into a limo for the short journey to Fremont Street.  Fremont Street is the older part of Vegas and has undergone a resurrection to get their share of the tourist $. It is now a mall with a roof that has a light show and various other entertainments. We had agreed some time ago that we would do the Slotzilla zipline when it all seemed a bit vague and a long time away.  Well now was the time to stand up and face the zipline like a man (or a woman ) as the case may be.  The zipline is like a gigantic flying fox that runs the length of Fremont Street.  So they strap you into a straight jacket type thing and hook you up to the steel cable of the zipline.  The zipline starts over 100 feet high and runs for 1,750 feet under the roof of the mall and over the masses of people below and was great fun and a real buzz.

Fremont Street including Zipline

The WIFI here is crap and is really irritating me so I am calling it quits here, for the time being......more to come shortly........