Viva Las Vegas!

The city of sin, Las Vegas, where fortunes are made but more often than not, lost. Having arrived late at night, we made our way to the penny slots for a quick test of fate. With a drop of alcohol to settle our nerves, we eased our way into the slots betting a penny at a time until we were brave enough to bet $3 a pop for the best chances at making some real money. After a couple hours of gambling fun, the exhaustion began to settle in and having spent our allowance for the night we sleepily made our way up to bed. 

Time change making it easy to feel like we had slept in we were up relatively early. After grabbing a quick breakfast, we made our way from Downtown Las Vegas to the infamous Las Vegas strip. Free parking in the Bellagio garage (which actually had enough clearance for the enormous truck we were travelling in!) made for the perfect start to our day of good fortune. Heading in towards the butterfly garden we soon found ourselves amongst beautiful flowers watching the butterflies dance in their conservatory.

Vegas is fabulous for a million reasons, but for me, what makes Vegas unforgettable is the architecture and interior design of the hotels. Hotel hop down the Las Vegas Strip and 99% of the hotels you step into will take your breathe away. Each hotel is unique with its own vibrant personality and character, ride a gondola through Venice, eat crepes in Paris, get lost in a breathtaking flower garden in the Wynn, or fly away with the butterflies at the Bellagio.

Inside the Wynn

Though the buildings are structures of astonishing beauty, their contents are what really bring people to Las Vegas. The live shows, insane night life, and heart-stopping gambling keep people coming back for more and turn Las Vegas from somewhere unbelievable to somewhere you will never forget.

We each had our own personal favorite slot machines. My favorites were the ones with multiple games and bonuses for I felt they gave you the most chances of winning but it was probably more just that those were the games where my luck decided to join me. Now then, though penny slots were fun (and safe) they did not even begin to compare to the excitement of the black jack tables!

A felt table with two chips worth a total of $10 (the minimum bet at the table), sit at the top of a capital B. As the dealer draws each player’s card, setting it face up between herself and your bet, the nervous excitement builds. As soon as the second round of cards has hit the table you know what to do. The key to black jack is knowing when to hit (draw another card by tapping the table between you and your bet) and when to stick (stay with the cards you have by waving your hand). The goal of the game is to get the sum of the face value of the cards closer to 21 than the dealer without going over 21. Get an ace (face value of either 1 or 11) in the bag followed up by a 10 and receive one and a half times your bet in return. Beat the dealer with any other combination, and receive chips equivalent to your bet as a reward. As jacks, queens, & kings all have a face value of 10, there are four 
times the number of 10s in the deck than any other number so it is always best to assume the dealer’s hidden bottom card is a 10. The dealer has to hit if their sum total is less than 17 so if the dealer’s top card is a 5 or 6 it is usually best to stick as there is a high chance of “busting” (when the player’s cards add up to more than 21) the dealer. It is, however, slightly trickier when you are the one with 15 or 16 as you either draw and run the risk of busting or stick and don’t have enough points to win. Talk about a fun and exciting game! We had the most fantastic time playing black jack and with four leaf clovers dancing above us we somehow managed to walk away with a handsome sum of winnings.

Unfortunately for me, I had to work on Monday morning and although Vegas was still calling my name and the road trip is not complete, my team of adventurers continued on without me having dropped me off at the Las Vegas International Airport.

Grand Canyon

Usually when one of my adventures comes to a close, I find my travel addiction sated even if just for a moment and I can focus once again, free of the incessant panging in my soul to find myself rushing back towards the unknown. However, this time the opposite is true and in place of that usual satisfaction is a longing greater than before to go somewhere, see something, and be on an adventure. Sitting on the flight back from Las Vegas, looking out of my window upon a tremendous sight that my camera can barely begin to share with your eyes, my good luck had not yet worn off.  Peering out from my left side window seat, crystal clear blue ruling the sky, I was able to see the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. An absolutely epic close to an unforgettable adventure! With this beautiful vision embedded in my mind I soon nodded off to sleep and dream of having my own wings to soar above and explore free from airports and taxi ranks.

A slight bump of turbulence brought me back to life and I glanced out my window expecting to be faced with an empty black night, however, I was astonished by what I saw before me. Have you ever looked down on a major city at night? Cars drive along polka-dotted highways and neighborhoods transform into glowing golden mazes. From the air you experience an aerial view of an expansive metropolitan area and then watch it disappear out of sight behind you. There I was staring wide eyed through my window, looking down on the occasional city lights twinkling below. Glimmering towns disappearing off into the horizon, they are met by the blackness of the night. However, there in front of me, just above the curve of the earth was a tremendous lightning storm, one third of my visible horizon. The invisible clouds became illuminated by bolts of lightning jiving through them. Bolts so great in number, the whole cloud became visible for moments at a time as the strikes appeared throughout the cloud at an unfathomable rate.  Raising my

eyes from the tumultuous storm I suddenly became aware of the ocean of stars blanketing the sky above. More constellations then I have ever beheld before me, eyes  torn between the peaceful skies above and the tremendous storm below them. Eyes transfixed out my window I only tore them away to prepare for the descent as we were approaching Houston. Once again soaring over a glowing maze of city life, we came in for a gentle landing and I was soon walking through my home away from home that most people call an airport. 

Hoover Dam

Grand Canyon

From New Mexico to Nevada

No rest for the weary, we are up bright and early in time to make it to the International UFO Museum & Research Center at 9:00 when the doors open. Roswell’s main claim to fame is the crash landing of the UFO and the town really embraces the legend. The majority of buildings near the UFO museum have murals dedicated to their extraterrestrial visitors, really adding to the conspiracy & mystery shrouding the event. The museum is dedicated to the intergalactic government conspiracy theory making for an interesting stop on our venture and at only $5 a person it was definitely worth it.

In 1947 a UFO supposedly crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico. However, despite various accounts from locals who claim to have seen the UFO and the three aliens within it, the government played the incident off as a downed weather balloon. The museum appears to operate on a relatively small budget and would likely be more convincing with a better layout and protected original documents as opposed to photocopies.  Despite, the overall presentation, the museum was incredibly interesting and although I was tempted to believe the extraterrestrial tale, the lack of physical evidence available overruled my secret desire to have proof of alien life.

Despite Roswell’s intriguing history, it was only a short stop on our adventure, and the town was in the rear-view by 10am. From Roswell to Albuquerque we drove through barren plains towards massive storm clouds boasting walls of rain.  Other than the occasional slight undulation of the plains the only things blocking your view were the tumbleweeds that were gradually replaced by bushes as we approached the Sandia Mountains.

After lunch in Albuquerque we piled back in the truck and continued towards Flagstaff, Arizona. Such a pretty stretch of road! Surrounded by mountains and plateaus we drove through Indian reservations and tiny towns under a veil of spotty rain from unpredictable clouds. As we drove through the rain into the sun, a double rainbow appeared behind us and suddenly the rain disappeared to be replaced by the blue skies before us dotted with fluffy and wispy white clouds leading the way towards the mountains in the distance.

As Red Mountain appears ahead of us, the plain that had been surrounding us begins to become populated by ever growing trees and as we emerge in Flagstaff we find ourselves looking out onto a forest of pine tree with the mountain standing in all its grandeur just behind. Driving through Flagstaff surrounded by the pines it is hard to believe we are still in Arizona. Yet, we eventually emerge out of the forest and find ourselves once again driving in open plains. However, this time the vast expanse before us rolls its way towards the mountains and hills surrounding it making for a stunning view to take us into Nevada.

Driving past the glowing lights of the Hoover Dam in darkness, the only other visible light came from the stars twinkling in the sky.  Until suddenly, you reach the crest of a hill and find yourself facing the vibrant city of Las Vegas. Casino lights guide you in to the Las Vegas Strip and an overwhelming sense of excitement and good luck rushes over you.

Now that we have settled down into our rooms we are ready for our night out in Sin City. So I will leave you here until tomorrow.