Day 3- 25th April - Anzac Day

Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all those who died and served in military operations for their countries. Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.

Rayls and I are not in the country but we remember.

Day 3- 25th April - Las Vegas

We are in our hotel room in Las Vegas.  Thanks to a Christmas gift from Scott we are on the 21st floor of the Bellagio overlooking the fountains. Every 15 minutes there is a fountain show to music. The TV is turned to the music channel so when the music starts we wander to the window and look out at the next show. Poor Rayls has not been able to drag herself from the window since we arrived. It is sort of like fireworks to music but with water. Unbelievable!

Rayls just videoed the latest fountain show, this one was to the music of Elvis Presley, Viva Las Vegas. Very apt!

So we started out this morning from our Garden Grove hotel, just a few miles from Disneyland. Start time was a few minutes past 8am.

Our GPS is useless, needs to be thrown in the bin. Hardly used and worthless, it did not pick up a signal all the way from LA to Vegas.

However, it was easy enough to negotiate our way from the hotel to Vegas. For the sake of Scott we went down Chapman to 57 and then along 57 to 91, 91 to 15 and away we went. Interstate 15 starts at the Mexico border and goes past LA to Vegas and then up through Utah, Idaho and Montana to the Canadian border.

At 10:00 we stopped off for breakfast at my favourite haunt, Dennys in Barstow. We each had a grand slam breakfast and neither of us was able to eat it all. The hot chocolate was very nice, free refills too!

Back on the road to Las Vegas, just around noon we saw 3 jet streams from planes that appear to be flying from Vegas to LA and we wondered if Hannah was in one of the planes.  Hannah is the daughter of Rayls long time friend Sharon. Hannah has been in the USA for some time and got married in Las Vegas. She told Rayls that she was leaving Vegas for LA at around lunch time, so just maybe!

We got into Vegas around 1pm and there was little trouble parking, checking in and getting to our room. We are in 2160 and the room is just fantastic. I could get use to this – one power ball!!!!

Tonight we are going to follow up our Buddy Holly night with a Beatles night at Cirque du Soleil Love, that’s if I can drag Rayls away from this fountain!

More later.

Day 3- 25th April - Las Vegas - part 2

The Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil show we went to was very impressive. Great music, great act. It was a very enjoyable couple of hours.

We started out the evening by trying to find our way out of the hotel. We had allowed an hour to walk the 600 metres from the Bellagio to the Mirage. We ended up coming out of the main Bellagio entrance and so had to walk around the lake, stopping once to watch the latest fountain show from ground level.  Not as good as from the 21st floor.  The walk took a bit of effort, lots of people and stairs. Then when we got to the Mirage we had to find the Love Theatre which took a few moments as you wind your way through the enormous casino.

We had to line up at the Box Office to get out tickets which I had ordered a month or so ago, I guess we had 10 minutes to spare when we sat down. As I said earlier, it was a great show.

There is a Beatles gift shop right outside the Theatre and after the show we checked that out, nothing purchased.
Having got our bearings we were able to make our way back to our hotel much easier. We did check out the shops and foyer of Caesars Palace on the way back – some expensive shops there, nothing purchased.

Back at our hotel we checked out some of the shop, even a Tiffany’s Jewellers – nothing purchased. Then on to the Buffet which had quite a long line but it only took 30 minutes and we were seated. Good food although Rayls, who likes her meat well done, was a bit worried her beef was going to get up and walk away.

There is a gift shop just near the elevators and we checked that out – small purchase made and then up to the room for the last 3 fountain shows. The last one at midnight was to the National Anthem.

We drove 480 kilometres today, did some shopping, watched a show, had a good dinner and watched numerous fountain shows from our room.

A good day.

Day 4- 26th April - Las Vegas

And so ends a long day in Las Vegas.

This is a tiring place even without the night life.

We started out by driving North West I guess. Without the GPS I had written down instructions on how to get from the hotel to somewhere for breakfast, some quilt shops for Rayls and a mall to check out some clothes. We went up Sahara, an area I went last year looking for a barber. Then right onto Decatur where we stopped at an IHOP for brekkie, very nice too.

Then to a couple of quilt shops before ending up at a JC Penney where I actually out bought Rayls in the clothes stakes. I had deliberately only bought a few clothes with me as I intended to buy some when I got here. Rayls lost her sunglasses at the mall and went back in to try and find them, I did laps of the car park waiting and then when she came back she found her glasses on the front seat of the call.  Silly person.

Then it was a Wal Mart to buy some stuff for dinner, good stuff like donuts and a barbeque chicken.

We managed an hour’s nap when we got back to the hotel and then ate our dinner. Basic dinner today, cheap too!
Then it was off on the kilometres walk to the Palazzo for the Jersey Boys show.  The theatre was hard to find, not all that well marked but we got there with 10 minutes to spare. This was our third show in three nights and I thought this was the best, a great show.

Then it was the tough walk back to our hotel, half way back I realised I had forgotten my sunnies in the theatre. So we had to walk back. Sigh! The first person at the box office told us to go to security. Security told us to go to the box office.   So we went back there and asked a difference person who went into the theatre for us, found the glasses and returned them to us. These are prescription glasses and important. Pleased to get them back.  Silly me for losing them.

Then we walked back to the hotel again, very tiring.

It is now 11:45pm and Rayls is watching the second last fountain show for the night, she is also packing and I am catching up with this news.

Tomorrow we are off to Jacksonville, Florida.

 

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