Viva Las Vegas

Outside of the Venezia tower, where we stayed at the Venetian Hotel on The Strip.

We spent the day exploring the Venetian. You could probably spend a week there and still not see everything

Ben with Michael Jackson. Little did we know that he would be dead the next day
Gemma and Ben with The Governater

Ben with Lance Burton who he went on stage with when we were last in Las Vegas

Cameron Diaz with a Hollywood star

Criss Angel. We went to see his Vegas show later that night at The Luxor

Ben with Shaquille O'Neal

Looks like Mark has been dumped for George Clooney, can't imagine why ?

The next Evil Knievel

Simon Cowell was so happy to see Gemma & Ben. Do you think they have the X Factor?!!

Niky thought this was by far the most lifelike model.

Death Valley & Vegas

The bath, I mean swimming pool at Furnace Creek Ranch. The water is from a warm spring and is 82 deg F all year round. Strangely cooling though when it is 115 deg F out of the water.

The pool bar

The overnight stop, if you're ever in Death Valley check it out. Well, if you want to stay overnight you don't have a choice !

We stopped at the Death Valley Visitors Centre before we set off for Las Vegas...

.....and managing to hold their breath quite well

A chipmunk seeking shade under our exhaust. No, Mark didn't turn him into road kill ....

A coyote searching for food under a date palm tree

Zabriskie point looking back over Death Valley

A mobile phone mast, cunningly disguised as a fir tree and not at all out of place in the middle of the desert !

We arrived in Las Vegas late afternoon after a long drive

Our room at the Venetian.

That evening we ate at a Mario Batali restaurant in 'St Marks Square' at the Venetian. This photo is actually taken inside and the roof sky turns to night!

We then went to see the Vegas Phantom of the Opera show which was excellent.

LA to Death Valley

Driving the long straight road through Death Valley, what a great drive ! The scenery is amazing and more varied than you'd expect.

You're in Death Valley - stop smiling !

Proof of entry !

The t-shirt says it all ...

Some strange creatures exist in the bush behind the sign ...

Badwater, although you can actually drink it ... well, it's not poisonous but just very salty .... a bit like a bad tequila slammer ....

Ben begs for money, Gemma begs for help ?

More road, but the scenery is quite cool, especially for those with a geological background (as in ... old fossils like Mark ....)

Errr, geological photo ..... yawn

Game of golf anyone ? This course is at Furnace Creek Ranch which is where we stopped overnight. The only course in Death Valley, it was 115 deg F when we were there, not many players out there !

Six Flags

Haven't managed to blog for a few days due to bad connections so here's an update on our adventures!!
Saturday we went to Six Flags Theme Park in LA.

Mark, Gemma and Ben started the day on this ride aptly named Scream.

They didn't fancy this one as it had just reopened after being closed for a while due to technical difficulties!?!

They went on this Batman ride that has no floor and you pass within 2cm of the ground at huge velocity - according to Mark!

Sunday we took a drive up into the mountains to see our friends sons dropped off at summer camp.
After they were safely checked in we decided to stop for a drink before heading back down the mountain. We ended up in this Mexican Restaurant being served by a drunken 'camp' Mexican!!
who wanted us to stay until evening to watch the dancing bears appear from the mountainside - I think he needed to lay off the tequila!

San Francisco back to LA

Not too much to post today as we drove back to LA by the fastest route - which still took us 8 hours with stops!
Before we left San Francisco we drove down the worlds most crooked road. Above is a view down as we drove it..........

.......and a view back up from the bottom.

Then it was on to the most boring drive ever. This wind farm was actually quite interesting at the time!

And then there was just road as far as you could see.

And then some more windmills and road.....

.....and some more road!!!!!