My flight from Brisbane to L.A. was fairly so-so; I was seated by one of the galleys so would occasionally be woken up by light from behind the curtain or people stopping for supplies. The plane landed on time, and as per usual everyone spends ages trying to file off the plane before spending ages waiting around in the customs queue. I don't know if they check the electronic ESTA form as we all still have to fill in the usual green visa waiver form as well. I was expecting to have to take my suitcase from terminal 4 over to terminal 1 and re-check it in (seeing as US Airways have a baggage fee that I hadn't paid) but the terminal 4 staff are positive they they transfer the suitcase for me. So I walk around to terminal 1 (yes, there's a shuttle, but I've been on a plane for 12 hours and the walk won't kill me) and reconfirm with the US Airways staff that they don't need me to do anything with my baggage. No, they inform me, the bags have already been checked all the way through to Las Vegas and I don't have to do anything. They don't seem to want the $20 baggage fee so I head on over to the security checkpoint.
As with most airports, there's not really anything to do in there, but there is a Starbucks with coffee and enormous muffins. There's also bathrooms with automated everything; I'd forgotten how wacky it is to have automatic flushing, soap, water, paper dispensers etc. I end up chatting to an Israeli guy who's heading to Las Vegas for a conference (I had my laptop out and apparently I look like the kind of person who goes to IT conferences even when I'm on holidays). But I did learn how to write my name in Hebrew (not that I can do that without copying).
The flight to Las Vegas is meant to take an hour but we've landed in about 45 minutes. I join a long but fast-moving queue for a cab and arrive at the hotel around 12.30. Check in isn't meant to be until around 4pm but the desk clerk advises me that the tour people are all down in the East Lobby, but that I can leave my suitcase with the baggage check in if I don't want to carry it around. After checking in my back I wander around to the other lobby (which isn't really a lobby for the hotel as much as a place they throw the tour groups to keep them out of the way). There's two Trafalgar tables set up - one for a Trailblazer tour and one for Scenic Parks Explorer, which is the one I'm looking for. I catch the tail end of a discussion about leaving at 8am in the morning with a couple from Warwick, QLD (Brian and Denise) who were already missing some of their party somewhere in the hotel before sitting down to hear the rest of the conversation with another couple from QLD (Hans and Trudy).
Our Tour Director's name is JP, and the driver, who we'll meet in the morning, is Steve. There's not a lot to remember at this point: breakfast is anytime from 7am at the buffet behind one of the casino sections, and we're leaving at 8. There are welcome drinks at 5.30 upstairs, but other than that we're free to do as we like. Hans and Trudy disappear quickly as they filled out the online forms. I, however, have to provide address and emergency contact details. While I'm answering all the questions another person walks up - Liz, also travelling by herself, is from Melbourne. I find it's a little odd that so far, everyone I've met is from Australia. JP sorts out some room keys and Liz and I arrange to grab some lunch and head out for a wander before the thing at 5.30.
Around 2pm we grab coffee (woohoo!) and a sandwich from the coffee shop inside the Hilton before going to check the temperature outside. It's a lot hotter now that it was around midday so we wander around the hotel looking for the monorail which we be air-conditioned and can take us out to the Strip. We run into a couple of ladies from Hawaii (Carol and Shirley) who are also on our tour but part ways at the MGM Grand stop at the southern end of the monorail. After walking through what seems like the entire casino floor Liz and finally find our way out to the lobby of the hotel and back out onto the street. It's still really hot, but we wander around the set of pedestrian walkways which connect MGM, New York New York, Excalibur and Tropicana.
In search of some air-conditioning and a restroom we wander into the Excalibur and end up navigating our way over to the Luxor with its funky pyramid interior. Obviously the interior of the pyramid exterior of the hotel, I attempt to find the main entrance so I can get a photo from the outside but we end up heading out a side door because it's the first exit we can find that's not a fire door. At around 4pm Liz declares she's not feeling like walking back to the monorail station so hails a cab and we part ways. I find my way back across the walkways to the MGM and spend about 20 minutes trying to find my way back to the monorail (which is signposted, but there's no way to walk in a straight line to get there). I end up back at at my room at about 5 with a little time to come up with a sightseeing plan for later in the evening.
I'm a few minutes late for the welcome drinks, but apparently aren't quite the last one to arrive. There's maybe15 people in the room. There's pretzels and chips (way too many for the size of the group unless they're planning on hanging out and drinking all night, which they won't be), and beer, wine and softdrink. After a quick scan of the room I elect for a white wine (something that's already open) and wander off to chat. Most of the people are the age group I expected to find - probably 50-ish and up - with the exception of two girls from Adelaide who'd be about my age.
Apparently there are 20 people signed up for the tour, and on a bus that seats about 50 we won't have an issue with space. There's a quick round-the-room introduction - along the lines of "Hi, my name's Nicole. I'm from Brisbane, and I really want to see Bryce Canyon, Arches, etc" - before we follow it up with a go-and-work-out-who-has-your-nametag game (turns out Denise and I had each others so we quickly switch and are done with it). Half of the bus is from Queensland (which is just plain odd), and with three Aussies from other states we easily outnumber all the other nationalities. There are also 4 people from Hawaii, two from the UK and 1 from Guatemala.
Not having any plans for dinner I end up meeting up with Liz and Jane (from the UK) at the buffet downstairs before I head off again in search of sightseeing time on the Strip. I catch the monorail all the way back to the MGM Grand and again spend ages getting out of the hotel, but this time notice the signs for New York New York and follow those instead of the signs for the lobby. This brings me out onto the pedestrian bridges where I spend a while walking a lap and taking night photos of the casinos I saw earlier in the afternoon. Not wanting to get stuck inside the casinos I head down to street level to wander north-bound along the Strip. I knew from previous reading that the Strip runs for miles, but it's not until you start to walk along it that you realise just what that actually means. Each "block" is essentially one casino, and they just seem to keep going. The pedestrian traffic doesn't move very fast, but neither do the cars, really, despite it being Sunday night. It's crowded, but it doesn't ever feel unsafe simply because there so much light and so many tourists around.
I walk past the Monte Carlo, the construction of the Yves Saint Laurent building, and up to the corner with the Bellagio and Paris hotels. After arriving outside the Bellagio midway through one of the fountain shows, I wait around to see another two for photos (they run every 15 minutes and are different each time and I was enjoying the music between shows). I spot Caeser's Palace just north of the Bellagio so continue on my way. By the time I actually get to Caeser's I'm beginning to feel a little droopy and notice it's nearly 11pm. It's been getting on 28 hours since I flew out of Brisbane, and with only a little sleep and not quite enough coffee I figure it's probably a good time to head back. I know Bally's (across the road from Paris) has a monorail station so I head in that direction. Again, I have to walk through the entire casino floor (and smoking inside is apparently ok here?) to get to the monorail, but it's a quick ride back to the Hilton. I haven't really unpacked, but I need to reorganise things for the morning so end up finally switching off the light around midnight after double checking the timezone and alarm on my phone. The bed's really comfy - had I known that, I may have been convinced to head back earlier!
