How It Began

There was a lot of stress in the days before leaving, not to mention the months. Lots of grumblings and growlings and stuff. I bought a digital camera, a Kodak DC-215 - it's pretty easy to use and fun. I fought with my laptop to install the software. Meanwhile Don was working long hours and I was losing my office. It wasn't pretty. We needed a holiday.

Leaving Sunnyvale

We checked in and got our boarding passes, had something to eat and then went and sat out on the observation deck to watch aeroplanes coming in and out. It was kind of fun. The tension of the last few days started to go away. Eventually Janice had to go, and Don and I went through to the lounge and boarded.

I had a window seat, but it was on the wing. :: grumble :: (I had asked for it to be in front of the wing...) As it turned out, the views were too hazy for photography, though I did take some (and later deleted them). I've never had a properly working digital camera before, and it was fun.

I hadn't flown once since August 1997 when I came to the USA. Therefore, strapped into my seat, it was all very exciting. I like that speeding up and the sense of wheeeeee as you get lift and go up... and up... and up.... and bank, getting this amazing view of the ugly urban jungle where I live: Silicon Valley.

Then you go over some flatlands, travelling east and south, and then you cross the Sierra Nevada with the lovely snowy mountains, and start the descent towards Vegas. It was only just over an hour's flight, and was over in a flash: enough time to drink a can of apple juice and eat standard issue peanuts.

You come down into Vegas quite steeply because it's in a "tight" valley, and the hotels are all there, quite obviously pyramids and castles and towers and all manner of other junk, set in the middle of a dry and at first glance unattractive valley. The first thing I noticed, really, was the lack of colour - everything so dusty and dry. I guess I was sort of expecting to see neon glaring up into the airport or something.

Brummm Brummm

We got directions to where we were going, and decided to go there right away. We put the lid down, and the huge but different heat was there at once. I was smart enough to wear a cap and slather on the sun cream, and avoided burning and sunstroke throughout the entire trip (unusual for me). We had temperatures as high as 106F, which is pushing 40C. Yet it seemed bearable... as long as I didn't have to exercise in it in any way. If I lived in Nevada, I would be wanting to do laundry every day. ;-)

We found our way onto the Strip and I got to gawp at the amazing hotels. It wasn't yet dark - about 3pm - and thus I didn't get the full effect, but it really was amazing. We stopped at Walgreens to get some extra stuff including Las Vegas Chocolate Chip Cookies. Of course, they are just the same as any other kind of ccc, but hey. We had the nibbles.

It wasn't too hard to find the Golden Nugget. Las Vegas is one big grid, and we got a map for free from Budget. The exterior is pretty obvious, an entire curtain of glowing golden lights. It's north of the Strip, but not far, and the nicest hotel in "downtown". I was aware of the noise and the excitement - the town has a nice buzz, though no doubt there is a dark side where those who don't know how to stop, lose everything. We made our way to the big multi-storey car park. Eventually the top right hand space was ours - it had nice views over the mountains and city.

Le Posh Hotel

We checked in, turned down a cheap upgrade to a suite (we had spent enough as it was!) and went to our room. It was done out in brown and "gold" but to me seemed a little dull. I'm no big fan of brown unless it's on a mountain or the earth. But there was a huge king size bed - no fights about the covers in that bed! - and lots of little gadgets and stuff to read. On the way, in the brass and mirrored lifts, a couple of ladies asked us if we were having any luck, but we'd just arrived! (I did think about sticking a quarter in a slot, there were slots both in the lobby and of course the main casino, but figured we'd do that in style, later.)

It was five o'clock by then and we were tired, so we took a shower and ordered room service. I think that Don, who is normally not at all interested in food, was looking forward to this the most. He remembered it from before, and we certainly weren't disappointed.

Some time later up came the room service on a trolley with a white tablecloth. The hot food was in a little heating unit underneath; the extras were all on top. I had ribs and chicken in barbecue sauce; Don had steak, and it all came with a full plate salad each, french fries, veges, sauces, crackers, fresh bread rolls and butter... cloth napkins... a whole load of very fresh, very yummy food! Most of my salad, some bread and the dessert, apple pie, ended up being breakfast... it only took that one meal to realise that we only needed to order one item off the menu and share it ;-)

When we'd done eating, we couldn't move very fast at all. I downloaded pictures from my camera into my laptop, and Don failed to get online. I had quite deliberately left my modem at home, but that wasn't why he couldn't get online. I didn't ask the details.

Somewhat later in the evening, after dark, we went for another drive out in the Pretty Car. This time we went along the Strip with all the neon lights. For anyone who has ever been to see the Blackpool Illuminations - it was like that, on steroids. I have never seen anything like, and it was fabulous. Everything from a huge crystal searchlight off the Luxor's pyramid to a Disney-like soft glow castle of Excalibur to the pirate ship of Treasure Island.... and everything in between, from Very Seedy to I-know-I-can't-afford-to-stay-there...

It was warm, even at night... we drove up the freeway a while in search of a 12 pack of coke and free real estate magazines, then we went back to the Golden Nugget and did a bit of exploring.

Fremont Street

This are is the one known as "Glitter Gulch", where you have the famous neon cowboy and cowgirl. It lives up to its name.

First Gambling

The nickel machines are sort of dull, and you don't win often. Your fruits and bars have to be consecutive and start on the left, whereas the larger gamble machines let you win no matter where the winning combinations landed. The quarter machines were more lucrative, but after a long sesh with nickels, we were kind of gambled out and gave up for the night. I think we about broke even, but it became very quickly apparent that one wouldn't get rich fast there ;-) It was fun though, while it lasted. I came out with a slight headache. It's not a quiet place. It's a constant, disorienting kind of cacaphony...

We were tired when we got back, but Don stayed up late trying to get his modem working. I looked at the real estate magazines. It's hard to explain, but I found Las Vegas, even on such short acquaintance, really enticing. I would want to know a lot more about it and visit many more times, but there is just something about it that on a resonant level says, "Hello." As someone who lived happily in Morecambe for a year I can somewhat understand this (I have a penchant for tackiness that not everyone knows about) and yet as someone who wilts in the heat, I am still rather surprised. And the real estate... you can get five bedroom houses for $150,000 - something that would cost you a million bucks out here in Silly Valley. If we moved here, we would have space. But it's very, very early days yet... and still a honeymoon. All I know is that I have an instant affinity with the place.