Howdy all, Here's what we got up to this week: Wednesday 26.06.13: We had a nice early start this morning to go and do the Monument Valley sunrise tour. After only getting to bed at 11.30pm last night, the 4am alarm came around waaaay too quickly this morning let me tell you... We dragged ourselves out of bed, drove over to the hotel and were at the (deserted) lobby at 5am to meet our tour guide and found that we have Henry again - the same guy as yesterday. We were the only ones doing the tour this time so we went out to hop in our vehicle only to see that we're in an SUV today. Turns out the pickup from yesterday which was having vapor lock dramas is now out of service & has to have its fuel pump replaced haha. The SUV was quite nice inside but the ride was still as rough as yesterday thanks to the mad driving lol, and you can't see as much being down lower inside the car which is a shame. It was still dark when we set off on the tour but it didn't take very long for the sky to start changing colours. Henry took us to a great spot to watch the sun come over the horizon and it was just magic. The whole tour was amazing, we went to lots of different spots and the scenery was just breathtaking. Sounds cliche I know, but it truly was. The colours of the rocks were so beautiful and again everything just kept changing as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky. Henry was telling us that lots of movies, music videos and tv commercials have been filmed here over the years - most recently was Johnny Depp's new movie, The Lone Ranger. The desert can be so deceptive - we would literally be driving in deep sandy channels between rocks then hop out of the car and climb a hill for the view. But when you turned around to look at where we just drove you couldn't even see the 'road' or even the car. I can see how people get lost out here. You look around and think there's nothing anywhere near you but in reality there could be people, shelter, food etc in a valley close by that you just can't see from your vantage point. It was really interesting to see. If you ever get the chance get your butt out here, its so gorgeous!!! The tour was finished by about 8am so we had a look around the gift shop, museum and information centre and then hit the road. We stopped in Kayenta, 20mins away, for some brekky and then we were really on the road by 9am. We took the south route home this time which is all freeway so a lot faster than yesterday's trip through Zion National Park, though definitely not as pretty. We stopped in Kingman for some lunch and then were back in Vegas around 4pm. To be honest I mostly just 'rested my eyes' for a lot of the trip home, we were all pretty b*****ed but I just could not keep them open lol. We had a bit of a relax when we got home but soon decided the only way to stay awake till bedtime was to keep busy. Dad went to a huge Bass Pro store (fishing/outdoor supplies etc) while Mum & I hit up the outlet shops again. Benny stayed home and did some washing but I'm pretty sure he had a little snooze too while we were out hehe. We grabbed pizza for dinner and then had a much needed early night! :) Thursday 27.06.13: Happy Birthday Aunty Luan :) xxxxx Our first job this morning was to drop Toby off at the mechanic so he can get all fixed up. With that out of the way we came home, got ready and hit the shops. It's another scorcher of a day so it's nice to be in air con!!! We had a wander through Target, Dollar Tree (bargain dollar store) & Sally's (beauty supply store) and then grabbed some groceries for tonight's BBQ. Maggie & Spencer (who we met at Dockweiler Beach) live here in Vegas and are coming over for dinner tonight so it will be fantastic to catch up with them again. Once we got home Mum & I started prepping for dinner while the boys went & dropped the rental car back to the depot. I was in the middle of making a potato bake while Mum was tidying up and throwing all of the food scraps in the garbage disposal unit in the sink. She was having a merry old time playing with it until we heard a grinding noise, then a big clunk and Mum shuts it off and goes "It's gone!!!!" Me: "What's gone?" Mum: "The garbage disposal thingy, it's gone!" Me: (laughing) "What do you mean it's gone? Mum: "The whole thing, it's just GONE!". So I go over for a look and sure enough we were looking down the sink hole into the cupboard below haha. So we opened up the cupboard and there it is sitting right there amongst a heap of water! Hahaha!!! Turns out that the screws holding it to the sink had somehow let go and the whole disposal unit had fallen right off the underside of the sink. So we called housekeeping and explained the problem - mum told them that the insinkerator had fallen off and needed to be fixed. When the maintenance man arrived we had to explain what had happened as housekeeping told him our incinerator was broken - and since we don't have an incinerator he had no idea what the hell he was coming to fix haha! So we explained that most homes in Oz don't really have garbage disposals but when they do they're usually called an 'insinkerator' over there which he thought was quite funny! It only took him half an hour and the garbage disposal was all fixed up and good to go again, but ever since that day it has been christened 'the garbage gobbler' hehe. After all that drama we ended up having a great night - lots of food, drinks and great conversation. In fact there was so much conversation that the night just flew by and it was after midnight before we said our goodbyes! Thanks for a fantastic night guys, it was so nice catching up again :) Friday 28.06.13: We started off the day at the outlet shops again - Dad needs new joggers/sneakers so we're on a mission. Dad and Ben caught the bus from the outlets up to the Atomic Testing Museum while Mum & I stayed shopping. We didn't really have any luck, there were a few places that had decent shoes but we couldn't get anyone to help us so we ended up giving up & leaving. There was even one shop where Mum found an employee and asked her to grab a shoe from out the back in Dad's size, which she did. When she came back Mum had a look at it, then asked if they also had a different shoe in Dad's size - she said she'd go out back and check and just never came back!?! We waited around for 5-10mins looking around the store while we waited and then found her back out the front with another employee discussing how they should set up their latest window display. Okaaay... So we just left... After looking around the outlets and having some lunch we were finished and ready to go get our nails done - girly day woohoo! :) So we headed out the front to catch a taxi, and that's where we had our next drama. There was a taxi waiting in the rank outside so we walked up and he said he was available until we said we only wanted to go a couple of blocks south. Then he closes the door and says "No sorry I can only go to the strip" (which is north). WTF? So Mum says "Righto then, where can I get a taxi to go south?" He turns around and points to the taxi behind him and says "That guy will take you". So we're both thinking this is a load of **** but alright let's go see this guy.... He does the exact same thing. "Yes ma'am I'm free, where are you going?" then when we tell him "Oh hang on, no I'm only allowed to go up to the strip" So Mum says "Well how come that guy (points at first taxi driver who's standing there smirking at us) said you would be able to take us?" Him: "I'm not sure". Mum: "Well where can we find a taxi that will take us south since (heavy on the sarcasm) 'you all can only go to the strip'?" He tells us that we should go up to the other taxi stand so Mum asks "And how will we know which ones are the "southbound taxis" up there?" (Go Mum!) He rattled off some mumbo jumbo about there being a different number or letter on their licence plate but we thought it sounded like a load of rot. So it's in the mid-40's again today, we've been standing outside trying to get a cab for the last 10mins and getting the run around - we're starting to not be happy campers! If it wasn't so blisteringly hot we would walk the couple of blocks but it's simply asking for heatstroke in this weather. So we head down to the other taxi line and the first guy sees us coming with our shopping, jumps out and opens the boot for our bags. Mum says "Can you take us down the road?" Him: "Yep no problem". Mum: "But we're going south, is that alright?" Him: (looking at us like we're a little nuts now) "Umm yeah that's fine". So we proceeded to tell him our little saga with the other two and he rolled his eyes and basically confirmed what we already thought - that the first two guys were full of it, they just didn't want to take a small fare down the road when they could possibly get more cash from someone else. Scammers! So we finally got down to Lee's Nails where they could fit us in and we had manicures and pedicures. Ooh how fancy. I still had Gelish on my toes from January before Michelle's wedding (how's that for a testimonial for staying power Aunty Luan hehe) which wasn't looking so pretty anymore so it was nice to have it taken off. However this was the first time I've had it removed with a ______ drill rather than soaking off lol. All good, we walked out of there a while later feeling all shiny and pretty again! We headed home and since it's our last day here we decided we should finally try out the pool before we go - how slack of us huh. They have a 'lazy river' which is a looped pool where they set the jets to all point one way so the water flows around like a river. So you grab a tube and just float around and around in the current - it's a fantastic idea and sooo relaxing. I want one at home!!!! The boys came home and joined us in the pool for a while then we all headed over the road to Gee Bees for dinner and drinks. Saturday 29.06.13: Happy Birthday Nicole :) xxxx Mum and Dad are off to San Francisco today to hop on the ship for their cruise up to Alaska. Their airport shuttle was picking them up at 4.50am so we hopped up to see them off, said our goodbyes and then crawled back into bed for a few hours. We're checking out of Worldmark today and moving to another hotel, but we couldn't pick Toby up from the mechanic till 10am this morning which is a bit of a pain but what can you do... We caught a taxi over to Lee's Automotive where Tobes was all ready and waiting for us. Turns out that as well as a general service, his spark plugs and wires needed replacing - they showed us the plugs and they were pretty well fried - so he should be running a lot better now. We had him serviced before we left Canada but we've done a lot of km's since then and I guess the hotter weather here is a bit different for him to handle! So back to Worldmark we go and pack up the unit, load Toby up and then head out. It's great over here, most places have a 12 noon checkout as standard, but the downside of this is that then the check in times don't start till later as well - usually 3 or 4pm. So we have a few hours to kill today... By now the day has heated up again so we decided to head to some shops to hang out in the air con till our room is ready. The drive was only about 5 mins but we were both dripping with sweat when we arrived - I would not recommend Vegas in summer in a non air conditioned car if you want to look pretty haha. We ended up at Fry's Electronics at Town Square and like the name suggests it's an electronics store but it's like the size of Bunnings at home, just huge & they have a bit of everything! Dad, you would have loved it here!!! They had a cafe inside so we had lunch first then a wander around which killed plenty of time. We headed over to the Travelodge around 2pm to see if we could check in and (yay) our room was ready. The hotel is just off the strip and we can see Tropicana, Hooters and MGM Grand Casinos from our room. They look like they're close enough to walk to, but do not be deceived - I swear a Vegas block is about 4 times the size of a block anywhere else in the world lol. So if you look at a map and think oh yeah that's only 3 blocks away - you're probably more accurate in saying that its about 10-12 blocks away! And in 45 degree dry heat you do not want to get caught out by that!! :) The rest of the afternoon was spent inside with the air con cranked, watching TV and offloading photos off the iPad to the new laptop, working on the blog etc. It's simply too hot to do much else. We toyed with the idea of going for a swim but there was no shade on the pool area so it still seemed too hot. Sunday 30.06.13: After umming and ahhing about what to do over the next week or so, we've decided to stay a bit longer in Vegas, so Mum & Dad have booked us into another Worldmark tonight for the next 4 nights - thank you. Check in isn't till 4pm so again we have a day to kill. We checked out of the Travelodge by 11am and went out into the heat. We had a cruise down the strip to check out the action - surprisingly we were not the only ones driving their motorhome down the strip like I thought we would be. Again here I had a little giggle to myself - never in a million years did I see us driving a motorhome down Las Vegas Boulevard the last time we were here. Funny, funny :) We headed over to Town Square again and had lunch at Capriotti's which is a fantastic little sandwich bar, yummo. The temperature's meant to be in the high 40's again today and since we can't check in till late we figured the best way to beat the heat was to go and see a movie. We saw 'The Heat' with Sandra Bullock & Melissa McCarthy and it was so hilarious. I swear I didn't stop laughing the whole time. Do yourself a favour & go see it!!! I would go again! :) It was 3.30pm by the time the movie finished so we headed over to Worldmark and were able to check in straight away which was great. We had planned on jumping right into the pool but it's still in full sunlight and just too hot so we veged out in our unit instead. We're both getting a bit used to this air con lol... Monday 01.07.13: Happy Canada Day!!! Our first one and we're not even in Canada to celebrate which is a shame! There's always next year though!! :) First up this morning we went to a Worldmark presentation. Because we're guests of owners (mum & dad), when we checked in yesterday they wanted us to come along so they can tell us all about the program in the hope that we will join up too. Mum & Dad have been to some shockers where the sales people are super pushy & try to pressure them into buying, but I think we were lucky. Our guy could see straight up that we weren't buying anything so we had a big old chat and a free brekky, then when the time was up he ushered us over to get our free gifts and got us out of there. So for 90 mins of our time we got 2 show tickets and $100 worth of dining vouchers which can be used at a heap of casinos. Not bad hey :) We came back to the unit to get ready and caught the 11am Worldmark shuttle up to the strip - it's great, they have a shuttle that runs up to the strip and back on the hour - very handy. It drops you off at Caesars Palace so we wandered the Forum Shops, Caesars & Bellagio for a look - I just love walking around and looking through all of the casinos!!! We headed over to Planet Hollywood to exchange our vouchers for actual show tickets for tomorrow night. When we got there the box office was closed with a sign directing you to go upstairs in the casino area to another box office. So we traipsed through and found it, only to have them tell us that to get tickets to the show we wanted we actually had to get them from the theatre that the show plays in. So we go back downstairs and right around the back of the PH miracle mile shops where the V Theatre is. We lined up with everyone else who had the same idea and waited half an hour to get to the front of the line, only to be told that you can only get your tickets on the day of the show. Seriously!? So off we go without any tickets! I just wish they advertised that on the vouchers so we didn't waste our time!! The best bit is because we want to see the show tomorrow night we get to come back and do it all again then haha. Anyway the day got heaps better when we went around the corner to Lobster Me for lunch. It's been 2 years since we last had one of their lobster rolls but they are still the yummiest thing I've ever eaten! Soooo good! If they weren't so damn expensive (or if we were employed lol) we'd eat here every day! As soon as we knew we were going to Vegas we both got super excited about coming back here - yep it's all about the food with us haha :) After lunch we wandered the Miracle Mile shops and then set off up the strip to explore the casinos. We didn't get to them all but we had a look-see through a fair stack of them - Paris, Ballys, Flamingo, The Quad, Harrahs, Venetian, Palazzo, Wynn & Encore before crossing the street back to Fashion Show Mall, Treasure Island, Mirage & finally back to Caesars. We stopped for dinner at Fashion Mall food court and grabbed KFC for the first time here - it's just not the same as at home, the chips are wedges for one thing! Anyway by the time we got back to Caesars we both had sore feet and were ready to head home and relax - so that's exactly what we did! Tuesday 02.07.13: This morning we didn't get up till around 9am and spent the day lazing around home. We did a lot of trip planning on where to stay between here and Reno (where we will meet Mum & Dad again). We also spent a lot of the day watching the Zimmerman trial on TV - yes an actual live feed of a court case happening right now. I don't know if you guys are hearing anything about it at home but it is dominating the news over here at the moment. For example today the live feed of the courtroom was on all day and once court was over for the day, the program re-hashed the days proceedings and had interviews with key people etc. and that was just one tv station. It's full on and I find it interesting, but so weird when you think that it's a real case, not just a movie or something. We just don't have televised court cases at home so it's a bit surreal. We caught the 5pm shuttle in to Caesars and walked over to Planet Hollywood to get our show tickets for V - The Variety Show at 7pm. We had enough time to go and grab a beer before lining up to get in the door. The show was pretty good, it was a mixed bag of magicians, acrobats, gymnasts and comedians - pretty entertaining! :) After the show we had dinner at the Tequila Bar in Ballys Casino where they had $2 margaritas and draught beer - all the time, not just happy hour!!!! We saw a couple near us with a huge plate of nachos and decided we'd share a serving between us. However when it arrived it was even bigger than theirs, I can only assume they doubled the size because we said we were sharing, but it was a bit ridiculous. There was so much food on the plate I doubt if 10 people could've finished it, such a waste. What gets me is that it was only $16 and the serving was enormous, I'm not sure how they make any money!? It was delicious but still by the time we ate as much as we could it looked like we'd barely touched it... So wasteful :( After we ate we wandered up the strip for a while to walk off dinner and then caught the 11.30pm shuttle home to bed. How's everything going back home? Feel free to leave us a comment & let us know what's been going on, we love hearing from you all :) Much love till next time, Benny & Loz xxxx