Vegas Here We Come 9 November 2014

I had slept well but was to hot so got up before Paul and had a shower, his alarm went off just as I was finishing up. So had a coffee packed last things then down to check out, ordered taxi to indulge another of Pauls tick list,  rather than chance the subway, only realised when outside that there were plenty of yellow cabs waiting. Our transport instead was a limousine, I suggested Paul sit in the front, but driver had his stuff there, I also hoped he would be chatty but no such luck, having said that it was a comfortable quick trip to Penn Station to pick up the Airtrain to the airport. Now realised if we had planned well could of done the same when we arrived, rather than lughing cases up and down escalators.

Trip on train uneventful only odd thing is they do not show which track until train is due then everyone rushes down, trains here are very very long, ones we have been on are quite basic but fast. The Airtrain is a monorail and again we were soon there. Sorted out bagdrop then through security, seems if over 70 no need to take off coat or shoes,  they give special card guess who was given one did not realise till now how old I look.

Then off to find lounge,  it was United Airlines own one, large pleasant but little to eat,  nothing like as good as one at Heathrow but at least it had Wi Fi stayed there as advised until was time to request help get to plane, did this vehicle swiftly arrived then boarded plane, this time was in economy, such a difference and so far 3 hours into flight only been offered one drink, all food has to be paid for, seat not very comfortable,  plus video and films all chargeable,  come back Ryanair all is forgiven. There never were any more drinks in the course of the flight, so much for trying to avoid dehydration on flights, at long last we landed and assistance was there, nice man took us out to baggage I could not believe the size of the airport, there was a train to get us there. We then found a shuttle to the hotel and booked in. The size of the room was incredible, I have never been in somewhere so spacious.

Paul for a change was desperate for a meal, quite understandable when you think it was the previous evening when he last ate, so off we set, what a place so large but so badly signposted, eventually we found our  way out onto the Strip, it was really hot and humid and very busy and everything was big and over the top, I suppose it has to be to be Vegas, we eventually found somewhere to eat, this time Subway, I am now getting the hang of how to order food there. Then returned to the hotel passing through the casino which was quite busy then back to the room, Paul wanted to see a show called Fantasy at our hotel, it was another thing on his list and had topless dancers, after discussion we decided we would both go to the show, it will be a new experiance for me, quite expensive and late at 10 30pm for only 90 minutes.

We tried to sort out internet access but here there is none in the room, only free in public areas by Wi Fi otherwise chargeable,  so made harder to do research on things we wanted to do such as our

Our trip home 23rd August 2013

We had an early start,but when I looked out of the window there was a beautiful sunrise so I took a photo, then went out trying to get better ones but the houses obscured it

up at 6am packed then an early breakfast before setting off, finally we were all loaded,  10 minutes into the trip John the driver announced we were turning back because he had forgotten some paperwork,  did this then back off again, the traffic was much worse because it was a bank holiday weekend,  when we stopped it was crowded at the service area, but also the drinks were dearer than on the way down, which seems very odd. I nodded off for a while, the traffic was travelling very slowly,  there was a serious accident on the other side with miles and miles off traffic backed up. We had a further 3 stops before we got to our first drop off and another couple of accidents seen along the way, all the service areas were busy, Andy and I chatted part of the time and I also tried to catch up with my blog as well as reading a little more of the William novel until the battery ran down. The traffic was still busy, eventually we got to Oldham, Andy rang to check about the taxi, finally we reached the centre of Manchester and the street we should of gone down, the only problem was the bottom had been closed off for some reason so I told John to carry on a little longer on main road, we quickly unloaded,  but where was the taxi, finally we spotted him down a side street, we loaded up then off home, first Brian,  then me and finally Andy.  When I got in, back to reality sortede out my case and loaded the washer, looked at the clock it was 8.30pm it had taken over 12 hours for the trip, dont think I will be doing that sort of trip by coach for the foreseeable future, now just need to have a rest and relax over the weekend.