Vegas BABY!!

Jeans. Knees. Jeans. Knees. A blurred view of the awesome Bellagio hotel lights through the dark tinted windows of our limousine. Some song blearing on the radio while a friend of mine lip sinks to the lyrics, hands in the air. I now know why they call this place sin city - its lawless in all the right places.

Our evening started off in this limo, a bunch of excited South Africans who had all met up in the middle of the desert looking for a scene out of the hangover. Vegas is everything I expected. Bright lights, full of Americans (not just the pretty LA / NYC people I've come across - but the real MacDonald's type) and designed to make you part with more than your budget initially allowed for. Not that I actually got to see a lot of Vegas - because there is honestly so much to see and do - with every different hotel/ casino sporting a different place on earth and offering massive bright lights, entertainment and a promise of more to come.

"I know this song" I remember vaguely thinking while on our way out to Sapphire,  the worlds 'biggest' strip club. I can't remember whose idea it was - but at 2AM it seemed like the logical thing to do, with the main justification being "it's Vegas!" and "where else would you see 200 strippers in one place" coming ironically from one of my friends girlfriends.

The evening started off at the Bellagio, where Derek our dedicated party tour guide met us at the Lilly lounge to start off our evening of fun. Like any other place on earth, I realised its not what you know but who you know and Derek was the best person to know. He got us into "The Bank" (Bellagio's resident nightclub) walking straight past the hundred strong crowd queueing outside, onto the guest list and we were at the bar before you could say "abracadabra"... And all I could think was "Toto we're a far way from Kansas" when the barman was pouring free hand and the drinks were just so yummy.

"200 strippers!! Maybe not that many, but I can't be certain because this place is dark with no windows... It could very well be" we're my remarks to my friend. At that time of night they became more of objects than actual people, and if you've seen one boob - you've seen them all right? In the queue to get in were more woman than I thought would want to go watch other woman dance - but it seems they all had the same excuse as we did. As long as we were back at our hotel by 5:30 to get ready for our Grand Canyon trip I would be happy.

There were no photos taken on our night out - or if there were... I'm certainly not going to post them ;)

5:45am bare foot and running back to our hotel so we could change into something more appropriate to spend the day in a bus. In hindsight a helicopter was probably a better idea - but then I wouldn't have been to the most RANDOM place on earth on Route 66 where the locals favourite past time is watching tourists from their porches. We met the mayor of this town also - I can't remember what his name was or if I was still intoxicated from the night before - but Frank was about 80 and it appeared as though he knew the whole town (all 50 people). This one horse town was a far cry from Vegas - but a total experience at that.

Frank has the black hat on

45 minutes outside of Vegas is a random town with outlet malls. Driving through the desert and the next thing you see if this crazy huge shopping centre. I guess the property prices are lower the further out of Vegas the outlets are - but this will probably be the second most random thing that I have seen all trip.

The GRAND Canyon is exactly that - grand! It was totally worth it sitting in a bus for 6 hours to stand on the edge of this magnificent wonder of the world. Unlike the night before - I did take photos of those and I will let them do the taking about our experience of the canyon.

Finally we made our way back into Vegas after our 15 hour long Grand Canyon trip. Full moon was out and the strip was so beautifully lit up... Just before arriving at our hotel I spotted the biggest billboard stating "implants starting from $675"... hello Vegas...

If you ever get the chance to go, and besides the obvious Vegas attractions - do go see the fountain show outside of the Bellagio... its pretty spectacular!

Sunday blues at the airport on route to LA was an interesting event. I have never heard so many people mumble unhappily that they want to be home already. Vegas is not for the faint hearted. She's like snow whites evil step mother - but the poisonous apple keeps you awake for a lifetime.  I was happy to be boarding a plane to head onto the east coast for a while, but sad that my time with travel buddy Ant had come to an end!

Las Vegas - City of the thirsty and land of the dry...

2 very tired peeps...

LA - Place of the stars

Upon Arriving at the airport to find that my lock had been cut off my bag and my bag searched, had me a little annoyed. However that was so soon forgotten when I saw both Johnny Depp and Samuel L Jackson. Talk about jaw dropping. SLJ was just so super cool walking through the airport and Johnny Depp - Aagh what more is there to say other than "can I have your babies". Our stay in LA was also blessed with a last minute cancellation from our initial accommodation which lead to us finding a last minute deal of a life time (orbitz.com I love you) at the Hollywood Rooseveld right on the Hollywood walk of fame.

Farmers Market

The Hollywood sign is much smaller that I had expected and Venice Beach had more high hippies than I have ever seen in my life. However LA is a super cool and very trendy city... Hop on hop off bus is a great idea if you have as little time as what we had - but be sure to make your way to the Farmers Market as that was really awesome. Vancouver is still my favourite - but this one was pretty up there with some wonderful stalls!!!

I found one day in LA to be enough if your willing to hit the ground running... But do spend more time there if you have it. There is sooo much to see and take in and it was super awesome to see so many of the sets I've only seen in movies (like the hotel and shop used in Pretty Woman-eek).

Early the next morning we caught a Nevada bus trip through the desert. LuxBus with free wifi in it. Amazing technology in the States - am going to be a little lost without it when I get back home. It was only a 4 hour bus trip and was pretty awesome to see how Vegas unfolds coming into Sin City.

San Francisco

I arrived in San Fran and hit the ground running... With only 3 and a half days in the gorgeous city - time was min and events and activities were WAY high.

From suggestions from friends we decided to do the night Alcatraz tour. And just like the suggestion I received - I would pass this one on. What a treat to be on a boat, watching the sun going down behind the Golden Gate Bridge. The night tour also performs the slammer - which is where a 'jail warden' show the crowd how all the cell doors were closed in Alcatraz during the day. That sound will stay with me for the rest of my life.  Wow I would not like to have stayed in that prison - in a 3 by 5 cell. It was a great tour to do - but Alcatraz was very different to what I had expected it to be. I had expected Alcatraz to be this huge gray prison hanging over San Francisco like a bad hangover. The truth is that it's not the gray building I had been expecting, nor the massive over shadow. The whole city has a distinct Spanish coastal city feel, and the prison really is no different to that. 

The next morning we walked over Golden Gate Bridge (as part of our Hop On Hop Off bus tour - another recommendation for SF as its a pretty big full city with LOADS to see). What a marvel. The engineer was 30 years before his time, and the bridge was designed and built to withstand 7 times the natural forces it gets dealt on a daily basis. San Francisco is also a super windy city - so that bridge gets dealt a fair share of force.

Hottest sailors ass in town

Jimmy Hendrix house from our Hop on Hop off tour

The Cheese Cake Factory - YUMMY YUMMY cheese cakes

The Library. I love conspiracies, secret fraternities and all things mysterious. Thank you Nadia for recommending a secret bar in SF for us. The Library is located on a busy corner with no sign posts - just a massive wrought-iron door and an intercom. If I didn't know better I would have walked right past it totally unaware of the awesomeness inside.  You buzz the intercom, a hostess opens the door and asks for the password. She then whisks you in through the front room to a book shelf where she moves a book and the whole shelf moves away to reveal a small bar that makes incredible cocktails. With a max of 49 guest - the barman gives each cocktail his utmost attention and I was not disappointed. It was a great place to catch up with Ntsaps and swap stories for our different trips.

Last day in San Fran had us up and out on a wine tour of Napa and Sonoma bright and early. 

In true American style we ended off our trip to San Francisco with a baseball game at the AT&T Park. Not having been to many baseball parks - being built right on the water with a nice view of the bridge in the background - didn't seem like a shabby place to be. The SF Giants were playing the Miami something or other (you can tell I'm not very clued up or into the sports vibe). And unfortunately the Giants lost - but it was a great way to finish off our San Francisco trip.

Most beautiful stadium I've ever seen

View from where we were staying