Las Vegas is one of those bizarre places that intrigues me. Its morbid insanity? Leaving Las Vegas? Party town? Just not understanding it? We did Las Vegas and we did it properly and perhaps I now understand a little of its psyche.

First off, lets point out that they have masses of slot machines at the airport as you get off. Second, that the rental car is a beautiful white Mustang convertible. Third, that the airport is _literally_ across the road from the start of the strip.

We headed in to town, top down on the Mustang, and cruised along the strip. All the famous casinos were there! The big lights, the crazy looking people. One thing I wasn’t prepared for was that everyone was so dressed down. So what if it was 35 degrees!? Suck it up and style it up people!

We headed to our hotel room at the Venetian. The casino has a river in the middle, with punts and a fake-blue-cloud-covered-sky, that I didn’t notice was fake. And just assumed it was the middle of the day. Course, it was about 10PM. Go casino! Our suite was amazing. 1000 square feet, multiple big TVs, right next to the pool. Score!

Getting up at 8:00 the next morning was a little difficult, but we jumped in the convertible and hit the road. Our destination was the grand canyon. We grabbed breakfast in Boulder City, which helped a lot with the after-effects of our enormous cocktails!

After five hours on the road, crossing over the top of the Hoover Dam (big) into Arizona (desert... desert and more desert), various driver changes, food and petrol stops, we reached the Grand Canyon.

We headed back to Vegas. With the top down, driving through the desert at night, there was an unbelievable view of the sky. Stars... In your multitude... etc. etc.

Got back to Vegas at 11:00 or so, headed out, looking very swish (we reckon!), first drinks at an outdoor bar with a kick-arse live band at 12:00. An over-sized tequila shot served in a schooner-sized glass, and we were well on our way. We ran into some random people from Jersey (I think?) on the street. She shoved a bottle of champagne in Hugh’s hand and then proceeded to grab all our arses. I think her name was Hannah. We re-christened her as only Australians can: Hazza. We hung out with her friend Borrow (Bozza) and the other guy (sorry other-guy... I can’t remember your name) while she was of picking up Kevin (Kezza). We ran into a bunch of frustratingly-super-attractive married girls, whose husbands had gone gambling. (No! We didn’t do anything bad!). Several more bars, a lot more hazy memories, and overall a kick-arse night out. :-).

The next day, we coped with our hangovers by visiting the buffet at Wynn’s Casino. Its pretty famous. And the line was an hour and a half wait, but was well worth it when we were presented with such a large selection of nice food! We decided to make this breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cooked-to-order omelette, prime rib, sushi, seafood, deserts, etc. The bloody marys helped a little with the headache. :-).

The Vegas experience wouldn’t be complete without gambling. Chuck and I whipped out our iPhones and gave ourselves a crash-course in blackjack. All knowledged up with strategies, we headed to the tables. Being such high-rollers, we sat down at a $10 table in the Bellagio (the lowest minimum bet we could find). Being such experts, we both won. A lot. I like casinos. :-). <for anyone who doesn’t realise, that’s with tongue firmly in cheek>. 

SO. The canyon was beautiful, and the ride down and back, while long, was good for the soul. And Vegas... It’s debaucherous and crazy. Its got a very seedy underbelly that kind of wraps around on itself. Its blatant. Its everything you’d expect. I had a really great time, but now that the intrigue is quelled, I have no need to return. Maybe some day someone else will want to satisfy their own interest and I’ll tag along. :-).

Some more photos here.