Finally decided to leave the gorgeous state of California. What a blast we had…..but time to move on. We drove out of California into the cit of Las Vegas and the state of Nevada.
Akaisha kept herself entertained....
....and even read to Kit....
....and Chayse!
We watched the topography change quite significantly as we tootled along. We were going to see the bright lights of a city that never sleeps…..and catch up with some friends we made when we stayed in Ste St Marie on the Canadian border.
The topography changed significantly....
....from the coastal beaches of California.
But at last we reached....
Las Vegas!
You may remember our blog on Joan and Bill and their four Collie dogs. They ran the KOA there, but were on their annual holiday and were coming to Vegas for the KOA Conference and a Airforce reunion for Bill.
Kit with Indi at the campsite.
Macy and Amber came to join them.
We arranged to meet Joan and Bill the next evening. After chilling a little, doing routine chores (like washing!!!), we planned our trip into town for the next day. They say that when people come to Las Vegas, 13% of people admit that they’re coming to Vegas to gamble, whilst 80% of people end up gambling. We can safely say that we were the minority who did not gamble, but I guess we had 7 good reasons not to!
One of the most photographed sign in Las Vegas.
Four lanes going into the main strip...a lot busier than we anticipated.
We were following a map which showed where all of the hotels were, but when we actually drove the main street, we were surprised to see 4 lanes of traffic. We went to the new part of Vegas and parked at the Mandalay Hotel where we started our “tour” of all the hotels in Las Vegas. Each hotel had something special about it (eg: the Mandalay had a shark aquarium and the Cirus Circus had circus acts perform every 40 minutes.)
Parked outside the Madalay Hotel. The start of the Boulevard.
A cool wall screen that ripples when walking past it.
We walked through very ornate rooms, lots of art features, many casinos and lots of money to be made and lost!
Akaisha getting her introduction to Casinos.
Walking through the lobby and casino area.
Titties, bottoms and tummy art work.
A great prize to win think the boys!
There were hotels like New York New York that had a roller coaster running through it. There were cartoon characters every where and hotels modelled on themes from other cities around America.
New York Hotel had a roller coaster running through it.
The Exalibur Hotel.
The Statue of Liberty rose grand and spendid just like in New York. We even saw one made out of jellybeans!
Sponge Bob! Fun for all the family.
Statue of Libertymade out of jellybeans.
Replica of Statue if Liberty.
One of the kids’ favourite hotels was MGM Grand where the cafe was a jungle and creatures moved and rain even fell. Of course, Trev loved the aquariums! As usual it was funny to watch Chayse cover his ears when the crocodile growled (if there’s such a thing!)
Amazing rainforest
Very cool stools at the bar
The mechanical crocodile that made....
...Chayse put his hands over his ears.
We visited this hotel because it had real lions inside. Of course, you could see the main lions, but if you wanted a photo with the cubs, well, that you’d have to pay for.
Glad there's glass between Trev and that lion!
Huge glass encosure for the lions.
Sleeping, oblivious to the onlookers.
We saw wierd and whacky people all over the place (and that didn’t include our children!) It certainly kept us entertained seeing them all.
Trev wouldn't mind being picked up by these "cops"!
Trying to capture the guy in the background
Close up of the guy. Love the colours!
Or maybe this is more your style!
A huge size Woody and a small Elvis.
We met another lovely couple when we stopped at Denny’s for some lunch. Louise and Gary took us under their wing and showed us the sights of Las Vegas.
Louise and Gary.....
...showed us around many of the hotels.
Their son had been one of the engineers on the project when building the plush shopping centre, so they gave us the background of some of the beautiful attractions inside the centre. Makes looking through places so much more interesting.
Kit and Chayse in Las Vegas.
Amber with a great feature.
Flynn behind the water feature.
Very cool water features inside the shopping centre.
This was made of ice that melts and rebuilds itself.
What a magnificent staircase.
Look at the intricate design.
The kids took to Louise and Gary like they were the kid’s grandparents (must be missing both sets of their own). We were grateful for the extra pair of hands and the places they took us that we would not have seen otherwise.
Louise and Gary being surrogate Grandparents for the kids.
There were unique statues and artwork everywhere.
We went on the monorail.
A great window dressing.
We even went on a monorail that took us between hotels the fast way. But our breath was taken away by the amazing creations in the Bellagio Hotel where everything was sculpted with flowers and plants. Truly a sight to see.
Yummy chocolate fountains.
Look at the talking tree.
The ceiling had beautiful flowers.
I think the tree jusr said something!
The apple made of real roses.
The sculptures were truly.........
....amazing!
Outside the Bellagio, we watched the water fountain show. Las Vegas looked very different at night and had an exciting atmosphere about it. The kids were mesmorised by all of the lights of the city.
The fountain show just starting.
An amazing spectacle.
Eiffel Tower restaurant
The towers that lean.
New York New York.
We said our goodbyes to Louise and Gary, only to return the following night with our other friends Joan and Bill.
So lucky to have met Louise and Gary on our travels.
Another gorgeous couple, Bill and Joan, with our family.
We went out to Ci Ci’s Pizza place which was great value for money, then headed to the old Las Vegas Strip.
A hive of activity.
Akaisha thought the lights were cool.
Apparently to entice people back there, the council had poured a huge amount of money into building a huge dome over the street and at 8pm every night, a spectacular light show is beamed inside the dome for all to enjoy. They even had Zip lines down the middle where people can whiz past and finish up in the centre of everything.
The light show in the dome.
The original icon of Las Vegas.
Imagine this on your Xmas tree?
We enjoyed watching all the people in costume (or hiding their eyes from people in costume!) The kids were certainly shown a different life, that’s for sure! There were artists, singers, performers and more making this evening a very unique experience.
Getting back to basics!
Remember the group Kiss?
The kids loved meeting the Transformer.
We debated over whether these were real!!?
A wonderful artist creating these pieces right in front of us.
It was lovely to have Joan and Bill show us around (them in their zippy little Smart car and us in our 31 foot RV!)
A Las Vegas Wedding Chapel.
Bill and Joan's smart car.
When we arrived back in the RV Park, we bade our farewells as we weren’t sure when we’d be leaving and Joan and Bill still had appointments themselves.
Saying goodbye to some wonderful people!
Bill and Joan's great rig for towing their fifth wheeler and smart car.
As it turned out, we stayed another night as we wanted to have a look down Las Vegas Boulevard where we hadn’t got to yet. So into the city we went again, parked at Treasure Island and walked through the rest of the hotels.
Treasure Island Hotel
Circus Circus Hotel
One of the circus acts inside the hotel.
The gardens in the hotels were wonderful.
How's that for a Xmas tree?
Circus Circus had circus acts, but we only stayed for one. After seeing everything we came to see in the city, we found some of the shopping Outlets (yes, we have a teenage daughter!) and did a spot of shopping.
Nearly time for home...the RV that is.
Loved the outside decorations.
Aren't you a little big for Akaisha's pram??
Kaitin's "fun" poster advertising a hotel in Vegas.
Las Vegas holds many attractions, but we were pining a little for some good ol’ country fresh air. So the next blog takes us out of Nevada and into Arizona…..home to the Grand Canyon.
The map below shows where we are right now.
Where we are right now!
Once again a fabulous blog. You certainly have made lots of friends.. We feel we are there with you seeing all those great photos.
Carmel, Rod, kids and Scott arrive in Augusta tomorrow, so our peace will be shattered. Will send an email for Christmas. Say hi to Linda and Allan and Scarlet( I think!!).
Love you all.
Nan and Pop.
Hi Mum and Dad,
We have made some wonderful friends, even those who come into our lives once…. how blessed we are to have met them.
Have a great Xmas with Carmel, Rod, Dylan, Teaghan, Jaxon, Cassie and Scott. Yes, won’t be a quiet Xmas at all…….but should be fun!
Will pass on your hellos to Lynda, Alan and Scarlett. Hopefully we will get some snow, but apparently winter in the US had been particularly mild to date, so we’ll have to see what happens.
Thanks for following the blog. I still have a few more to add to “catch up”.
Love you all.
Cath, Trev, Kait, Jai, Flynn, Amber, Kit, Chayse and Akaisha xx
Looks like you all had a great Christmas. Looking forward to seeing you all.
Take care. Franklin clan.
Thanks Janine,
Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family. C U soon.
Cath, Trev and kids xx