May 2012
The next morning we woke to that internationally renowned
place of Huntington-by-the-Sea. And the amazing view of a power station right
next to the RV park. Luuuurvley! As we were right by the sea, the morning (well
late morning by the time we got going) was spent on the incredibly large and
deserted beach. A few of us went swimming in the Pacific (again) which was rather
rough and pretty cold. There was also a strong riptide so the supposed paddle
turned into quite a workout in the end! Having not been to a proper sandy beach
in quite a while (well, Spring Break) I really enjoyed lying there in the sun
and chilling out chatting away to the others, as well as desperately trying to
even out my tan which was becoming nice and brown on the extremities but with a
lilly white torso – first world problems eh?! Amy took the tanning opportunity
a little too far however and ended up burning herself badly. I mean so badly
she was cripple for a few days and spent hours trying anything to try and
reduce the pain and swelling. Including the advice of one Army veteran in
Walmart who suggested using tea bags, which he used in his unit. Where did he
serve to get this knowledge I hear you ask? Vietnam? Korea? Africa? Nope.
Oklahoma. Yep, that notoriously sunny place where everyone burns…
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| The power station. Such beauty I know... |
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| Huntington Beach in all its glory |
After watching an amazing sunset, eating some fine food,
dancing like complete loons and completing a spot of stargazing and moon
hunting (no seriously, we couldn’t see the moon anywhere in the sky!), everyone
was getting rather merry so with me as designated driver we hit the road again
to find somewhere to spend the night. The hour journey was pretty uneventful
apart from some absolutely mental lorry drivers appearing to have a race down
the interstate, and we pulled off at another random exit, and pulled up next to
a sign declaring the area as one of ‘natural and scenic importance’. Whatever that
is… Anyways, I proceeded to get merry making up for lost time whilst the others
simply continued!
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| Desert antics |
Looking out the next morning it didn’t really seem much of a
scenic area. Just a desert with some rocks, and interstate to one end and an
abandoned school bus. Really scenic right? I had risen early to get on with
driving whilst everyone else woke up and sorted their lives out, and because we
“had” to be in Vegas for 3pm when we could check into the hotel, and I wanted
to see Death Valley on the way. Pulling off the interstate and onto the highway
to take us through the desert towards the entrance to the Death Valley National
Park, it really struck me at how desolate parts of the states are. There was no
sign of civilisation for miles and miles on end, and very little traffic on the
highway. It also astounded me how quickly the scenery changed as we headed east
– from luscious green mountains to desert mountains to just sand everywhere.
Although I do love the desert scenery because it was so different to anything I
have seen before.
It took a few hours to get to the Death Valley National Park
(including a stop to get gas and for people to sort their lives out), on pretty
much deserted highways. Death Valley is the lowest altitude, driest part of the
States, and very few rental companies insure for breakdowns. Including ours,
with an extortionate cost for car recovery, let alone RV’s. So obviously we
wanted to go into the Valley. Negotiations had to be struck up again between those
wanting to spend some time in Death Valley and those wanting to push on to
Vegas, with a compromise of 25 miles in to an abandoned mine. The valley itself
changed every turn and was absolutely stunning in a very rugged way. I loved it
there – so different to anywhere else I had been previously in my life. And
nice and dry compared to the humidity of North Carolina!
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| Death Valley |
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| Posing on the road. With heavy traffic... |
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| Driving in the valley |
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| Death Valley |
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| An ominous sign! |
We didn’t spend anywhere near as much time as I wanted in
Death Valley due to others cardinal wish to reach the bright lights, nor did we
stop in the little village/town off the road into the Valley, being told it was
“crap”. Right… Barney and Wahid took the drive to Vegas – about 2-3hours from
Death Valley and with Amy leaving her purse in a McDonalds bathroom and the
drama of how to get the RV into the entrance of the hotel (height clearance
being an issue!) we arrived rather flustered and hot in the desert heat. We
were staying in the MGM Grand for a night on the Vegas strip, simply to live it
Vegas style for the duration of our stay, and because we found some cheap rooms
online (later found out that it was because they were doing some major
refurbishment in the hotel, but meh, whatever!). However, with 9 of us it meant
one of the guys had to sleep on the hotel floor. The resort itself was huge,
all based around gambling (obviously). To get anywhere in the resort you had to
go through the casino floor, which was bloody huge and noisy with all the
machine noises and wooping and cheering of gamblers. At all hours of the day!
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| You know you're getting to Vegas when you see this! |
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| The bright lights |
The first night of Vegas was an epic fail. Everyone except
Kim, Jon, Antonia and myself fell asleep. Yup, fell asleep in Vegas. So we went
out and hit the casino floor after a few drinks in the room. Placing a lucky
dollar into my first ever slot machine I had a promising start with a $20 win,
although this was soon lost on the roulette wheel with Jon, and a further $5 on
blackjack. Calling it a night for gambling we wandered up the strip. It was 2am
by this point and the only ones out were those who had obviously lost
everything. We turned back and went to bed. Thank god it wasn’t a complete fail
of an evening but was rather close! The next day I was determined to make the
most of the day. I had planned to try and get to the Old Downtown part of Vegas
on the advice of my friend Audra from UNC. However looking at the distance on
the map it I realised it was an hour plus walk, and in the searing Vegas heat I
decided against it. Instead I had a wonder around the MGM Grand and
neighbouring casinos (much and much the same as each other really except for
the outsides tobe honest!). Gaining another $10 and losing a further $20
(keeping it low for the day!) I went and found the others chilling by the pool.
Which was a tiny bit epic with waterfalls, a DJ and bars. Although the heat
made it uncomfortable to sit outside for too long.
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| On the strip |
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| Outside the Belagio |
Grabbing an early dinner to take advantage of the happy hour
deals (being students and all!), it was time to make a proper night of Vegas.
Wahid had found a poker tournament with low stakes in the Excalibur Casino
opposite the MGM Grand for himself, Barney, Jon and I to play in. However when
we got there it was discovered it was actually a $50 buy in, which none of us
except Wahid were willing to pay. Instead we trekked up to “Bills”, about a
mile away, instead. Only to be told there weren’t enough dealers. Bloody
typical! Wahid decided to enter into a cash game, and the three of us tried to
play a bit of blackjack. Only to then be told that our driving licenses weren’t
adequate enough ID to play because they weren’t ‘attached’ to the USA. Excuse me?
Totally stupid rule if you ask me, but not being able to do anything about it
we did what all pissed off customers do: took our business elsewhere. The
Bellagio to be exact (setting of the Ocean’s Eleven film if you didn’t know!),
in which it was very easy to see the sort of money the place attracted as we
walked in. Obviously needing to gamble there – I mean you’ve got to! – I managed
to exit $10 up and Jon $5 which wasn’t too bad at all! We then watched the
infamous fountain show outside (to the totally cringe-worthy tune of “I’m proud
to be an American, because at least I know I’m free” – Jon’s reaction to that
was hilarious!) and walked back down the strip to the room to get some more
drinks down us. And found the others all asleep. I mean seriously?! Luckily
they all rallied and getting a few drinking games going people go merry, with
Kim proposing to Antonia. I mean when in Vegas!
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| The lads looking sophisticated... |
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| And the girls (minus Eshe) looking lovely! |
Heading back out and trying to find some $5 tables we
wondered over to New York New York, connected to MGM Grand by a walkway over
the strip. The amount of money within Vegas means a company will own a number
of resorts next to each other with easy access between the lot of them in an
effort to keep customers/gamblers/patrons/whatever you call those who part with
their cash within their own resorts. Watching a rather merry Barney attempt to
play Blackjack was a sight, and I enjoyed a decent game too with only $20 –
decent entertainment, although I then lost $40 on poker. Woops! Getting back to
the hotel room we were followed in by Barney who was very pissed off at some
Argies who were laughing at him from across the blackjack table. Which then
lead to a very drunken argument about the Falkland’s war, life and history, and
removing one’s self from reality. Yeah, I have no idea where that all came from
either! A perfect end to a Vegas night made even more perfect by me crashing
into the lads room and passing out with Wahid and Eshe looking very guilty
about something. Sod it, I just went to sleep and left them to it. I was later
informed that Michael came in and collapsed on top of Eshe – oh dear! The next
day proved to be a bit of a challenge getting everyone out of the rooms and
into the RV with hangovers galore. Especially as people kept disappearing off
to gamble some more (Wahid!!). Eventually 2 hours after we were supposed to
check out with a rather annoyed security guard trying to move us on and out of
the MGM Grand driveway we headed out. All the way down the road to Bank of
America for finances to be sorted out. And an RV clean up that not many people
helped with. Surprise, surprise…
Vegas was an interesting experience to say the least. Whilst
I enjoyed myself, I’m not sure if some others did. I would like to return to
the place another time, with more money and with a bit more time to explore the
place beyond the resorts we were in and around. Having said that, it really is
one very big, tacky, neon-filled place, despite the large amounts of money
rolling around the place. However, in my usual attitude I liked the place for
what it was and would never take the place seriously on any level. Nor gamble
too much there – there is so much else to do within Vegas that you could easily
go a week without actually parting with any money on a casino floor at all!
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| The 'Band of Brothers' shot |
(map taken from Google Maps)
(additional photos from Amy, Eshe and Kimberly)
LOVE the road picture :)
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