Anyways, onto this current chapter of travel. The catalyst for all this was my cousin Ginny's wedding in Houston, Texas. It had been a while since I had seen a lot of the family overseas so I took this trip as an opportunity to see everyone as well as travel the US a bit more having never ventured outside of California. Long story short, I booked my tickets, and as usual, left most things to the last minute, and would wing the rest as I went.
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Day 1
I flew out of Sydney on the 1st of July on a beautiful sunny day (after two weeks of miserable rainy weather). Ironically, the flight was very turbulent (this happened to me when I left for Europe as well...maybe it's a tradition). As usual, I couldn't sleep on the flight so I made the most of my time and money and watched movies the whole time. Thirteen long hours later, I was in LA queueing for what seemed like forever to clear customs before heading over to the domestic terminal to board my connecting flight to the City of Sin, also known as Las Vegas.
Upon arrival in Vegas, I was hit with a sweltering heat as I left the cool confines of McCarran Airport. Of course I should have expected that - after all, it is in the dessert. What was worse was that I had paid for a shuttle bus which took about half an hour to arrive, which meant that I was left to queue in the 45°C. But I guess it was change from the miserable rainy weather I had been experiencing in Sydney. Anyways, eventually I made my way to my hotel, the Monte Carlo, which was a nice hotel just on the strip.
Finally gaining access to wifi, I found out that conincidentally, two people who I had met in university, were also in Vegas. After getting in touch, I felt so happy that I had some people to hang with on my first night abroad.
That night,we met at the Bellagio for their famous buffet. It's so cheap compared to what you would pay in Sydney! And their range is so much better! After stuffing our faces full, and even leaving room for our dessert buffet, we waddled out and watched the famous Bellagio fountains (if you've ever seen Ocean's 11, it's at the end of the movie). Very fittingly, the song that played was Elvis' Viva Las Vegas. We then made our way through Caesar's Palace and Forum to the Venetian, where we decided to try our luck on the roulette tables. After 15 minutes of excellent betting, we decided to call it a night and claim all our winnings, ranging from $15 to my very sexy $69.
One thing I noticed as I walked down the strip was how seedy it felt at times, especially at night. There were so many people handing out cards for hookers and strip shows, and some would even follow you and continue the hard sell. Another thing common on the strip were people dressed up as characters which you could take a photo with for a tip, usually $1. Admittedly, you could choose not to tip but I saw a few confrontations when this happened. It was just so interesting people-watching on the strip (as a psychologist, I love to just observe how people act).
As I got back to my hotel and bid adieu to my two friends at 2am, I was amazed at how awake I felt especially considering that I hadn't slept for 32 hours ago. But hey, I was in the city that never sleeps so when in Rome. As I settled into my hotel room and quickly scrawled down some notes for this blog, I just knew that the rest of the trip was going to be amazing. As I finished writing, I realised that I had to leave for Grand Canyon tour in about 3 hours. It was gonna be another long day ahead.
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