Truly, Madly, Deeply Vegas!

It was actually quite sad to leave Lake Isabella, Leo had made firm friends with Nick and the place really is a kid’s paradise.  Something we always do before we leave a campground is have a chat to the locals behind the desk about the route we want to take, especially if we are out in the wops.   It has paid off before and it paid off this time too, we learnt that the only petrol station was a mile back from the direction we wanted to take and there wasn’t another one for MILES.  We also learnt that the pass is pretty much open all year and a gradual incline rather than the steep mountains and windy roads we faced coming in.  Doing this also means at least someone knows the direction you are heading in because this is such a wilderness and it would be easy to drop off the face of the earth i.e. down a steep ravine.  In fact there was just a story about a guy who went off a ravine in his car and for 6 days he survived by eating ants and drinking from a creek before his kids found him.  The authorities had called off the search but the kids talked to the phone provider who put his whereabouts on the map and his kids just drove and drove and yelled.   Lucky for him and get this; when they found him they also found another car with the driver (dead) who had gone off the same ravine 10 days earlier!

Mojave Desert

It was a really pleasant drive out of the mountains again and down into the Mojave Desert.  The Mojave Desert goes on for miles and miles with long straight roads.  You won’t see anything for miles either so it’s a good idea to stop when you do.  We stopped in Barstow for lunch and this is the starting point for Route 66 and a major Grey Hound bus station so you can imagine the chaos.  There is a big food court and the characters there who are generally travelling between Los Angeles and Las Vegas are a sight to behold. 

After more of the Mojave Desert you can really see what they meant when they said “you won’t find a body out here”.  You can just imagine the Mafia digging graves out here and we are sure there are plenty of bones about.  We passed a massive (at least 3 acre) solar electricity farm which was quite amazing to see.  All these solar panels angled towards the sun.  What a fantastic idea and great to see, NZ should be doing this.

Yes, there is a tiny unkempt town in the Mojave Desert called Jo'burg!

Louie driving the Mojave

Solar energy farm

The traffic started picking up the closer we got to Vegas and you know you are getting close when you see the big advertising signs on the side of the freeway.   Some signs were a bit racy.  We heard a little voice from the back seat "that lady has no undies on mummy!"......errrrmmmm......

Lady with "no undies"

Trump Tower, Las Vegas

We hit 5pm traffic in the city itself unfortunately so it was a late dinner for us when we got in to camp.  We found the only campground on the strip and it is situated just behind Circus Circus Hotel and Casino.  It’s basically a massive car park with toilet blocks although it did have a great pool/spa and playground for the kids.

We decided to head into Circus Circus to have a look and grab a quick bite to eat.  I decided to get out of my grubby shorts and t-shirt and Justin gave me a look….  “We are in Vegas on a Saturday night and heading into a hotel on the strip!”….. needless to say Justin came out 2 minutes later with shirt and dress shorts on.  Hmmmmmph!  The casino was great, lots to look at and do, we caught a circus act before heading home for bed.  It was a trapeze act so kids eyes were as big as saucers watching them fly through the air.  Leo’s favourite bit was at the end when they drop to the trampoline.  The casino also has a rollercoaster inside it and loads of other rides, bigger than Rainbow’s End and it’s all inside!

Mesmerised by cirucs acts

Our possie under the Stratosphere

Going to sleep that night was interesting, that city must consume half the USA  power grid.  It was like daylight outside the whole night and there are helicopter tours up and down the strip till midnight.  We were also basking in the bright glow of the Stratosphere (the big tower) which has a ride right at the top where people drop two storeys sitting in seats so the regular screams lulled us off to sleep as such.

The next day we spent at the camp and driving about a bit trying to get some admin done….the laundry, another tyre fix, groceries and we also took Louie for a spin down the strip which was very cool. 

Louie drives the strip

The Bellagio

On Monday we spent the whole day walking the strip with the kids.  Man, it was a bit of a mission but worth it.  Thank god for the strollers.  We didn’t expect Vegas to be kiddie friendly but we thought they would have a bit to see and do.  First stop was Treasure Island to look at the Pirate Ships, this was great but you can’t get on them.  They are only for shows and they start at 4pm.  We then headed to the Venetian which is stunning.  The price of a gondola ride though is about $70.  The insides of these hotels is so grandiose and extravagant, statues, chandaliers, fountains,  rain forests inside….the mind is truly boggled.  The Mirage is lovely and so is the Bellagio.  The Bellagio has that massive pool outside it where the dancing fountains start at 3pm each day.

Checking out Treasure Island pirate ships

The Venetian

Kardashians new store at the Mirage

Gaming floor

Harley Davidson Cafe

It wouldn’t be Vegas without a bit of alcohol so we dabbled in some margueritas and carried on.  There are buskers everywhere although they seem to simply dress up as a character (Homer Simpson etc) and expect to be paid.  No talent.  There was however a very good Captain Jack Sparrow who looked exactly like Johnny Depp, he has a massive snake that he was letting people hold.  I didn’t have the guts.  Leo loved seeing Buzz Lightyear too.  We also saw a lot of homeless people too, my heart goes out to them really it does.  I gave an apple to the one guy who told me “it’s not a burger or hot dog lady”…..well, what do you do?

Bellagio Fountains start

Is this the real Johnny Depp???

Made out of jellybeans

Vegas skyline and yes, that is a rollercoaster ride running on the side of the street!

Even if you hadn't had too much to drink you would think you did

We got up as far as the Luxor Hotel and decided it was time to turn around.   On the way back a few of the shows had started so we saw the dancing fountains to the music of the Pink Panther which was pretty cool and of course lights started to come on etc.  About three times inside the casinos we were told “this is a casino those kids can’t be here” or “there is gambling going on here (with a look at the kids).”    I was actually a bit miffed towards the end of the day I mean really?  Like, are we in Vegas or something?  Its not like we were sitting at the pokies while our kids were running wild, we were actually passing through the gambling areas trying to get to the attractions within the hotel.  Vegas is not for kids that is for sure but unfortunately for us we are a group deal at the moment, no babysitters available.

Dancing fountains

After an awesome dinner and some more marguerita’s we headed back to the camper.  The kids were awesome and had put up with us exploring the strip for at least 10 hours.  What troopers.

Now we had been talking about renewing our vows in Vegas for as long as the trip had been planned.  It’s not as easy as you think and its actually really expensive.  To have Elvis marry you, you are looking at $350+ and that doesn’t include photos etc.  The cheapest we could find is what they call a “drive thru”.  You literally sit in your car, drive through the “chapel” and the minister marries you while you sit in your car.  The cheapest version of this is $40, you start to pay more if you want a limo with a sun roof for you to hang out of during the ceremony etc.  We didn’t really want that so we decided on a $120 ceremony (without Elvis) and thought we’d be silly and dress up.

We went to a costume shop but this was going to cost us $100+ each for a costume.  We ended up buying Leo an Elvis costume here though for about $40, we had to have at least one in the wedding party!  Lucky for us it’s Halloween month here so good old Walmart had costumes for about $20 each and off we went.

There wasn’t much at all left in our size so what you see is what you get.  Just was Fred Flintstone, heaven only knows what you’d call my costume, Spencer was a little purple fairy and of course Leo was Elvis.

We got to the chapel at Circus Circus with about 5 minutes to spare.  You have 30 minutes to get dressed before the ceremony in a tiny little room.  It was absolute chaos with all four of us in there but we managed it in the end. 

Our flower girl

So, to the music Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden; Justin walked down the aisle first, Spencer was our flower girl and Leo walked me down the aisle and then stepped in as Justin’s best man.  He took his job of looking after the rings (bought on the strip the day before) very seriously but Spencer took a liking to the sparkly one and nicked it as soon as she could lay fingers on it.  She was very good about handing it to us when we needed it though. 

Leo walking his ummm.. mummy down the aisle

Saying our vows to each other was so hilarious.  Swearing undying love and faithfulness forever to Fred Flintstone almost made me wet my pants at one stage.  I think the minister thought I was getting emotional, Justin almost lost the plot as well.  It was great though to say all those nice things to each other again and have the kids running about as we did it.

Fred AKA Justin

The rings

The kiss!

Mr and Mrs Wright x 2

Mwaaah!

After the ceremony you are given your certificate and the wedding photographer takes you to a studio for some more shots.  Then you are done!  The whole thing was about 25 minutes.  We got changed and then headed off out to celebrate with a nice lunch and another circus act.  We asked if they got a lot of drunk people coming through to get hitched and they told us it was just a Vegas Myth because ministers wouldn’t get their license if they married people under the influence so it’s pretty much unheard of .

Come back to my cave.....

It was a great day all in all and over a few wines back at the camper when the kids were asleep Justin and I were then able to reflect on the fact that we just got married again.  A very different affair 4.5 years after the traditional “I do’s”.

We have listed the camper and Louie on craigslist to sell them now so are starting to field calls.  Los Angeles is our final destination in USA.  We will have done 20 states and approximately 10,000 miles so we feel we’ve made good use of our time here.   It’s just too cold in the camper to go up through Canada like we had originally planned, we’ll have to do that on another trip.