24. Apr, 2016

24. Apr, 2016

WEDNESDAY 09-04-08

This morning we arrived here at the RV campground within the Circus Circus hotel complex www.circuscircus.com. It’s not too fancy but we’re not snobs and all we need is somewhere to rest our heads for the night, we’ve each got a healthy pair of legs, we’re right on the end of The Strip, and it will do us just fine.

We walked the whole length of Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip) during the day and then made our way back when it was dark and all lit up. It’s a bit like Blackpool – it looks better in the dark. We were impressed with some of the hotels namely New York New York’s exterior, Paris Las Vegas (the one with the Eiffel Tower), and The Venetian Resort Hotel (with the gondola ride). On the walk back we went in to the MGM Grand hotel and spent about $10 on the machines. I came out with $28.50, The Chef with nothing. Feeling our luck was really in and we were about to take Vegas by storm we went to the machines at Circus Circus on our return where Rosina spent $5 and came out with $14. This big-shot living can be fun.

LOCATION TONIGHT: Circus Circus KOA campground, Las Vegas www.lasavegas@koa.net (GPS: N36.140011 W115.164269).

24. Apr, 2016

24. Apr, 2016

24. Apr, 2016

TUESDAY 08-04-08 

Today wasn’t a good day. Even with the furnace turned on at 15C it felt quite chilly in the bedroom. I got up and turned the thermostat up at one point in the night, in fact it had been so cold, not helped by our altitude of 6,770ft, that the water in the hosepipe between the campground tap and the RV inlet was frozen solid. We had to put it in the sunshine to thaw out before we could roll it up and stow it away.

Before setting off for Las Vegas we made a special point of dumping all of our water both fresh and grey (shower and sinks), which seemed to make a lot of difference to the weight and performance of the vehicle. 

Travelling down I40 westward we saw a couple of signs referring to Route 66 and so at the next interchange, 121 at Seligman, we left the interstate, refuelled and actually travelled about 70 miles to Kingman on US66 the original Route 66 before changing on to US93 heading north to Las Vegas. 

Approaching the Hoover Dam, we were pulled over for a vehicle security check. Once there we parked in a public car park above the dam to take a few photographs. There I was approached by a coach driver who was a bit put out that I’d parked there because of the length of our vehicle, ignoring the fact that until he arrived and parked his coach across the car park entrance there had not been any kind of problem. I kept my cool and just told him politely but firmly we would be leaving very shortly. I have to remind myself that I am a guest in their country, but I’m sure sooner or later I’m going to forget that and have a Victor Meldrew moment. 

We had enormous grief trying to find the Oasis campground in Las Vegas www.oasislasvegasrvresort.com Other drivers were continually cutting us up and trying to bully us and the Satnav just would not recognise the address, we were going round and round the city suburbs trying to find it, eventually popping in to another RV campground and asking. They gave The Chef directions, telling her that if we went over the flyover then we had gone too far. So in our search we duly missed a right turn, went over the flyover, cursed because we’d overshot with nowhere to turn around – and there it was, the Oasis campground, right where it wasn’t supposed to be - that’s local knowledge for you.

We booked in for four nights, leaving Saturday morning. Once the RV was set up and we were showered we intended to pop down to ‘The Strip’ for a quick look around. We went over to the main reception, having studied their leaflet on free shuttle times, only to be told that the shuttle went bankrupt a couple of months ago. My observation to the staff regarding the shuttle information still being displayed on their reception desk and perhaps should be removed, didn’t go down too well. Perhaps they'd detected a polite tenseness in my voice, since the only reason we’d booked this campground was because it supposedly provided a free shuttle service in to the city, and we’d been through hell to get there. 

We had to order a taxi to get to The Las Vegas Strip, about $20 each way. We waited about 45 minutes before one arrived and that turned out to be for another couple who were from Alberta, Canada and who had been waiting even longer than us, kindly they offered us the chance to share their cab. We asked to be taken straight to the campground behind the Circus Circus hotel complex where we booked in for our remaining three nights, having established before we left the Oasis campground that we could get a refund. Circus Circus certainly isn’t as grand as the Oasis but at least it’s IN Las Vegas, which is important to us as we don’t have a tow car. 

We then walked down part of The Strip. First impressions were not good and we think we’ll be ready to go by Saturday morning. We eventually caught a cab back to the Oasis campground from the Circus Circus hotel. We asked the driver why we couldn’t get a cab whilst on the Strip and he told us they were not allowed to pickup fares there because it causes traffic congestion and they can be fined $200 if they do. 

The plan tomorrow is to get the RV ready to move, use the Oasis internet facility to let family and friend know how we’re getting on then move to Circus Circus. 

LOCATION TONIGHT: Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort, Windmill Lane, Las Vegas (GPS: N36.043013 W115.176741).