Kanab - Las Vegas Journey Day 15

We were very satisfied with our stay in the Four Seasons lodge last night, partly because we have broken away from the big brands which we weren’t sure we’d have the courage to do. We had coffee from the pot in the lobby and a couple of pastries from the garage next door and headed off.
The scenery is a contrast from the last few days climbing through cool wooded mountains. Through the trees we spot the black crumpled and broken rock of a large lava flow. We would not have recognised this had we not been educated by our visit to Sunset Crater a few days back.
At a high point we pull up to look at the views out across the rolling hills and a lake. Here we encounter an American family and take groups photo’s for each other. The Mum is actually a Nottingham girl but has lived in the states for 20 years.
Trying to keep our food intake down a little, we grab a small burger and chips in the town of Mesquite where we also fill up with gas.
Today is really just the journey to Las Vegas and we carry on across wide open and baron routes interspersed with climbs over brief mountain ranges. I am still affected by LA being reachable on road signs and feel confused as journey’s end seems to near and Las Vegas seems to signal the end of this wonderful journey rather than being a point on it.
We reach Vegas about 4 in the afternoon and locate the Luxor hotel where we are to stay for the night. We find the parking lot quickly and drag our luggage through the stifling heat toward the entrance. Sadly, Luxor proves disappointing. Inside it is dull and unspectacular; building work means pneumatic drills running inside the building from 9 in the morning ‘till 9 at night. Signage is misleading and we drag our luggage the full length of the gambling hall twice before locating the reception where we join the long queue to register. We then drag our bags right across once more to the Inclinator #2. As the building is a pyramid, they are not lifts or elevators but “Inclinators”. As they rise or fall you are pushed sideways which is really weird.
The room is attractive with hieroglyphic patterned material and polished woodwork. Here it becomes more apparent how they manage the prices as everything is geared to getting a little more cash out of you. There is no Internet access unless you pay extra; there is no in room coffee facility, water or anything. Throughout the hotel (and others on the strip) signage and layout is such that you cannot negotiate from place to place without wandering in varied paths through the slot machines and gaming tables. Signage is (deliberately?) dismally inadequate; I would be very concerned as to emergency routes if needed.
Early evening and we set off to walk the Strip and see the sights. Initially we take the free monorail linking Luxor to Excalibur which is reputed to be castle like. ‘Castle like’ extends to some very false stone panelling and fairy tale pastel coloured pointed tops on false towers. There are some flags around but it’s a pretty poor stab at “castle like”. We exit to the open air where, as it is now early evening, the temperature has reduced to bearable levels. New York New York is next, reputed to have a marvellous replica of Central Park; well we couldn’t find it. The outside has a scale Statue of Liberty and false building frontages which is reminiscent of Disney MGM or Universal Studios back sets. With the lighting and adverts in all directions it is all impressive on the outside. Now Monte Carlo; well, we have been to Monte Carlo a few times and I don’t think whoever designed this place has; it’s only common factor is expensive shops. Opposite, MGM had little to entertain and adjacent to the Monte Carlo is a massive building site; whatever is going up here is going to dwarf everything else.
Annoyingly, everywhere as you go along the Las Vegas Boulevard there are men and women in tee shirts advertising Girls snapping and pushing cards into anyone’s hand that isn’t firmly closed. The floor is littered with cards advertising partly clothed girls. There is clearly a heavy underlying sex industry which is fine but not when couples and families with children are subjected to the bombardment. The sidewalks narrow due to the building works but we emerge opposite Bellagio and next to Paris.
The building for Paris is superb, attention to detail and pleasant with fountains and a real French feel. Inside this is reflected and we head for one of the free attractions we have read of to find that actually you have to pay $10 to go up the tower if you do not have a meal reservation. Oh well.
Across the road we see the end of the quarter hourly water fountain display outside Bellagio which looks wonderful. We end up seeing this another three times during the evening; a complex powerful water display accompanied by music with each display different. The pulses firing water into the sky at the highlights make an explosive noise which simply adds to it. This water display was at the time, and remains, our best feature of Las Vegas.
We thought we’d take the Deuce double decker bus service to Downtown and Freemont Street but the queues were massive and we abandoned the idea.
From here we continued to Ceaser’s Palace and TI (formally Treasure Island). Ceaser’s Palace was good with sculptures and ceiling paintings. At TI there was a free show on the pirate boat outside but the next show was 30 minutes away, our feet were dead and we still hadn’t eaten so we started to retrace our steps.
We did wander around the gaming halls as went moved through and watched the many characters. At a roulette table where one guy was doing very well, a girl came and bought about $60 (£30) in chips and sat down to have her holiday gamble. A few minutes later, having not even had a bite, she wandered away from the table to her friend with her pockets lighter. People sit at the slot machine with a loaded card on a string inserted looking as if they are tied to the machine; I cannot figure this which doesn’t even have the action of inserting and winning coins.
The contrast of people late on is remarkable from elegant expensively dressed girls gliding on stylish high heels to families plodding along with rucksacks and push chairs.
Our meal for the evening ended up as coffee & a cookie at midnight. We determined to have Margareta before retiring but on returning to the Luxor the bar had no atmosphere and after a wander around we decided to jack it in and go to bed at 1:30.
The South Strip we visited tonight is like Blackpool on speed mixed with the visual kidology of studio sets at Disney and Universal. The trouble for us was that at Disney and Universal there is loads of entertainment you have already bought but here, contrary to what we had read, there is no free flow of entertainment. Nothing we found other than the fountain and the TI show was available free and unless you were attracted by paying a fortune to see a show, or if gambling is you bag, it is a place to see and sample and move on.

[Apologies to those who love it; maybe I just didn’t get it?]

Statistics: Miles today: 261 miles; Miles so far: 4,346; Fuel added so far: 224 gals; States: Utah, Arizona, Nevada; Time Zone: Mountain (UK -7) to Pacific (UK-8)