25 SEP 2010

Here we go again, on the road to ???? oh right Las Vegas. It is funny how by now I can remember where we have been but never can remember which city in which state events occurred. This becomes very clear when we are talking to someone and finding out that they are from Virginia. Now we know we were in that state, but which city and what do we remember about it? As it turns out once we remember the city we were able to remember some nice things to say about that state – people like that for some reason – go figure!


The drive to Las Vegas was routed to take us through Zion Canyon National Park. As I drove Wes was able to take about 50 pictures of views seen from the car. The Canyon itself is closed to traffic and can only be accessed from the Shuttle Bus so there was no thought of us driving into the Canyon but we did get a good view and reminder of the time we were there in the past.

 Today is a “State Park Appreciation” day so there were no park fees to be paid – bonus for us. On top of that the road through the park which involves the Zion tunnels is under maintenance work so it was stop and go and very slow. So take the work being done, add the entire population of Utah taking a drive to Zion Canyon and you can imagine the stream of vehicles.

This was really apparent when we got to the area for parking to take the shuttle bus into the canyon and there was not a single slot along the road or in the parking lots for another car. There were even signs telling people to return to the town outside the park to park and pick up the shuttle there. Reminds me of a long weekend day in May at the beach for the first warm day – try to find a spot to park car or body – good luck!

We arrived to Las Vegas early afternoon (time zone change helped) and got settled into our hotel.

We are staying at a Days Inn that is 2 blocks from the strip where New York New York and Excalibur are located. This is a very nice and cheap alternative to a hotel on the strip and close enough to walk in less than 15 minutes. We noticed immediately stepping out of the car that the temperature is high 30’s and it feels it. Now we have to figure out what to do since if it is this hot here, what will it be in Palm Springs or Joshua Tree? Wes is researching now to decide what to do next on our trip. We have about 2 weeks left before heading homeward and I am hoping we still go to Palm Springs and San Diego but I have been letting Wes plan this end of the trip so will put in my vote and wait for the decision. See how nice I am!

This stop has several needs. We need to have the tire fixed on the car. We need to do some shopping. We need to get the oil changed in the car and have it serviced. We need to do laundry. So for those thinking that we are here in Las Vegas to party – nope sorry to disappoint.

You can imagine the fun in finding a place to deal with the tire and servicing of the car in a city we know not and with companies that will see us as tourists. So we figured a company like Big O would be international and our best bet. Well we learned that the tire had a small nail in the tread and it could not be repaired (not true from my experience but what can you do since I am not an expert) resulting in the need to purchase a new tire. The servicing involved an oil change and (surprise) a new air filter usually only required once per year but I guess it got really dirty since June of this year. At any rate as for the tire, we decided that the cost difference of about $50 having the flat repaired and a new tire was not worth the hassle. Air filters are not that expensive so why not. Just reminded me how much tourists can be taken advantage of while traveling.

We returned to the room to comment about the heat and enjoy the air conditioner. This gave me a chance to catch up uploading all the blog days I have been missing, and sorry for those who have been following along that it may seem a large amount all of a sudden to catch up on.

We decided to wander down to the strip for dinner and to just walk around. We ended up at the Excalibur for a fantastic dinner. By the time we finished there we just went walking up towards the Treasure Island. We wanted to see the show there and discovered that we had to wait about 40 minutes to see the Pirates perform but that turned out to be the right time to arrive. We had a front row seat and by the time it was starting the crowd was huge. It was a great show and we enjoyed it but the crush of people leaving at the end was unbelievable. Sorry no pictures since I had not brought my camera and it was too dark for my blackberry camera to work.

We headed back to enjoy a show at the Bellagio fountains. I used my blackberry video option for the first time and was really impressed. I have added both video clips on the blog, also a first, and hope that you can enjoy the show that we saw. It is only a portion of the total show.

 

We headed back to the room arriving later than we had expected but feeling that we had a great time so far in Las Vegas. The only thing is that even at 10:30 at night (11:30 time from the morning time zone) the temperature is still mid 20’s.

Here is a second short clip of video.