Saturday 9th May – Las Vegas

We drove from our campsite near the Valley of Fire, Nevada to Las Vegas, Nevada and then on to Los Angeles, California

Morning

After having had a reasonably good sleep in the car, Bronwen and I awoke to find it was raining very lightly. We defogged the car, ate some peanut butter and honey on flat bread, and drove to Las Vegas—via the Valley of Fire State Park again, to look at a few of the things we’d missed yesterday afternoon.

Las Vegas

We spent a few hours wandering around “The Strip” in Las Vegas, which was a lot nicer when it wasn’t windy and freezing cold. After a burrito from Chipotle, we left Las Vegas, and drove towards Los Angeles.

A drive-through wedding chapelBronwen posing with a wax modelVenice in Las VegasLas VegasA boat on rails in Las VegasTreasure Island, Las VegasThe Mirage, Las VegasCeasar’s Palace, Las VegasBronwen enjoying the fountain display at The Bellagio, Las VegasThe fountain display at The Bellagio, Las VegasI felt this summed up Las VegasThese water tornadoes were very coolInside a water tornadoTypical Las Vegas advertisingExcalibur, Las VegasAs it was often not possible to walk along the roads, everything was connected by walkwaysBronwen posing in front of Excalibur, Las VegasBronwen trying to pose in front of Luxor, Las VegasLuxor, Las VegasAll the way from Australia…Some of the many trillions of pokie machinesSome of the many trillions of pokie machinesWhat Vegas really looks likeGullible or blissful?Aqua massages in Las VegasOne of the many Mexican street performersSome more Mexican street performersLas Vegas

Los Angeles

We arrived at Rodeway Inn (the bullet-proof glass in the lobby added a genuine American feel), in Los Angeles, just after dark, and checked into our room (including the complicated procedure to get Wi-Fi, where they print a special receipt with a unique username for each device). The room is fine, but the most expensive and most basic (it has no iron—making it hard to do our washing and get it dry!) we’ve had so far.

The American way of crossing a roadA solar farm on the way to CaliforniaThe road from Vegas to LA is not very excitingEntering CaliforniaHeading towards LAOur room at the Rodeway Inn in Los Angeles

We went for a walk to a nearby iHop dessert/pancake restaurant, where I bought a milkshake in the hope that I’d eventually find this fabled America everyone back in Australia told me about, where everything was large and cheap. Of course, my milkshake (which wasn’t any cheaper than one in Australia) turned out to be very small (much smaller than an Australian one), and of the fake and unpleasant ice-cream free type that the machines at McDonalds make—not a real milkshake at all. Bronwen bought some pancakes, which were pretty much the same as pancakes in Australia. Overall it wasn’t a very good experience. It was also the first time we’d tipped so far this trip.