Las Vegas - Day 1

Assumption #1: Travelling into the desert, it will be hot and sunny
Assumption #2: Arriving on Tuesday afternoon we will have our pick of the hotels on the "strip"

Here's our story...

After leaving California, we had a gorgeous drive through the desert into Nevada. Incredible. The Mojave has views we didn't even imagine.




The weather was perfect, sunny, nice fresh breeze...and I had been a bit worried about being too hot and getting too pink. A bit 'o sunblock and we were good to go.

We arrived in Vegas and it was as over the top as I imagined. Everything is big! EVERYTHING!


After driving up and down the strip, stopping in hotels and either being quoted ridiculous prices or being told they were full...we realized that our assumption about Vegas was a bit off. Maybe they were having an Elvis convention or something. I don't know, but eventually, a bit of crankiness was showing and we found ourselves a place we could sit and just figure this out. I finally agreed to give up my idea of staying on the strip (as I never have) and went with the Lonely Planet recommendation (and yes, Joe's too) to call The Platinum, a favourite of the business travellers in Vegas (doesn't that sound like fun?!)

Turns out we got an upgrade to a one bedroom suite (the Princess Suite - Joe found that quite fitting) with a balcony, HUGE bath with a double jacuzzi tub, 2 closets, full kitchen...and it was just a touch off the strip. And all for a fantastic price.

So after settling in and trying out all the bells and whistles - we decided to venture out and get some dinner and tour the nightlife on the strip...Just in time for the thunder storm - yes in the desert! So there went our second seemingly safe assumption..but rain it did, and we saw a spectacular light show!

view from our hotel balcony

So we grabbed a cab, headed for the strip and started our adventure. We had dinner in Ceasar's Palace in a funky noodle bar,

checked out some of the sights
...and watched the fountain show at the Bellagio. It really is impressive...and perfectly choreographed to music; not one song, but a number of tunes and runs every 15 minutes until midnight.

Bellagio - indoor display

After all the excitement of the day, we retired to our fantastic suite and rested up for our next day of adventure.