Wednesday 16/04/2008 - Nevada - Las Vegas

Mileage - ~80 miles (via Las Vegas, Baker)

We spent last night in a $40 motel on the Las Vegas strip. Jaf didn't sleep much as we were basically in the middle of vice city (Sash - you would have liked the surroundings). Vegas is mad, another wonder of the world, only a man-made one. Totally incredible. On par with the Grand Canyon but for very different reasons.

We spent about 11hrs today gambling in every single casino there was. The oppulence in some of them was staggering (e.g. Real Lions in the MGM and a reconstructed St. Marks square, with real canals and gondulas on the 2nd floor in the Venician). We are totally burnt-out and exhausted, currently driving out of sin city as it's too much for our little minds. You need at least a week here to see things properly, but we had a good go at doing it all in 24hrs. On another positive, I only lost $21 despite gambling in over 20 casinos whilst Jaf was a bit more adventurous and ended the night down about $50, but he did have a few moments of minor glory.

It's currently 9pm, our heads hurt and we need to find a motel. We've seen Lions, Venice, Paris, Rome, Jungle, Disneyland, Egypt, Treasure Island, semi-naked stunning beatiful people, etc. You can also order a stripper to come to your room - guaranteed within 20 mins! We didn't have 20 mins to spare though. We saw the Joe Calzaghe promo stuff for the boxing happening this weekend and we saw the red-carpet being laid-out for the new Al Pacino movie premier. As before, you'll need to see the photos / video......

We think we are hollucinating but we can see London Bridge ahead of us in the desert. Just passed another load of casinos...... Wow, we're now in California.

Highlights - not needing to remortgage, Philli Steak Sandwich, amazing, amazing Las Vegas - a great place for a holiday in itself.

Lowlights - dodgy motel, headaches, walking about 10 miles, it's all too much for us..

Tomorrow - California, Barstow, LA and perhaps the end of Route 66 in Santa Monica.

Andy and Jaf.

Tuesday 15/04/2008 - Arizona, Nevada

Mileage - ~250 miles (via Grand Canyon Caverns, Kingman, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas (NV))

Last night's Greek meal was funny. I started chatting to the owner who was from Crete where Krysia and I went on holiday so he latched onto me. He was crazy, like the Stavros comedy character only unshaven and he swore a lot. Jaf was too tired for his madness so we made our excuses and left.

Figured-out that the clocks had gone back another hour so we had a lie-in. Jaf then drove up a one way street, past the po-lice station, as we drove out of the motel. Luckily every drives at 2mph so we didn't hit anyone.

We went shopping in a Safeways - fruit, vegetables, healthy stuff! They also had massive frozen pizzas that wouldn't fit into a UK oven and lemon pies the size of buckets for $3. We bought this deli sandwich which was basically a large loaf of bread with about 10 layers of meat and cheese, cut into four pieces. It was the first cold, non-fried, food that we've eaten in a week. It was good, but a bit much for breakfast.


Went to the Grand Canyon caverns which were Ok, but not really worth the entrance fee. Chedder Caves back home in Somerset are far more impressive, although these were quite big and are still used as a bunker in case of emergencies with food and water stashed away for 2000 people for several months (we thought this was bull-sh@t as the containers looked like they were 50 years old).

Stopped in Kingman, but didn't bother with going to yet another museum so we got directions and went to the Hoover Dam en-route to Vegas. Temperature in excess of 31C (about 87F). The Hoover Dam was pretty spectacular, especially considering that it was constructed in the 1930's. Well worth visiting and en-route to Las Vegas anyway.

We did about 250 miles today but hit rush-hour in Vegas and then spent ages finding a decent yet cheap motel, so we've spent quite a while in the car. We drove up and down the strip and saw all the famous sites (Ceasar's Palace, Sahara, Flamingo, etc). We'll go for another drive tonight when all the neons are on. Our motel isn't great (but was very cheap) and it's on the actual strip so quite central. I almost made Jaf check us into a real dive but the owner actually put us off and told us not to stay there if we had any valuables at all! That said, I'm still not sure about our current place. This is quite a rough place - we should really have forked-out for a flashy hotel. We're planning on staying here for 2 nights.

We're off out again soon, will give you an update tomorrow / the day after.

Highlights - Fuel economy back up to 30mpg, tumbleweed, desert sand storms, plastic dinosours, first proper big cactuses, Jaf purchasing a pedicure set, seeing fruit in shops, cheap pistachio nuts in 1lb bags, Hoover Dam, the madness and excess of Las Vegas.

Lowlights - Grand Canyon Caverns were nothing special, Jaf going the wrong way up the road and getting beeped by rednecks in trucks, dodgy motels in down-town Vegas, Jaf breaking my camera (which he denies doing, despite me not using it).

Tomorrow - probably another day / night in Vegas, we could be millionaires.


Cheers

Andy and Jaffa.