First Day In Las Vegas

23 September 2014

Weather: Sunny and 36C

This morning we had to get up at 3:00am to check out of the Jackson Lake Lodge at 3:20am to drive south to Jackson Hole to return the hire car.  We drove in the dark but could make out that there was some deer on the side of the road, one appeared to be an elk cow.  We got the hire car back to Alamo and made the 4:30am airport shuttle, the first of the day.  Note that the Alamo office is in the town and not at the airport so we had to ride the shuttle north along the road we had driven along that morning.  To save on car hire we had booked with Alamo but for ease and a sleep in I would have gone for one of the companies at the airport.  

We arrived at the airport and the staff were not behind the counters so we queued for a while until the staff arrived.  Checked in for our flights we had breakfast before boarding our first flight to Salt Lake City which took only 49 minutes.  We had a very short stop over to change flights where we then flew from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas, the flight took 1 1/2 hours.  My ears did not pop due to having a cold and were very painful but luckily didn't cause any damage.  

We collected our hire car from Hertz who upgrade us to a Kia SUV, but the Neverlost navigation system would not work with the app we had programed our trip into so after some persistence they upgraded us again to a Dodge.  That is more like it, to drive an American car on our trip was great.  

Justin drove us to the Las Vegas sign where there was no carparks so we parked in a carpark nearby and raced over to get a photo with the sign.  The queue to stand in front of the sign was too long and we were parked were we shouldn't have been so Justin stood to the side of the sign and we were in and out in minutes.  

Las Vegas sign

We then drove to the Las Vegas North Premium Outlets where I brought a Kate Spade NY, dress for US$200 and Justin bought some new sport shoes as his, which he bought before going on this trip had thin soles and were not providing any cushioning, not good for long days of walking and standing.  Since check-in is much later in the USA we drove around Las Vegas before trying to checking in to the Golden Nugget.  Put it this way if you are early you won't get into your room any earlier.

Our room at the Golden Nugget

The view from our room at the Golden Nugget

Checked in we decided to hit the pool area so Justin could go on the waterslide which goes through a fish and shark tank.  I chickened out due to not liking waterslides, rides or anything that causes adrenalin.  I used the excuse of my sore ears from the flights earlier that day.  I did hang out in the pool on my own which did seem pretty strange especially after Justin had his first go on the waterslide wearing his GoPro on his wrist and having forgotten to put the waterproof cover on.  The GoPro therefore stopped working and he raced off to the room to pull it apart and try to dry it out.  This meant I was left in the pool on my own for quite a long time before he reappeared to go on the waterslide minus his camera a couple of times.

The waterslide at the Golden Nugget

Afterwards we changed and headed out to Fremont Street to have a look around during daylight hours and later returned to watch the Fremont Experience a couple of times during the night.  

Golden Nugget

Street Entertainer

After seeing the first light show we wanted to know what time the Bon Jovi light show would be on.  We were staying at the Golden Nugget and they are one of the sponsors so I thought the staff would be a good place to ask.  No one could help us and didn't even want to help us, with our disappointment we walked back out to Fremont Street and found that the show times are showing on the screen above.  Bon Jovi was on at 9:00pm so we hung out in Fremont Street until then.  A live band played between the light shows and after the Bon Jovi light show we had a buffet dinner at the Golden Nugget before going to bed, which we fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.  

Fremont Street Lights

When the Fremont Street Light Show starts