Day 11 ~ In which #KiwiChickInUSA arrives in Sin City…

We left San Diego at around eight this morning and I was a little bummed that I didn’t get to see more of this interesting city. Next time, I hope! So onto the interstate heading north east, the temperature climbing steadily from 27 degrees C, to a high of 42 degrees C (80 – 107 F) by the time we stopped for lunch at Peggy Sue’s Diner in Yermo, CA. We’d last stopped at this very same diner on our 2009 roadtrip with our two kids, so it was a buzz to return there. The place was pretty packed, but it was a fun–if not nutritious-diner lunch. For old times sake we decided to take a walk out the back of the diner where there were some ‘diner-saurs’. Stepping out from the air conditioned restaurant into the desert air felt like walking into a giant dryer. Holy heck it was HOT.

We arrived in Las Vegas at around 5pm, the temperatures still too hot to breathe. On the walk from the carpark to the Treasure Island Casino/Hotel where we’re staying, I became convinced that the super-hot air pressing down on us from all sides was part of the casino’s evil plan to hurry us inside the doors.

After a quick rest (I have swollen ankles/feet again, dammit) we headed to the Fremont St experience. And what an experience it was. Torn between laughter, amazement, and shuddering embarrassment (from the dude in nothing but a Borat-style man-kini) we strolled the length of the overhead canopy. The Elvis impersonator we watched was very cool and I handed over $10 to a sweet-talking 79 year old hustling me with a ‘save the animals’ pitch. Yeah, I’m a sucker and he was a hoot (telling my DH how lucky he was to have such a HOT wife – LOL)

Finally a steak dinner at one of the neon lit casinos while people watching (always fun) and back to our room to relax before the chaos and heat tomorrow brings.