Truth be told I was dying to title this post "Viva Las Vegas" but that would be like holidaying in Ipswich and telling everyone we were in Brisbane (minus the fear of being knifed of course - Henderson's not like Ipswich at all!). Technically we did fly in and out of Las Vegas, but in reality we were there for about 10 hours collectively. Nevertheless I can safely say we made the most of our very short adventure in Nevada and before we'd even left Las Vegas we were planning a return in 2012!
I should've seen the signs ... as we sat in the YVR airport lounge having a quick breakfast before boarding the plane Steve informs me he'd forgotten his wetsuit (Race Fail #1). Despite a sudden urge to launch into a "mum lecture" about how he should stop leaving his packing to the very last minute to avoid such things, I stopped short. Why? Because that's how Steve rolls. And I'm completely at peace with that now, as long as I don't cop the blame (it's only taken five destination races in the last few months to get me to this point). Anyway, clearly there was nothing we could do by this stage so we decided we'd just have to rent or buy one when we arrived in Henderson. Apart from this minor mishap, everything else ran fairly smoothly (Steve cleared immigration without hassle this time & I managed to sleep on the plane - #winning).
I don't know why I was so surprised (or shocked?) but as soon as we stepped off the plane we were greeted with a wall of bright, shiny poker machines playing annoyingly catchy jingles - promising so much, but in the end ... delivering so little. In hindsight I probably would've been disappointed had Las Vegas airport been just like any other - after all, it is Vegas. Why should I expect less? The most surprising thing? The bevy of pokies isn't exclusive to the casino resorts along Las Vegas Boulevard (also known as "The Strip") and the airport - they're everywhere - yep, even in the local 7-11, the car rental office ... and since I consider pokies to be largely against my own self-righteous morals (with the exception of the SATC machine), the sight and sound of them initially made me feel a little sick and took a lot of getting used to!
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| Airport pokies!! |
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| An addict in the making ... nah, but if I had to choose a machine in which to lose my money ...hard to resist pink flashing lights and the words "big diamonds" |
To be honest though, stepping off the plane and walking through Las Vegas airport to the tunes of Elvis, The Beatles and The Eagles ... I knew we'd get along - I was in my musical element! A combination of all of the above, plus a slathering of Vegas show advertisements (Cirque du Soleil, Celine Deon, The Lion King, Jerry Seinfeld etc) throughout the airport meant it wasn't long until I, a self confessed "fun-sponge", was enchanted by the complete sensory overload and just decided to embrace it for what it is - an incredible novelty/resort-city!
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| Just a small portion of the awe-inspiring streetscape! |
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| Beers on the Las Vegas version of the Brooklyn Bridge! Yes, you could drink freely in public on "The Strip"! |
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| The Bellagio |
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| More streetscape as the sun goes down ... |
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| The entrance to the Cirque du Soleil's Beatles 'Love' show at the Mirage (I almost had a coronary in the souvenir shop!) |
Once I'd overcome the initial shock of everything that encapsulates 'Sin City', seeing my fellow support crew members in Helen & Tony was very welcome! It was really nice to see some familiar faces and catch up in person after being away for so long. After meeting up, we took off in our oh-so-Vegas family van - a sight to see (!) - which was the only car big enough to fit all our stuff in - so family van it was. It wasn't until Sunday driving up "The Strip" (this still sounds so dodgy to me) that we made the observation it wasn't exactly the vehicle we'd envisioned cruising around Vegas in ...
So we spent some good times in that van ... well, on the Thursday Helen & I did anyway ... Steve and Tony? Not so much. Steven driving and Tony navigating was an adventure in itself - but we got to where we needed to be ... in the end. So Thursday afternoon ended up as 'Le Tour de Henderson' and I thoroughly enjoyed being chauffeured around the city, having relinquished my navigator role to Tony. Initially I was a bit creeped out by Henderson - a whole lotta desert and not much else around - every road is pretty much a highway and they all lead further into the middle of nowhere. Combine this with some picturesque mountains (albeit no Canadian mountains) - they are so barren and perfect they look like they've been painted on the sky - and a sprinkling of huge hotels built around the man-made Lake Las Vegas and that was pretty much my experience of Henderson. While the whole thing was hard to get used to at first, I ended up really enjoying my time there and I can see that, in warmer weather, it would be a really nice, relaxing place to holiday - particularly if you couldn't handle Vegas for the entire duration of your time in Nevada.
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| Sun comes up over the mountains/looking down on transition |
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| Hotels built on Lake Las Vegas |
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| An amazing view! Check the hotel! |
To interject for one moment, I need to share a gripe. Me? Gripe? Never! But I am so over the stupid US baggage handlers having some weird obsession with my Coco Mademoiselle perfume! Every time we travel I pack it in my bag in its little box only to find when unpacking my things that my bag has been opened and the perfume (yet again) has been inspected. While I find it mildly amusing there are some sweet smelling baggage handlers out there with seriously awesome taste in perfume, I want it universally known that there is no way I would ever use my ridiculously expensive Chanel perfume to try and blow up a plane (or conduct other sinister terrorist-related business). I digress! Back to the hotel ...
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| Our hotel pool area |
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| Our hotel (just a small portion!) |
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| Steve making the most of the breakfast buffet & I had to take a photo of the miniature Tabasco sauce - so cute!! |
Vegas and I really cemented our friendship when I picked up one of the designer magazines in our hotel room and the first ad I saw was for Hermes Birkin bags ... then I turned the page and was greeted with a Manolo Blahnik shoe ... and then a Bvlgari necklace ... you get the idea!
Thursday afternoon saw all the countries setting themselves up outside our hotel (ours was the host hotel) for team photos - Tony took the reigns as the official Australian team photographer and began ordering them all around, making sure all their uniforms matched (just like old school days!) and that they all squished up to fit in the frame. I found this hilarious and very helpful at the same time - it meant I got a better picture too! He definitely made the most of his superior organisation skills and that distinct voice to take some great shots! In fact, the unmistakable voice came in very handy when I was trying to find them amongst a hotel lobby full of spectators and athletes! Post-pictures we all shared a nice dinner at our hotel topped off with some delicious chocolate lava cake (this was not shared).
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| Speaks for itself really ... |
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| Aussie Team |
Pre race day was fairly standard - Steve spent the whole day sorting out his equipment and I spent the whole day making sure I didn't get in his way. I've found this works best. So I sun-baked (in jeans) on the deck overlooking the pool and reading Us Weekly (J-Lo & Bradley Cooper is this week's latest rumour). I have no shame.
So race day came around. Incredibly slowly for me because I had the worst sleep in the entire history of the universe. I have an inexplicable mental problem. Basically it revolves around my brain's obsession with creating a soundtrack in my head for every city I visit, for the entire duration of the trip. Of course this time it was so easy for my brain - there are so many songs about Las Vegas! So thanks to Katy Perry, Elvis Presley and Anastasia (sorry, can't explain this one!), I managed about 2 hours of sleep.
Here's something I didn't know knew but seemed to forget when it counted (similar to the automatic assumption I always make that if it's raining then the temperature is cold) - it's not always hot in the desert! Not only is it not always hot, but it was absolutely freezing on race day morning. So freezing, in fact, that the International Triathlon Union (ITU) had to cancel the entire swim leg of the race (Race Fail #2) and I managed to get a brain freeze just from standing outside without a beanie on! Not only did I experience brain freeze, but I'm pretty sure I also got eye-ball freeze, gums freeze and nostril freeze at the same time.
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| Overlooking transition from Ravella hotel |
Thankfully I've recently developed this awesome ability to sleep on flights - so our overnight trip was relatively painless for me. I'm not quite sure about Steven though, given he decided to declare himself a British citizen to the immigration officer when we arrived back in Vancouver (Immigration Officer: "are you Australian?" Steven: "ah English" - we can only assume that in his zonked state he thought Mr. Immigration Officer was speaking to us in French!). I flashed him the 'ZIP IT. NOW!' look and took it from there ... I must admit it was pretty hilarious - particularly at 1am!
The most important lesson learned from our Vegas trip? Scarves are an essential travel item - not only do they save you from developing pneumonia; they are unequivocally instrumental in blocking unwarranted smells - stale cigarettes in Vegas casinos, vomit smells in Vegas public lifts and unceremonious neighborly gas leaks on plane flights (there's always that one person!) ... purple Saba scarf - you were my saviour!
Next stop on the whirlwind tour of 2011? Cozumel, Mexico!
