Apr 2007

After a few months of planning, our trip to Las Vagas started with Bens younger brother Matt taking us to the airport , with the nice ' testing' of the sub woofers in Matts new car at 5am, lol. After five hours straight, we landed at LAX, took a bus to Budget Car rentals, where we splurged on upgrading with a great discount..hehe.

We drove through the Joshua Tree National Park - some random thing I always wanted to see, until we reached Las Vegas 3hours later at dusk.

We stayed at Harrahs on the strip, opposite Caesars Palace where we would see Celine Dion in concert the following night, during her last year in contract.

We visted most of the casinos on the strip...Uncle Leo and Priscilla were right about the loads of walking, glad we bought comfy shoes! The lions at the Mirage, Flamigos at...the Flamigo, lol, the beautiful and breath-taking Venetian with the Gondolas and marvellous realistic ceiling paintings. All the excitment and romance is inside the Casinos, as lots of beautiful floral arrangements, Musicans playing and Grand entrances, delicious dining and fabulous shopping...hehe.
We lost more money then gave with the gambling, I won $120 but ended up buying Ben a pair of sunnies, the original pair has lost somewhere in one of the casinos. Ben was a happy man with new Oakley sunnies.

After we had doen lots of walking around Las Vegas, which is in the state Nevada, we thought we would get lost and try to make it to one of the main sightseeing attractions in Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam which is about a 45min drive from the Strip.
The construction of the Dam occurred from 1931 until its completion in 1935. Blocking the Colorado River created two lakes, the first being Lake Mead in 1935 and the second being Lake Mohave with the completion of Davis Dam in 1950. Hoover Dam has produced approximately 150 billion kilowatts (enough energy to supply a million residents for 20 years). The picture is me facing Lake Mohave and the State of Arizona to the left, Nevada on the right.

After spending a adventurous time in Las Vegas, it was time to head back to LAX in California, the state where Ben was born! Sadly, our Four day trip was closing to an end. On the drive back, we stopped at Manhatten Beach. Where around the Rancho Palos Verda Point was Newport Beach, Long beach and Laguna Beach.

I managed to sweeze in some more shopping while Ben talked about the last time he was at this beach and what mischievious and funny things he got up to with his mates at the time. Standing on the beach, the crushing waves brought back wonderful memories of home in New Zealand and how my life has changed completely. Cheers to here, there and everywhere!