Las Vegas

4 nights in Las Vegas seems like the total opposite of the kind of stuff we usually do … and it is, but after 8 weeks on the road, it’s been great. We’ve been here twice before, stayed right on The Strip and did all the usual Vegas stuff – ate out, won and lost money at casinos (I should note here that we did actually win more than we lost!), saw a show (Jersey Boys – fantastic!), wandered up and down The Strip, went to ‘Downtown’ to see Fremont Street, took photos at the iconic ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign and probably a few other touristy things that I’ve forgotten.

This time we’re doing it a lot more low-key. Staying one block back from The Strip at the Holiday Inn Desert Club Resort which is located on the inappropriately named Koval Lane. I’ve never seen a lane with 7 lanes of traffic before. But then, Las Vegas Boulevarde (‘The Strip’) has about 10 lanes. It’s all bigger and brighter here! So we have a very nice one-bedroom suite at the Holiday Inn. 8 squares of luxury with 2 TVs, king-size bed, great kitchen and a pool & bbqs just a few steps outside the front door. I’ve been baking, roasting and cooking to my heart’s content, and watching a lot of trashy American TV. It’s a bit sad to admit that I know the channel numbers of the Food Network and the Travel Channel of the 90+ TV channels available. Greg has spent a lot of time working on his already-fantastic tan by the pool. Being just off The Strip has worked out better for us to drive to the places we want to go to – much easier getting in and out of this place than places on The Strip with underground parking and the crazy Strip traffic.

We didn’t even venture near The Strip until we’d been here for a couple of days, and then it was to go and buy pastries for lunch from Thomas Keller’s amazing Bouchon Bakery. There are 3 Bouchon bakery shops at the Venetian Hotel, which is one of the closest hotels to us. The pastries were delicious. We bought a few, ate them and then went back to buy a few more. As we wandered along the Grand Canal shops inside The Venetian, we noticed a huge queue of people along one wall and as we got closer, we realised that they were all waiting to buy cakes and other baked goodies from Carlo’s, which is owned by Buddy Valastro who stars in Cake Boss, a TV show about him running his bakery on the East Coast. All the cakes looked un-naturally coloured and full of mock cream. Nowhere near as appealing as the Bouchon treats we’d just eaten, but that’s the power of TV, I guess.

It seems to be off-season in Vegas. Too hot for Americans and not many European tourists around. As Australians, we’re always in the minority. Weather here this week is around 35 every day, forecast for next week is 40+.

We’re off to have a look at some RVs, just to see what’s actually inside these mega-rigs we’ve driven past and parked near for the last couple of months. Greg found one on a website the other day that had a king-sized bed, 2 toilets and 2 TVs in it! We’ll be sure to report back … with photos.

Greg’s dad Ron asked for another song. I think it’s probably most appropriate to feature The King. It would have been amazing to see him perform here

Buchon Bakery Lunch

Only in the USA. A 99cent store that is a supermarket. Everything is 99cents or less.

Inside the 99 cent supermarket, with fruit and veg, and a frozen food section.

We have seen this all over the USA and Canada. Products that have an Australian connection, except there is no Australian connection, they just throw “Aussie” in the name. We have seen food, hair-care, deodorants (“Aussie Male”!), and food. Australia should copyright its name.