Its now 17:40 Chicago time, having left the Luxor and the others back in Vegas around 9am.

Just another 12 hours to go until we land back on British soil once again.

The past 24hrs we have tried to say good bye to Vegas and the family the best we can.

Most of us managed to sample one of Vegas’ famous buffets. I mange 3 plates, from Italian to Mexican and finishing with Chinese. I think Vic, Lee and Mum enjoyed it too.

Julie is finally coaxed out of her hotel room and into the mid day sun of the Vegas strip. The heat hits us immediately as we leave the comforts of the Luxor’s AC.

The monorail seems a great idea at this point. But soon seems less of a good idea as we ride it back and forth between the Excalibur, Mandalay Bay and Luxor. We even manage to hold up other passengers as we tell them incorrectly which way the tram is heading.

Eventually we get to the streets of New York, or a close approximation. Lee and Vic brave the ‘Big Apple’ coaster. I make my excuses as I don’t fancy seeing my buffet again.

The thrils of New York give way to a more sedate stroll of the MGM Grand. Although the only Lion to be seen is now the giant Bronze statue outside. The previous real life Lion residents are retired we are told.
We have fun on the spin the wheel game here though. With our croupier doing  his best to inject excitement into a game which is just watching a wheel spin round.

We manage to fit in 3 big shops along the way. Ending up with several lb’s of chocolate and drink even more oz’s of Coca-Cola’s  different sodas.
We renuite with Mum, who we’ve left in the air conditioned comfort of the Luxor. She and Julie head out to see ‘Baz’ with Janet. Whislt Vic, Lee and I hit the Blackjack and slots of Tropicana and Hooters.

Realising just how busy it is on the streets on Friday night in Vegas, and now slightly late for meeting back up with the others, we end up on the second monorail of the day. This is a lot more successful than earlier and we agree is the best way to get around. It also provides some unique views of the strip and the new ‘High Roller’ big wheel.

The evening ends with a trip to Venice, or at least a sanatized version of the famous canals. A hetic and slightly overwhelming trip back up the strip follows as we decide to call it a night, we do get chance to visit the gardens of the Bellagio, one of Vic’s favourite places.

But I couldn’t leave  Vegas without a trip to Pinks Hotdogs for my favourite, the Bacon Burrito Dog. As Vic and I have a romantic meal for 2, surrounded by the 1000s of people out in the ‘bright light city’.

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Finally got round to completing this entry now we are back in the UK. We managed to fill the 4-5 hours stop over in Chicago sampling the last eats of the trip, it was nice to revisit Chicago, even though it was only the airport.

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Chicago Style Hotdog with all the trimmings 

 

And thats the end of this road trip. Now to start planning the next…

Trip Stats:

Best Burger: Krusty Burger!

Total Miles: 1086

Highest Temp: 98.6 F

Best Hotel TV: Palihouse, Santa Monic

Best Hotel Pool: Luxor, Las Vegas

Best Drive: The Big Sur

Worst Drive: Entering San Francisco

Best Pizza: Pizza Grill, Yosemite National Park

Vic’s Favourite Thing: Universal Studios

Chris’ Favourite Thing: Hiking Vernal Falls, Yosemite