Vegas Baby!!!!

As part of the blog we have been asking people to suggest places to see or visit.  One such suggestion was a casino just off The Strip in Las Vegas called Ellis Island that had it's own micro-brewery and a much less full on feel compared to some of the massive casinos.  So after a few days rest from the sprint through the desert Sophie, Mary, Dan and I headed off into Las Vegas proper to make our millions and live the high life!!!

First stop was downtown Las Vegas close to Fremont Street for a refreshing Gin and Tonic in the sun, gathering ourselves for the craziness that is gambling and debauched antics that was about ensue. Fueled on gin we headed out to the Downtown Container Park which housed a number of small businesses and bars, and had a nice outdoor play area for kids.  We headed into the toy shop to look at some fun little pieces and trinkets, however since our bikes are already pretty heavy we decided not to carry a couple of toys or masks for the next 20,000 miles or so, just because they were funny.

Next came our first interaction with the casinos.  We hit the El Cortez Hotel & Casino to put a $4 bet for a friend back home on Roulette splitting our chances with 22/23; which didn't land so there goes his money.  Just for the record Sophie and I have little to no experience of gambling so we lost the remaining $6 (it was $10 minimum buy in table with $0.50 chips and minimum $2.00 inside and outside; that's what I remembered anyway and it still doesn't make any sense) pretty much straight away.  However, we met a guy who was doing much better on the table that lives not that far from ... you guessed it Moose Jaw.  So we exchanged details and headed off to find a cab to The Strip.

So when I say The Strip we headed up to The Bellagio to watch the dancing fountains and experience the glass ceiling (literal not metaphorical) and all the flowers growing in there.  It is the most amazing foyer we have ever experienced, if you ever find yourself in Las Vegas it is well worth a trip.  We then headed back out to watch the fountains again and headed down to the main attraction - Ellis Island! It didn't have the glitz and glamour of big casinos but I liked the feel of the place.  We had a good pizza, a $2 beer and played on the penny slot machines tipping the cocktail waitresses $1 for every drink they brought us.

All in all it was probably not "THE" Vegas experience most people imagine or hope for but we really enjoyed it.  We lost the money we were expecting to lose, we saw the sights and had a few drinks to celebrate.  We nursed our hangovers for the day got ready to leave and had Mary's brother, Mark, and his wife, Lisa, over for dinner.  Mark works at Hoover Dam and offered to ride there with us which we gladly accepted.  As there is little to no shoulder down the I-93 Mark & Lisa offered to drive us, with all our gear to Kingman.  They like the restaurant Cracker Barrel and made a family trip of it, treating us to lunch before sending us on our way East on Route 66.