Las Vegas: How I beat Vegas

After the red rock canyon we decided it was time to get back to Vegas and have some fun. It was an interesting drive back into Vegas from the north. We got to see where all the 'real' people lived. It was just like any other city in the US with its strip malls and normal housing. We even drove down the strip. The north part is so seedy and dirty, but what can you expect really. A bit of advice if you do drive down the strip, don't go in the mirage valet area as it will take you about 10 minutes to get out of. It's a bloody maze. Well here are some sights of Vegas. You have the Eiffel tower.

The statue of Liberty


The Bellagio
Hooker flyers....

So here is how I beat Las Vegas. Loz went for a 'rest'. While waiting for him as I was in Vegas I decided to put a dollar in the Kenny Rodgers 'the gambler' 5c slot machine. With a surprising stroke of luck I got the bonus feature and I just kept on winning, as you can see below. The moral of the story, get your friend to drink lots so they keep on going to the bathroom and you win in Vegas.

After that we just had to gamble... this is whats left of our $40 on roulette.

All in all I came up about $30 from Vegas. Which is not bad as I did spend quite a bit of time gambling. Here is another arty shot of Vegas.

Las Vegas: Outside of Vegas, the red rock canyon

After the Hoover dam, we decided a jaunt to the red rock canyon on the outskirts of Vegas was the order of the day. I found this lovely sign while trying to find our way there (if you see if you are going the wrong way).

What we did find were the power lines leading from the dam to Boulder city.

I have to add I was driving, and I did get us there. It was worth it.

I even got to practice my GCSE photography. Get me.

There is a lovely little loop you can drive round. We even saw some fluffy bunnies on the way round.

Another one for the GCSE scrapbook

Here are some Joshua Trees with the characteristic layers rocks in the background. The red is due to iron.

You can just about see Vegas in background. We shall get to that next.

Las Vegas: Hoover Dam

Instead of wasting our day in Vegas gambling we decided to go on a little trip to one of the greatest feats of modern engineering, the Hoover dam. It was pretty fantastic, even though i spent half my time terrified due to the bloody big drop.

Here is a view of the artificial lake, Lake Mead, that was formed when built the dam. This was taken from Boulder City, NV. Which is the only place in Nevada that you can't gamble.

Here is the beast. Obviously not taken by me as I was too scared.

Another view of Lake Mead. The white line is the salt deposit from the highest flood. It didnt go over the dam itself but I bet it was bloody scary.

I actually managed to do the power plant tour. This involved descending about 500 ft in 70 seconds in a lift. It was surprisingly smooth. They are absolutely massive (ca. 300 tonnes)

Here is the outside of the power station. Again not taken by me.


I love these water inlet towers. A really classic art deco design and they do look so cool close up.

Here is a new highway bridge they are building. It looks totally insane, but I bet you are gonna get a fantastic view. You can actually drive across the dam at the moment, which wasn't that scary.

Here is the dam from the Arizona side. You can see the crazy power lines. Also how they actually made a good job of the visitors center. It was refreshing not to see people selling tat.

California: The Road to Vegas

It has been a while since I have updated but have I got some updates for y'all now. For the past two weeks I have been on a road trip round California including Las Vegas. I went with Lawrence (Loz) from school. Loz had never been to the states and I thought it would be a good idea for us to road trip round California. We had a bloody good time. Here are the pics. First off I know y'all wanted superman pants, well here they are!

That picture was actually taken later in the trip but I couldn't resist putting it in. Below is the car we got. I thought it was a bargain @ $350 for 10 days.

This was the beast we got. A 4.0 litre V6 Ford mustang. We knew we were gonna be spending on the gas but it was so cool to drive. The engine sounded great and we were doing a road trip in the states. We actually got almost 30 mpg that first day. It took us about 65 miles to get out of civilization. LA is massive. The total journey was about 300 miles (give or take a few errors, I was kinda navigating at first), here is on a map.

This is actually the point where I took over driving for the first time. Loz managed 200 miles, fulled on by great American fayre; a breakfast of pancakes and a Barstow dinner lunch. I was pretty nervous as the mustang was a beast and I hadn't really driven much. After a few minutes of panic it all came back and thanks to the automatic transmission and cruise control we were eating up the miles with ease. It is great just driving a long listening to classic songs on the radio.

I took this photo because years ago I saw a series of photos by an American photographer with the Union 76 gas stations as the subject. Alas the iconic ball is no longer there but it is cool that something so mundane can be beautiful.

After a nerve wracking journey through Vegas in the rush hour we finally got to the hotel. it was a pretty cool trip to have on our first day. From the sprawling metropolis of Los Angeles, through the fantastic mountains and deserts, to the neon of Vegas. It's easy to forget that Las Vegas is in the middle of nowhere, you can see in the background of the picture the mountains that most people just forget about as all they think about is the money.

Here is one of the lions that live in the MGM grand in Vegas. It is just that kinda place.


It is so bad I do love it.

The first night we were pretty tired, but we managed to gamble a bit, I was even up $10. We just wandered round looking at the sights and even got some all-you-can-eat ribs for dinner. Ah Las Vegas the place of excess.

Check back for more adventures tomorrow!