Hello everybody
I am typing this from our very luxurious suite in the Signature at MGM, Las Vegas...but more of this place later.
Since leaving San Francisco we have had 2 overnight stops. The distance between stops isn't too extreme so we always have plenty of time to find our accommodation, check in and then get out to explore our surroundings and have a relaxed meal.
We first drove to South Lake Tahoe. Once we'd managed to find our way out of SF it was an easy drive inland with the temperatures again climbing all the way. The landscape changed as we headed into real "cowboy" country, following some of the route used by the Pony Express, and passing through towns that wouldn't look out of place in a western movie!
We arrived at South Lake Tahoe and found our accommodation - The Paradice Motel. I did wonder about the spelling of the motel's name but then discovered it was definitely deliberate. S Lake Tahoe is on the state line between California and Nevada and, due to some laws governing gambling (Nevada allows it but California doesn't), a short walk down the street sees the architecture change dramatically! On the California side of the street the buildings are pretty, wooden and very healthy and wholesome looking (lots of hiking, skiing, fishing, biking, etc in the area); the Nevada side of the street is crammed with multi-story glass and neon casinos, bars and restaurants - what a contrast! (Have tried to show the difference on a pic attached but not sure I've captured the weirdness!) We went for a walk around the healthy bit of town before heading for the casinos in Nevada. The size of these places has to be seen to be believed but, believe me, they're HUGE! We wandered around the slot machines and gaming tables for a while and then headed up to the 18th floor to the restaurant. This particular casino (Harrah's) offer a huge buffet on their top floor and we were lucky enough to get a window seat with great sunset views over Lake Tahoe - very spectacular and beautiful.
Back at our motel (after spending far too many dollars on slot machines on the way out of the casino!) and a good night's sleep before the next leg of the journey.
After a healthy breakfast (at a cafe on the California side of the border!) we headed off towards our next stop. We were now driving south and were aiming for a little place called Independence. We knew the place was unlikely to be a tourist trap (we only chose to stop there as it was around the halfway point of the journey between Tahoe and Las Vegas) but we were still surprised by what we found.
Independence is a very small place on the edge of the desert. It is really a bunch of houses and a couple of shops gathered around the main route through but it is very small. We found our motel (it was called Ray's Den) and checked in with Linda, the very pleasant and laid-back owner. Our room was pretty basic but had TV, microwave, fridge and air conditioning and was spotlessly clean (and we had only paid around £40 for the night!). We headed out to find some food and were told that there were only 3 places to eat in "town" - there was fast food (a Subway attached to the petrol station), medium food (at a bar called Hooligan's) and slow food (at a rather out-of-place French bistro!). As we were hungry but not desperate we opted for medium food at Hooligan's - and what a strange place it was!
The building was quite attractive and really stood out on the rather shabby main street but inside was a different matter. The place was virtually empty and was quite sparsely furnished. It looked as though someone had tried to open a sports bar here (there were lots of large TV screens around the place...but only one was switched on!) and quite a big space but hardly any furniture and even less people! The waitress who took our order was severely lacking in any social skills (stroppy mare!) but it wasn't really surprising if she had to spend much of her time here. We ordered steaks and waited to see what happened. The only other customer in the place was a chap eating a pizza and reading a book - but the pizza looked very good.
Our steaks arrived and they turned out to be very good indeed! Even though the waitress was pretty rubbish we left a decent tip - more out of sympathy rather than anything else!
We walked back to our motel in complete darkness - no nightlife here!
We were woken up next morning by a huge road-roller right outside the motel - the whole building was shaking! The town is just getting pavements and street lights(!) and they were obviously keen to get on with the work! Linda had provided a bit of breakfast (muffins, yoghurt and orange juice) which made our £40 per night seem good value. Then we were off again....this time heading for Las Vegas.
This leg of the journey took us right across Death Valley and boy, was it hot! The roads were very easy to drive on - clear, long, wide and straight - and the miles ticked by quickly. We stopped at a place called Stovepipe Wells which was at the lowest point of the desert. Their thermometer showed the temperature in the shade as well over 100 degrees (see pic) and we bought ice creams like good tourists should!
The journey was really interesting though - cowboy towns, desert cacti, secret military bases with huge satellite dishes, etc. Martin had to keep his wits about him as there were some suicidal little desert creatures (like gerbils but with bigger ears) that kept jumping out in front of the car! They all survived due to a bit of nifty driving on Martin's part.
We eventually arrived at Las Vegas, which loomed up weirdly out of the desert, looking a bit like the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz! We found our hotel with only a small amount of shouting due to the inevitable getting lost (again!) but we were soon calmed by the valet taking our car away and being checked in to a mega-luxurious suite....fantastic! (have attached some pics).
We spent last evening in the MGM hotel and casino which is attached to our hotel by a covered moving walkway (we are in the posher bit of the MGM!). The place is massive - it is like a town inside a building! There are numerous restaurants, several theatres, loads of shops and miles and miles of slots and gaming tables. The place was very busy - Friday night in Vegas is BUSY, baby! - but there was still space to move about and watch the big bets!
The hotel/casino is also home to a huge 17,000 seater arena (where they hold the boxing and other sporting events) and we've bought tickets to get in there tonight to see a pre-season ice hockey game (LA Kings v Colorado Avalanche). Should be a great experience but not sure how the players will perform as we saw most of them at the gaming tables last night surrounded by pretty girls and avid fans!
So....we haven't yet made it out of the hotel (Martin thinks you could spend a whole weekend in here and still not do everything!). We are off out soon to explore The Strip and get inside some of the other hotels/casinos - but we'll be stopping by the lion enclosure in our hotel lobby first to see the famous lions (honestly....this place is sooooo unbelieveable!).
Will update with more Las Vegas stuff soon.....
Hope you're still enjoying the blog but I will carry on regardless.....
Take care
D&M
xx
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