Viva Las Vegas, baby, yeah!

[love_the_life]

Today's the day! We've just arrived in SYD, earlier than expected because we got to fly ahead. More time in the lounge in SYD for us! We only had about 20 mins to board after check in and bag drop, but I took MrD to the lounge in CBR cause he'd never been.

Enjoy - tagging along to live vicariously as LOTFAP is not on my travel agenda (yeah I know, lots of people love the place but not me).

 

[Drakecula]

I've only briefly been in the Qantas business lounge before, as on my last trip my colleague guested me into First. I'd say First is nicer, but this is still quite good. I've had a lunch and am chilling by the window while we wait to board.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Am on board @Drakecula looking forward to your TR and enjoy yourselves

 

[Drakecula]

Am on board @Drakecula looking forward to your TR and enjoy yourselves

We're on board now too! Next stop LAX.

 

[RooFlyer]

Taking anything good to read?

 

[kookaburra75]

Today's the day! We've just arrived in SYD, earlier than expected because we got to fly ahead. More time in the lounge in SYD for us! We only had about 20 mins to board after check in and bag drop, but I took MrD to the lounge in CBR cause he'd never been.

Good luck with your trip, and have fun. We should set up a lunch/dinner when you back, for a slide night.

 

[Drakecula]

Taking anything good to read?

I've got Bill Bryson's A short history of nearly everything. Which I didn't read at all during the flights. Watched Aquaman with MrD, then tried to nap. Which I successfully managed to do (on and off) with the help of Matthew Reilly's Cobalt Blue audio book. Qantas needs more audio book options in their in flight entertainment.

Uneventful flights over, had a bit of a mad scramble at LAX to get from TBIT to terminal 6 for our connection because customs took a decent while. But made it and the last leg was thankfully short and I snapped a probably blurry shot from the plane. And of course, the obligatory 'omg, there's pokies in the airport!' photo...

 

[justinbrett]

I've got Bill Bryson's A short history of nearly everything. Which I didn't read at all during the flights. Watched Aquaman with MrD, then tried to nap. Which I successfully managed to do (on and off) with the help of Matthew Reilly's Cobalt Blue audio book. Qantas needs more audio book options in their in flight entertainment.

Uneventful flights over, had a bit of a mad scramble at LAX to get from TBIT to terminal 6 for our connection because customs took a decent while. But made it and the last leg was thankfully short and I snapped a probably blurry shot from the plane. And of course, the obligatory 'omg, there's pokies in the airport!' photo...

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I think I’m a day ahead of you - I arrived Monday evening local time.

It was great weather today (max 32) but it’s jumping back up to over 40 for the rest of the week. I spent the afternoon in the pool, it was bliss.

Enjoy your stay, I’d offer to meet up but I’m heading up to Reno tomorrow (and then beyond) and won’t be back in Vegas for about two weeks. Shame, if I knew the flight sim conference was on when I booked I probably would have are arranged to go, as I do spend a lot of time (and money) on MSFS2020. If you guys get any discount/freebie codes you aren’t going to use, feel free to DM them to me

Hope you have a great time, I love this city.

 

[Drakecula]

If you guys get any discount/freebie codes you aren’t going to use, feel free to DM them to me

Hope you have a great time, I love this city.

I'll keep an eye out. MrD is a warbird flight sim enthusiast rather than the commercial planes, so anything MSFS won't be useful to us

 

[Drakecula]

The first couple of days were a whirlwind of activity! Our first full day was off to a slow start because my alarm failed, and we slept in longer than expected. After stockpiling bottled water, we got out to the Strip and wandered from Paris down to MGM Grand. It was hot! But we were in and out of casinos so we stayed cool enough.

We then got picked up by friends of MrD to go to a shooting range. When in 'merica, right? I declined to shoot, but MrD shot a Grand rifle. The other friends shot other things, including a 50 cal.

Then back to the Strip to get to our dinner at Tournament of the Kings at Excalibur. We were seated in France so we cheered madly for our king.

After dinner, we continued exploring, wandering through Luxor and Mandalay Bay, down to the welcome sign and finally poking our heads into the Pinball Hall of Fame.



I can't seem to add the photos I want, perhaps limits of the Wi-Fi I'm on. I'll post more when I can...

Day two, we had breakfast at Hash House a Go Go which is inside the Rio. I got a flapjack which turned out to be as big as a Dominos pizza. Needless to say I didn't finish it. We learned and spilt our breakfast this morning at Denny's.

After breakfast we continued exploring the Strip, starting at the Bellagio and wandering down to New York New York. We backtracked to Park MGM because I had tickets to Lady Gaga. MrD went back to hang with Flight Sim Expo friends at the Rio.

Lady Gaga was amazing! It was her and a jazz band, doing mostly jazz songs, but she also did a few of her popular hits.

 

[Drakecula]

Yesterday was a quiet day. It was set up day for the Flight Sim Expo, so we went down to meet everyone. I left MrD to it and had a relaxing few hours reading and resting my feet. I met up with him later and we all did dinner, before MrD and I went to check out the Fremont Street Experience.

And what an experience it was! The sights, the sounds, the smells... Worth checking out for sure, but I think once is enough for me. The atmosphere was party central, so if you're looking for the party party Vegas, it's here. Though it was a Friday night so that may also have been a factor.

 

[Drakecula]

Today MrD was busy with expo stuff, so I went out and did a spot of shopping. I came back in time to wander the expo and look at cool things I don't know much about. MrD is in his element though and having lots of fun.

I saw this cool Hornet simulator so took a pic. MrD has similar gear at home, but not quite to this level of coughpit fitout!



I'll do the same tomorrow, go explore more of the Strip and MrD can meet up with me later.

After the expo today, we got dinner then went and saw Penn & Teller which was an amazing show! Master magicians!

 

[Drakecula]

More exploring for me today, I started at Circus Circus and tried old school coin slots just for the fun of it, got to use the side pull bar thing too!

Then wandered through Resorts World, Encore and Wynn before heading to Fashion Show mall. Where I'm currently resting my feet while writing this. Encore and Wynn were Fancy!

 

[Drakecula]

I went back to the Rio and the whole flight sim crew went out to dinner. The company is Chinese so we went to a hot pot restaurant in Chinatown. While the food was delicious, sitting in front of a boiling hot pot while the air con struggled in 40C heat was not pleasant.

After dinner we still had more of the Strip to explore, so off we trotted. This time looking at centre strip to see Caesar's Palace and the Venetian, along with others in between. We managed to see the volcano show, which I've heard is closing next month, as well as going on the High Roller for a cool view of the Strip from up high. The Sphere is pretty neat.

We got home late, but figured we'd catch up on sleep on the plane if we could, otherwise at home.

 

[Drakecula]

Am currently sitting in the Club@LAS lounge courtesy of my Priority Pass membership through my credit card. It's small but acceptable. Not much in the way of buffet offerings, but you can order complimentary snacks and beverages through a QR code at your table.



This morning we did a helicopter flight to the Grand Canyon which was amazing, but I suffered from the heat, the subsequently hot helicopter and a bit of motion sickness. It was 43C today. I survived, and MrD got way more pics, so I'll steal a few and update when we get home.

Next stop LAX, then SYD, then home.

 

[RooFlyer]

but you can order complimentary snacks and beverages through a QR code at your table.

They look pretty good for a US lounge.

 

[Drakecula]

They look pretty good for a US lounge.

Was quite tasty!

Now we're in the Qantas business lounge in LAX. MrD is quite impressed. First time I've been in here, as last year I was guested into First. I think this is nicer than the Business lounge in SYD.