With our A position boarding we managed to get the exit row.... Well Heather and I did and Tim and Rodd were in the row in front, while we were waiting in LA I had checked out on TripAdvisor which side of the plane is best for the view when landing in Vegas so we got a good look at the strip. Tim slept the whole trip and Heather and I did some napping and some chatting. The flight was only 45 minutes and I think the pilot was trying to make up time because after we touched down he went tearing down the runway faster than I've ever seen a plane taxi before. Even though we were a half hour leaving LAX we were only 15 mins late arriving in Vegas! We had organised a limousine as a surprise for H & T so once we had our luggage we were escorted out to the stretch limo and taken for a bit of a tour with a stop at the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign for pictures. I've been to Vegas twice before and Rodd about 6 times but neither of us has done this before so it was a lovely start to the trip for all of us. Our driver Michelle opened a bottle of champagne for us and we enjoyed cruising down the strip all wide eyed and happy.

Just after midday we arrived at the Stratosphere and got checked in.... I wasn't too fussed on the guy at reception, he upgraded us, with extra charge without even asking us and Heather wanted to be on the smoking floor however when they stepped off the elevator they realised there is no ventilation or opening windows so it's a bit like being in an ashtray... Back to reception to sort that out and before too long they were in a nice fresh smoke free room. We all showered and had a bit of rest but didn't want to go to sleep because we'd wake up late at night and be awake. 

About 4ish we headed up the tower to check out the rides and then had a couple drinks at Level 107. They have a revolving restaurant up there which looks really nice. We also had an amazing hummus dip with crispy lavish bread. All drinks and appetizers are half price from 4 to 7 so not too expensive. From here we headed down the strip in the deuce bus, after some problem using the ticket vending machine we walked about 5 minutes to the next stop and that machine would only give us 24 hr passes for $8 when I knew we should be able to buy 3 days for $20. H & T Lost money in the machine so ended up buying from the driver and getting the 3 day passes. The plan was to go to Ballys but we needed a bathroom stop so got off at Wynn and wandered through there looking at some of the gorgeous Chinese New Year decorations. I also started my quest to get as many $1 chips as I can.... I want to make a photo frame with them and put the pic of us at the "sign" in it. From here we went across to Treasure Island and had some dinner at Señor Frogs, a really fun place if a little noisy! We then walked down to Paris stopping at all the casinos along the way to get a $1 chip, some of them we played a little "chocolate wheel" and we bought a huge frozen concoction at the Rhumbar in the Mirage. Once in Paris we used the 2 for 1 coupon I had printed at home to buy tickets up in the Eiffel Tower... Wow the view from up there is amazing and we were lucky enough for the Bellagio Fountains to go off. Ok time to go to bed it's been a long time since we've had sleep! Tomorrow we're going shooting.

One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that months ago I bought an AT & T sim off eBay and had activated and loaded it a couple days before leaving home... With a little trepidation I inserted the sim at LAX but really I needn't have worried, everything works perfectly and it was all so easy. It was through a company called datago.com and I would have no hesitation recommending doing this.