Las Vegas - SIN CITY

Hey everyone, Rosie here.  We are now in Las Vegas,Nevada.  We arrived here on the 2nd of May.  Before that we spent the night in Palm Springs which was a nice place, I would have liked to stay longer but we needed to be in Vegas for the Supercross.  The streets are lined with Palm trees of course and it was just nice and laid back.  The night we got there, there was a market in the main streets with thousands of stalls and people.  We also went to a huge outlet place which seems to be the in thing over here - These are big malls that have just outlet stores of big brands with huge discounts.  No point shopping in the malls in town when you can get the stuff at the outlet stores for so much cheaper.  The sides of the roads in Palm Springs were full of wind mills similar to the Wairarapa, they obviously get good winds through the desert and get their power from these.  The next day was a long drive to Vegas and it was boring.  It was just desert and a straight freeway.  Vegas was about a 4 to 5 hours drive from Palm Springs.  It was a very long day - you are basically driving through the desert and next thing you know there is Vegas popped right in the middle there like a mirage.  Once we got to Vegas Traffic was bad and when we finally got to our hotel our tiredness got to us, we were shattered.  We could not work out where to park the car in our hotels, it was so bloody huge we could not work out the ladies instructions - never seen anything like it and we got lost just trying to find our room.  Once we saw the pokie machines and casinos sparkling at us our eyes lit up - You can go crazy on these machines!.  Apparently our hotel is one of the cheapest and smallest in Vegas, It has 7 restaurants, I don't know how many casinos and 3770 rooms.  I think the population of Carterton could live in this hotel.  We had 4 nights staying on the strip.  The next day was the Supercross event, we went there about lunch time when the gates opened (The actual racing started at 7pm that night)  and as much as it kills me to say this - It was an awesome day.  It was a cooker heat wise, absolutely roasting but there was so much to see and do, Jase was in heaven and I just left him to it whilst I hung out in the shady spots.  There were displays, competitions, merchandise and all sorts of stuff to do and a pit party.  The stadium it was held in held 40,000 people and it was packed.  It was a huge atmosphere -The yanks certainly put on a show with fireworks, air force flying over in jets during the national anthem, and we had an awesome time.  Jase got autographs from his favourite rider and his photo taken with a number of skimpy clothed woman -There were plenty I can assure you.  No wonder he loved it.  Unfortunately the next day Jase had a full blown cold and I had it too so the next few days were lying low around out hotel as we felt so bad.  I managed to get out and visit the casino and won $115.00 so that was cool.    The strip is an amazing place, all the themed hotels are amazing, awesome music and stuff happening all the time and we can't wait to go back to the strip and have a proper look around there and go to some shows.  We moved further out of town to a small suite for a week or so and that is great as we can make our own meals and relax and get over our colds properly.  We have a pool and spa and it feels a bit like a little home.  Today we were feeling a bit better so we went shopping AGAIN.  I told Jase that I wanted to get some nice jewellery since he was getting all this motorcross gear (He has been putting me to shame on the shopping front), he agreed we would have a look.  We found a big mall that had some nice diamond shops - I was ready for action so I pointed out this jewellers on the ground floor, he kept walking and told me that there was a flash diamond place on the first floor so of course my eyes lit up and I followed him - Next thing you know we are out in the carpark and in the car leaving.  Slippery bugger!  I will definitely be hunting those jewellery stores down and will drag him in there and make him get his wallet out.  The next few days will be going to some shows and visiting the hotels on the strip.  Vegas is a great place so far!  I can see why it is called SIN CITY for sure.  When we went down to the ground floor of our hotel for breakfast there are people on the poker machines and gambling tables at 8am, people are walking the streets with alcohol at that hour as well - some people I know would clearly be in heaven in Vegas.  There are also huge developments happening everywhere in Vegas, one minute you are in the city and next you just see desert.....................and then a 30 or 40 story tower is being built!  Pretty impressive!  The weather is exceptionally hot at the moment, 32 degrees most days and no escaping it unless you are in the pool or inside in the air conditioned shops or hotels all day.  We heard that apparently over the weekend it might get up to 40 degrees....................YUCK!