Hayley & Shaun in Canada: Las Vegas, NV & Coming Home!

Las Vegas July 5^th – July 15^th

We arrived at Las Vegas Airport from San Francisco at about 4:30pm on the 5^th of July. We knew we were in Vegas not only because of the scorching heat but because there were pokie machines in the airport! After getting a shuttle to the first of our four hotels in Vegas, we arrived at the Palms Casino Hotel. For those that don’t know, the stay in this hotel was a birthday present from Shaun to myself for my 21^st birthday last year as I’ve always wanted to stay at this hotel!

Our three days here were a lot of fun, our room was beautiful and we had a pretty good view. They also had a really cool pool that we spent most of the day at and we got free access into the Playboy Club and Moon Nightclub that even had a retractable roof which was pretty cool! On one night we ventured into the strip which was quite the trek as we weren’t right near the main strip area. We checked out Caesars Palace which was beyond massive and we also saw the beautiful fountain show out the front of the Bellagio hotel.

After staying at the Palms for three nights, we then went into the ‘downtown’ district, also known as the Fremont St experience for a two-night stay at El Cortez Cabana Suites. Our room was very modern and nice, not as big as the Palms and there wasn’t many amenities (no pool!)but it was still a nice place. We checked out the downtown area as there were quite a few casinos and activities going on there and we also went to the outlet shopping areas and checked out some bargains. The Fremont St casinos were also very cheap and we managed to get $2 Coronas if you can believe it and they even had 99c Margaritas! The cheap alcohol was definitely flowing in Vegas with many places serving $2 beers along the strip and everyone just walks around drinking all night!

That evening, I was treated to the second part of my 21^st present from Shaun – tickets to ‘Peepshow’ at Planet Hollywood Casino. We had VIP seating where we were practically on the stage and we had a waitress bringing us drinks which was very exciting. But the best part of the evening was after the show where we got a glass of champagne, and a meet and greet with the star of the show, Holly Madison. We got an autographed photo and took our own photos with her which was really cool. For those of you who don’t know, Holly was in the Girls of the Playboy Mansion series as Hugh Hefner’s main girlfriend for 7 years. While yes I admit it is a trashy show, it’s a guilty pleasure of mine and I really wanted to see the show and to meet her in person. We both had a fantastic time and a very, very memorable experience!

The next day was spent checking out some of the strip and the many casinos it has to offer including the Paris hotel (with its own Eiffel tower), the Mirage hotel, Treasure Island, The Venetian (with a canal!), and many more! Most of the actual casino areas in all of the hotel were pretty much the same, other than size, but a lot of hotels had a unique feature about that or a theme that made them different and really cool to see.

After our two nights at El Cortez, we headed over to the famous Hard Rock Hotel which was just a bit off the strip. This hotel was beautiful and we had an awesome room that had a great view of the strip and doors that opened out so we could see into the amazing pool down below. That Sunday they also had their famous pool party, ‘Rehab’ that we were able to go to. It was AWESOME! They have an amazing pool there that is set like a tropical beach with sand and a waterslide and so many different areas as well as swim-up blackjack! They also had a DJ there all day and we’ve never seen so many people dancing in a pool! But it was so fun and such a good experience! And the cocktails were just a little bit yummy too!

We spent a lot of time at the pool the following day as well as it was so beautiful and relaxing and at night time we went into the strip again and checked out more of Planet Hollywood, Cosmopolitan, Aria hotel and New York New York. New York New York was really cool with an awesome theme and setting all throughout the hotel. Shaun also won $25 on the slot machines there too!

We were sad to check out of the Hard Rock as it was really nice, and sad to be heading to our final hotel of our trip. But we headed on over to the Stratosphere Hotel which is a hotel down below but next door is the HUGE Stratosphere Tower where you can go to the top and they have crazy rides, but also amazing views of Vegas and the strip. We went for a swim in there pool too, but unfortunately it didn’t live up the Hard Rock’s pool in the slightest (oh and did I mention they had 4 different pools at the hard rock?). Anyway that evening we checked out Stratosphere as it was huge and had heaps of shops and eating areas. Then we took a walk up the strip a bit and went to Circus Circus hotel which had live circus acts and then over to the famous Riviera hotel too!

That evening had to be an early one however, as the next day we got picked up at 6:40am for a Grand Canyon Tour! The tour was really good, we even got breakfast and a nice packed lunch for the trip. The bus played movies as well to pass the time as it was a long trip, so that was handy. We had a quick stop at Hoover Dam which was so massive and really amazing to see in person. Then 4 hours later we arrived at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. We had three hours to explore the south rim area and our first impressions were just WOW! It was absolutely incredible to see this famous landmark in real life. It looked like a painting! It was so deep and so wide and there were so many different colour contrasts that it was just beautiful and you had to pinch yourself that you were there! We went for a nice walk along the south rim to a few different viewing points, and saw some cute squirrels. We were glad we didn’t run into any cougars or rattlesnakes! We had a great time at Grand Canyon and will never forget the sight we saw! After arriving back late from the bus we crashed straight away!

The next day was our last full day in Vegas and after our sleep-in recovery from the Grand Canyon trip, we got ourselves a massive yard-glass cocktail as we just had to have one before we left and headed up the strip. We checked out Wynn and Encore resorts, which were really nice as well as The Venetian and Palazzo. We then took the bus up to Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, Luxor & MGM Grand. We then checked out M&M World and Coca-Cola World, which were really cool and had some very neat items and souvenirs there. After that we went to Planet Hollywood and the Miracle Mile shops where we did some last minute shopping and had a nice dinner. After that it was pretty late so we headed back to Stratosphere. The next morning we realised we hadn’t played any blackjack the entire time we were in Vegas so before we checked out we went down to the casino and played a couple of rounds, which was really fun and we didn’t end up losing any money at all – even better! We then packed up all our stuff for one last time (Yay!) and headed to the Greyhound station where we took a 6 hour bus ride to LA and then over to LAX for our flight home at 10pm.

We managed to stay in some beautiful places in Vegas that were all ridiculously cheap so we were very lucky! We saw some really cool hotels and casinos and some very different things that you normally don’t see anywhere else! There was always stuff going on and glitz and glamour everywhere. We got a good look at the horribly tacky side of Vegas and the provocative side, but also the beautiful side of Vegas. You can really see how people end up spending thousands of dollars there especially if you’re eating at fancy restaurants, gambling up a storm and night-clubbing every night! Oh! And we saw the famous Little White Wedding Chapel, as well as many other chapels – some of which (brace yourself!) even had drive-thru wedding windows! How crazy!

So by the time we find some internet and manage to post this blog (finally, my last one!) We may be already home. Right now we are about 20 mins away from boarding our 15 hour flight home and I think I can speak for both of us that while we have enjoyed ourselves immensely, WE CAN’T WAIT TO BE HOME! We really can’t believe it has been 7 whole months – where has the time gone! We want to thank everyone for reading our blogs and staying interested all this time. We have been truly lucky to see and do all of the things we have done in Canada and the USA and we can’t wait to share even more stories with you in person.

See you on the other side!

Love Hayley and Shaun xoxo

P.S. We can’t wait to get some of the Aussie Attitude back in our system! We definitely won’t miss many of the American standards/attitudes/ways-of-life that’s for sure!