Three weeks prior to our visit to Vegas we had the pleasure of meeting a lovely lady by the name of Jackie Hicks after our traumatic night stay in Christies Motel (see previous blog). Whilst buying 24 cans of Diet Coke, we got chatting to Jackie who offered us a place to stay in Vegas with her unexpecting daughter. As we headed towards Erika's on our 5 hour drive, we knew if she was anything like her Mum, then she was going to be lovely. Needless to say... she was, as was her husband Al and their dog Bentley.
We spent 3 nights with this lovely trio enjoying a variety of culinary delights and chillaxing in front of the TV for the first time since our trip began, it was delightful. Unfortunately Susie became unwell and spent one night chundering into a bucket. Sincerest apologies to Al and Erika, but to quote Al, "Sometimes sick comes around!" Al passed on a great deal of wisdom to us during our stay and politely declined our offers for him to join us on a trip with the following responses...
"You ain't never gonna see no black man climbin' no mountain."
"You ain't never gonna see no black man in the sea."
"You ain't never seen no black man on a bike."
Al knew exactly what he liked : Golf, TV and Fried Chicken, and exactly what he didn't : Danger. Erika gave us our own personal tour of Vegas and we were dumbstruck when we caught sight of the strip for the first time. Everything in Vegas glistens. It does not flash, but gently twinkles whilst the smell of the scented oxygen pumping through the air conditioning is pleasant on the nose, it tantalises all the senses. We spent two nights in a giant castle (hotel) called Excalibur and after a hairy check in and a few distressed phones calls, we were upgraded to a Strip view room with free dinner vouchers.
With a chockablock schedule, we militantly sent out to make the most of what Vegas had to offer, first stop the 'New York, New York' Rollercoaster and a Show. The rollercoaster, despite Jan's resistance was a big hit, unlike the show that followed, a comedy hypnotist, that was neither funny nor able to hypnotise either of us, even though we fully committed to giving it a go by getting on stage to be part of the act.
The following day saw us being top detectives at the CSI Experience and relaxing in the Hotel Spa before we beautified ourselves for an exceptional dinner and an evening stroll along the strip. We observed the astonishing fountains at The Bellagio and tried to blend in inconspicuously with the moneyed crowds and high flyers betting up to $10,000 per hand. Following this plush and luxurious environment, we down-graded to Coyote Ugly where we stood on the bar and had the bar staff exclaim "English girls in the house!" the bar was back to back stag and hen do's, we hastily departed and retreated to our room.It was at this time, we discovered that there had been a shooting just a little further down the strip in which 3 people had died. This was shocking to see as we had felt so incredibly safe and secure during our time there.
Next stop in this neck of the woods was the Hoover Dam and The Grand Canyon. We cruised out with the roof down and our shades on to these infamous landmarks and were astonished at their magnitude. Film can never do justice to the natural beauty we saw that day, though we gave it our best shot and have a lot of 'National Geographic Porn' to show for it! Eagle creek was our first stop on the Canyon tour and we were mesmerised by the Guano area. The sheer drops were vertigo inducing and the sunset we experienced on our way back was the most gorgeous palate of orange, lilac and dusky pink behind the infinite desert landscape.
Vegas was Bad Ass and we now know why people call it 'Sin City.'
We absolutely loved our experience here and the people that we shared it with.
Peace and Love,
Jan and Sooz.
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