Las Vegas

DAY 11:

This morning we called the Needles KOA campground to make reservations for this night. They asked us if we were really certain we wanted to stay the night, because it was after all in the middle of the desert. We decided to go ahead anyway.
After about 140 miles we entered the Joshua Tree National Park. Everywhere you look it’s desert, mountains and above all, quietness. We continued on our trip to Needles and it was desert, desert and well desert. :)



After about 170 more miles we arrived at the campground. Luckily the campsite was ‘shaded’, but it was hot nonetheless. After having setup the tent we went for a swim in the pool.
The lady at the front desk told us that there was wi-fi internet at the Route 66 café down the road.

DAY 12:

We went there the following morning for a cup of coffee and of course to be able to go online for an update on the web log. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go online at all, for some reason it did not work.
Our next stop would be the ‘Hoover Dam’. I had seen things on Discovery Channel about this dam, but to see it for real is something totally different. It’s big. No, it’s massive, giant, just big big big. The Colorado River runs right through it, which meant that on one side of the dam we were in the state ‘Nevada’ and on the other side we were in ‘Arizona’.



So yes, we have left the state ‘California’, for now and have arrived in Nevada.
After the Hoover Dam we went to Las Vegas, our final destination for today. We weren’t sure where we were going to stay yet. It was either going to be the Circus Circus or the Luxor Hotel. Funnily enough, Circus Circus was on the beginning of the ‘strip’ and the Luxor on the complete opposite. We decided to check the Luxor (www.luxor.com) first.
They still had a room available for two nights, yay! We’re on floor 13 room 98. The hotel is build like a pyramid. It’s got a lot of shops, slotmachines (of course), lots of rooms, theaters, food courts, the whole lot. You name it. The room’s got an Egyptian ‘feel’ to it as well, just like the rest of the hotel.



In the evening, we went out to have dinner and to walk down the strip (part of it anyway). We saw a number of hotels like, New York-New York, MGM, Excalibur, Aladdin and Mandalay. It all looked very much ‘alive’ at night. With all the lights, the music and all the traffic going through this street. After a number of hours and very sore feet we went back to our room and went to bed.



DAY 13:

This morning we took it easy and left the room late in the morning. We were hungry and decided to go to a Chinese buffet to have breakfast and lunch at once. After this we had enough energy to walk further down the strip and explore more hotels. We saw the ‘Venetian’. Its ceiling was almost like you were looking at the real sky. And there were gondolas floating around in the ‘river’ made inside the hotel. We also saw Treasure Island, Caesar’s Palace, Bellagio, Monte Carlo, the Mirage (we saw a white tiger there!), the Flamingo, the Ballsy, etc. We had our first frozen Margarita of this trip on the strip! It was yummy. Only 1 dollar, ha!
After even more sore feet than last night, we returned to our hotel and went for a swim in the pool and the spa. Tonight we had dinner at the same place as last night, Quiznos Subs.
Now I’m sitting here typing this next entry for the journal. I have no idea when I will be able to upload it. Can’t seem to be able to find a hotspot up in this hotel.

Tomorrow we’re heading to the Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon (North Rim).

More to come…