California 2014 - Las Vegas

we initially planned to drive from anaheim to vegas and then down to san diego and return the car once we were in los angeles. but we decided against as we didn't want the long drive into vegas to take a toll on us. i googled how to get into vegas from anaheim and found out that lux bus does a direct direct shuttle from the hotel we were at to las vegas blvd where our hotel will be, so we took that. the bus would take us on the scenic route, well scenic for us as we've never seen open dessert and mountains and well, exactly how the sights of the movie car is like.

we got up very early on the day of our travel as the bus would be picking us up at 8am. it took us to their depot in anaheim garden walk where we changed to the 'vegas-only' bus. it started its journey at 8.45am. the journey was smooth - no traffic, intermittent wifi (why is that smooth anyway?), drinks and snacks provided.

we made a 20-minute pitstop at barstow and from there it was about 2-hours drive into vegas. the bus dropped us off at harrah's on the strip and we walked (yes we did, after the 5 hour journey, pulling our luggage with us) to elara. i stopped on the way to get tickets for the ka 7pm show.

to get to elara we had to walk inside miracle mile mall. i like that place. huge with lots of shops and restaurants. check-in was quick and the boys were gasping and ooohh-ing when we got into the room. a huge room with wall-to-wall windows, big sofa, dining table, corner kitchen and a big bed for them.

we freshened up and changed our clothes (and i even got some time to start a washing cycle, yeay!). we walked towards mgm grand a couple of blocks south of miracle mile. the boys kept asking about the show but it wasn't easy to explain cirque du soleil to them - a show, a circus, a dancing act. but i was glad that they enjoyed it even though i had to explain to them every 2 minutes.

on the way back, they had a good time looking at the bright lights that adorned the las vegas strip.

we started our second day in vegas quite late. we bought breakfast and had it while looking over the vegas skyline.

our first stop was the deuce stop across from planet hollywood, at the bellagio. we bought a 24-hour ticket and headed south towards mandalay bay. from there it was a 15, 20 minutes walk to the 'welcome to las vegas' sign board. luckily there were not many people and we could get a few good pictures in while we were there.

we walked back towards the nearest deuce stop but stopped for lunch at mcdonald's first. we made a quick detour at the mgm grand station as hubby had to drop in the hard rock outlet. while we were there, we also stopped by the m&m's world and a couple of souvenir shops.

then we boarded the deuce again, this time taking it all the way to fremont street to get a feel of the fremont street experience. even though it was still bright outside the lights at fremont street were fully switched on. the boys were laughing non stop because there were scantily clads girls everywhere. laugh away boys, this time you're allowed to see.

we took the deuce back to bellagio and crossed the street to planet hollywood and miracle mile mall. the boys wanted to watch movies projected on the window screen, so we had brahim's with rolls in the room for dinner.