Glad you got the text OK. Realised just as I sent it that it was 6am over there and was hoping it didn't wake you.

Glad you arrived OK and on time.

It was 104F when we were there in September and I found I managed to cope OK with the dry heat. It's humidity I can't cope with.

Thanks for dropping in and enjoy the rest of your trip.

luci

I hope you're having fun Lesley.

Don't forget to let us know what you thought of Nathan burton.

Hi all

Decided to start a new thread and I'll try to put some details on every day or two.

Ok, here's what we did yesterday since my last post.

Sat at the Orleans pool for a while. Went down there at 10am but no sun on the pool area until nearer 11am. Only lasted till about 1245 as it was really really hot. I don't remember it being this hot before, about 106 or 108F but there's been a severe weather warning for extreme heat.

After pool came up to the room and cooled down and got showered and changed (shorts as it's so hot) and took the shuttle over to the Gold Coast. Not sure if they still have 2 shuttles but we ended up over at the strip then over to Gold Coast. It took a funny route as traffic was heavy on Flamingo Road.

Went straight over to the Rio (cut across the side of the parking lot, across the road and in a pathway to the shuttle area at Rio. This was beside the buffet which was handy. Previously when we did this we walked out onto the road and in the other door but we were very glad in the extreme heat to see this walkway which was shorter! Had a 2/1 coupon for the buffet. Champagne brunch is $23.99 and runs till 330pm. We got in about 245 or so and it was just under $28 for both of us. Bargain. Buffet was really really nice, and we managed 3 glasses of champagne. It tasted nice too.

We will definitely be back over there for the buffet (I think we'll do it as buffet of buffets maybe late evening one night), we also got a coupon in the Rio for free entry to Voodoo before 10pm, however we weren't dressed for that last night, so we kept the coupon. We also saw the Masquerade show for the first time which was quite good. We had to wait around a bit for that though so we went over to the Gold Coast for half an hour too in between.

After the 6pm Masquerade show, we took the shuttle to Harrah's. Went into Casino Royale for a Margarita and Michelob, then sat and played the free slot play offer and got a drink from the cocktail waitress. We then walked up to look at the Venetian, by this time it was about 8pm and still rather hot! We then walked down to Bill's and took the shuttle back about 9pm. Luci - there's really not many seats at that bar at the back of Bill's by the way.

I'm now up at 4am and typing this because I can't sleep. I don't have internet in the room though so I will paste it onto the forum when I am downstairs getting some breakfast. Today is a little more pool time. I'm going to use a lower factor as I never got any sign of sunburn yesterday at all. I don't think we lasted long enough, although hubby's back is a bit burnt because he never put cream on it! We collect a hire car this afternoon too until Friday, so 5 days with the car. Thinking of going to the outlets today, and maybe a regular mall tomorrow. Might do the south strip outlets then silverton 2/1 buffet for dinner!

Luci, phone was switched off and in the safe so no worries there!

Pebbles, we will probably go next week, so I will let you all know then.

I've started a new thread for a trip report.

Thanks Lesley, sound like you're having fun.

Keep it coming.

Thanks Lesley. Sounding good so far, looking forward to the rest.

Just heard about a place today called Tuesday Morning which is off strip so you probably need a car. http://www.tuesdaymorning.com/storelocator/storelocator.asp Sounds like an outlet for household stuff. I would love to go, but not sure it's possible by bus.

Don't worry about there not being many seats at Bill's back bar. We've had a few meets there as it's usually easy to spot people, then we move to the seats near where Big Elvis performs. Granted it's usually afternoon when the place isn't so busy, but I'm sure it'll be fine.

I have merged your post from the Shows topic to this one to keep it all in one place.

luci

Part 2

Sunday 5th September

Went to the pool for about 2 hours but it got rather hot again at noon onwards. Came back to the room to get showered and changed and took taxi from Orleans to MGM to pick up the hire car ($11+tip - road busy). They had no cars ready so we went for a wander over to Tropicana. Now when we came over from the airport we noticed they had a nice new sign and some outside paintwork done. We went inside and I have to say I'm impressed by their renovation (for a lower end hotel that probably didn't spend huge money on it compared to the big guys!). It was very light and cream coloured inside and also very airy feeling. We took a walk up to see the Italian restaurant and looked at the menu. We mentioned we're vegetarian and the girl told us there was only one suitable item on the menu due to them using chicken stock in their tomato sauce. Yes, including the pizzas! That was annoying!

Wandered back through MGM, looking at the lions etc. Got to the desk and there was no-one there so had to wait 15minutes. There was an English guy waiting and because TeeCee stays at Signature I couldn't help but wonder if it was him! I know he was getting a car at some point to go out to Lake Mead, but I'm not even sure if he's in Vegas yet!

Got car eventually and drove down the strip to the Outlets. Shopped till close to 6pm but didn‘t buy very much, got 2 pairs of Vans for our nephew for $21. (bargain). We then drove over to Silverton for the buffet. We had a 2/1 coupon for the buffet and dinner was around $13 plus tax. It also included wine, so I think we paid about $7.50 each for buffet and glass of wine. I have to say I was pleased with both the buffet and the bargain! We then drove back up the strip and noticed Town Square was very busy. Turns out the TV were filming there for Telethon (saw on the tv when we got back). We turned east into Tropicana Ave and went along to Walmart, which was surprisingly quick by car compared to the bus! The Walmart wasn't as good as the Charleston one (which we plan to stop at too). Again didn't buy much, except some water and coke etc for the room.

Drove back to the Oreleans, dumped our stuff in the room and went downstairs for $3 frozen drink and Craft beer offer at the new bar at the lounge. Was ok. Then went to the Mardi Gras bar for a drink with the 2/1 coupon from check in. Got Midori & 7Up and a Heineken and it was $6.50. That was the price for the Midori - won't be getting that again unless it's from a cocktail waitress. Earlyish night at 11pm.

Monday 6th September (Labor Day)

Drove out to Red Rock on the LV Beltway (much quicker than regular roads). Had b/fast at Red Rock although you don't get coupons in the ACG for this any more, but we quite like this breakfast buffet because they do fresh fruit etc. It's about $8 so it's reasonable anyway.

Went over to Canyon Pointe shops for an hour or so. Didn't really buy much though, just a week Calvin Klein Jeans, Lojng sleeved T and cardi set for our nephew.. Tried several Comic shops on Charleston
but none were open. Next stop Ross Dress for Less and Target (never bought much). Quite weird a woman stopped us to ask an opinion on something then said ‘I'm asking the right one"¦.are you from Glasgow?'. Turned out she was from Glasgow and lives in CA but her daughter lives in LV so she was over visiting. Chatted for a while sounds like she's not been home a while as she didn't know what Tesco was! She was fairly old though and had been there since she was 19. Next stop Michaels and Wal Mart. Got some cross stitch thread for $2.50 using a 50% coupon I had. Might try another branch when out and about next few days. Walmart - got t-shirt for my cousin's kid, and one for our neighbour's kid. Noticed this Wal Mart is much bigger than the Topicana one.

Came back and sat at the pool for an hour or so. Then got showered and up to Meadow's Mall. Decided to buy a top which was marked down to 9.99 but when I got to the till it was another 50% off, so got it in another colour too! Wandered for a few hours and decided to try to go see Penn & Teller at 9pm at the Rio. Got food court pizza etc to be quicker, then finished shopping and went over to the Rio. Turns out Penn & Teller were cancelled for 2 nights Sunday and Monday due to an ‘emergency'. The are only on this tue, wed, sat, so we booked for Wednesday night. $90 for both of us. We were going to use a coupon from Travelzoo for $53 all in (mexxanine) but the guy said he could do us a better deal ‘would take care of us and get us free programmes'. He got us tickets in row K at the inside aisle, so that looks quite good and was cheaper than the Travelzoo offer. He said it was 2/1. We gave him a $5 tip. He then went on to sell the next person a full price ticket. I juts hope the show is on after it being cancelled, but then I guess they would have cancelled already for several nights if that was the case.

Walked around the Rio a little, think we're going to try McFaddens before the show - $10 bottles of wine and $1 drafts on Wednesdays - they have different offers each night. We've got a free drink coupon too so will see what we think. I really enjoyed the Rio buffet, but I'd like to do it on the Harrah's buffet of buffets offer. I think we'll be back out at the Rio anyway though to use our Voodoo passes (before 10pm which won't work with Penn & Teller).

Back to Orleans for a drink at the Mardi Gras lounge. Mike's hard lemonade $4.50, Miller offer on display $3, but the guy gave me a bottle and charged me $3.50. Hubby had a second drink and asked for draft miller and the guy suggested bud instead I guess they don't want to sell you a promotional drink then! He got his cheap miller in the end though! Still on the earlyish nights at 1130.

Tuesday 7th September.

I'm awake early, we're driving down to Laughlin shortly. I'm too mean to pay $12.95 for 24 hours internet in the room when I won‘t use it much, so I'll probably paste this to the forum when we get back.

Thanks again Lesley.

Where did you get the P&T tickets, was it the Rio box office?

luci

Let me know what you think of Penn and Teller.

Hi Lesley,
Good to hear you're having a nice time. It wasn't me in MGM, we arrived this afternoon, I'll start a report myself shortly and update as we go. We're off to Maggiano's at the Fashion show mall tonight, we wanted Italian and it appears to have really good reviews but it is pretty reasonable price wise.
Hope all Vegas people have a great time, those that are already there and those that will be there soon!

Cheers

TC

Tuesday 7th September

Ate at the Orleans buffet for breakfast, they gave us a $4 off coupon for 8th or 9th September.

Drove down to Boulder City and stopped briefly because I thought it looked nice last year. It is quaint but it also started raining so we got back in the car and headed down the road towards Searchlight where we had a toilet and drink stop. Drove on to Laughlin and I'd say it took about 2 hours all in. Stopped at the information office and got a map, and the girl also told us about boat trips etc. Parked at the Riverside which is the first casino, then walked about halfway or so up. It was much hotter in Laughlin than Vegas and more humid too so we found it quite uncomfortable. We played a few slots as we passed through the casinos and had a few drinks (coke for the driver of course) and then went back to the car. Drove over to the outlets. Not great but I ended up buying shoes from Naturaliser for $20 which was good. Just pumps for workl, but seem to be comfy ones. Drove up to Harrah's planned to have the buffet but it's a brunch/diinner only so was closed at 2pm. Played slots though and I cashed out at $20 after putting in $5, so was pleased with that. Drove down to Aquarius which was my other ACG coupon, and also when I had asked at the information office the girl had mentioned it as being a popular buffet. Girl explained it was closing at 3pm, but it was 245 and she said they'd lift the food at 3 so to go up and fill our plates etc. So we did. Nothing much for vegetarians so I had salad, baked potato, cheese, mash and a couple of onion rings. And a tiny brownie. What I had was nice. They also had free wine, beer and bubbly, so I had half a glass of bubbly, hubby had half a beer. Was good for $11 total!

Drove back through Searchlight doing the dreaded fuel stop - I hate that first fuel stop in a car I don't know!! Had to get someone to help me. The drove along a very quiet 2 track road west towards Nipton and slightly into California. Then turned onto the I 95 towards Primm. Stopped at Primm, and bought a few things there. We only spent an hour and a half there, it was ok. We wanted to catch the quiz at McMullan's and I needed to shower and wash my hair etc after the hot day in Laughlin. Took about 45mins, good traffic to get back up to Orleans on the I95.

Went over to the quiz but did very badly. Had some chips and garlic bread in McMullan's too. Pint of Harp $4, Smirnoff ice $4 so had a few drinks before heading back over to the Orleans. I put $5 in a slot machine (diamonds 2000 or similar name penny slot) and got a good few bonus rounds and cashed out at $14. Had a few drinks while playing too. Back to room at 1130pm (we're lasting longer!!) we're moving to Desert Rose so needed to get early night.

Penn & Teller tickets were $90 inc tax for 2 at the Rio Box office on Convention Way (at the Penn & Teller theatre). The guy was going to charge us full price even though we gave him the coupon for travelzoo, he left it at another computer that wasn't working. We then said what about the Travelzoo offer, then he said he could do us better seats and price. And it was. I'll check what the ticket says but I think it was a LVRJ offer. It might be limited time, but it might even be easier to call the box office and quote that (once I check I can tell you). You could always say you have a friend in vegas that gave you the details of the offer from the newspaper. I bought the LVRJ on saturday and sunday and never saw any offer though, I might not have read it properly though, sunday I just went through the coupons mainly!!

TeeCee, hope you have a great time! We are moving to Desert Rose in about an hour, just need to pop back up to the room and finish packing!!

Our Penn & Teller tickets says 'RJ Neon' on it. I looked at the LVRJ and it had a column called Neon, so it must be the Las Vegas Review Journal. If you want that offer it might be worth phoning the box office and asking.

At Desert Rose now and the room is nice. I also have free wi-fi in the room. Off to put our washing on now and sit at the pool!

Thanks for the info on the P&T tickets. Might give them a call and quote that offer. Need to work out which night would be best.

Sounds like you're having a busy trip.

luci

Went to the pool for a couple of hours before heading over to Boulevard Mall area (not the mall itself) but didn't buy anything. Only got some microwave meals as there's no food outlets at Desert Rose which is quite odd. I suppose it is rather small. Went to the Managers Reception for a drink before taking a taxi over to Rio for buffet before Penn & Teller. Buffet was really good again, and e got 2 Margaritas for $6 on a special offer they called out. I had a lime on the rocks and hubby had a frozen lime. We both preferred the one we had so that was good. The taxi driver on the way over took great pleasure in telling us he is an Eskimo from Alaska. I couldn't help but think he wouldn't get much use of their many words for snow in Vegas!

Picked up our free programs on the way into P&T, gave one away as we really didn't need 2. We got the program signed by them both after the show which was nice. I won't give anything away that might spoil it for Luci, but I enjoyed the show much more than I expected to. Magic isn't something I usually like, but this was good.

Took the shuttle back over to Bally's then walked through to Paris. I played wheel of forture in Bally's and managed to get ID'd at the table/wheel. I was quite amused/surprised. Someone else got ID'd too while we played. Managed to get a free drink too which was good.

Walked back, stopping a couple of times at shops on the way. Back at 12 (we're getting later )

Definitely considering P&T even though I'm not keen on magic shows. Also considering the Rio buffet based on your recommendation as we haven't eaten there for years.

Where does the shuttle leave from to the Rio? I know there is one at Harrah's, but has the other one moved back from Paris to Bally's?

luci

Hi Luci

I'm not keen on magic either, but really enjoyed it so I think you should go for it!

Rio buffet is fantastic, I'm already plotting going back!! Shuttle is back of Harrah's, Bally's is on Flamingo Road near the rear of the casino. If you walk along Flamingo Road up the side of Bally's, it's before the sports book entrance and it near and entrance up a little driveway hill. I think you should find it from that. Remember you could also do Bill's to Gold coast and cross the side street to Rio (through the car park area is quicker than going right out onto the street and round. HTH. Off downstairs for a free drink now, maybe Mandalay Bay buffet then comedy show in the Tropicana. Will post more TR later....

Thanks Lesley.

Yes I know where the Bally's shuttle leaves from. It was just that they changed it from Bally's to leaving from Paris on Paris Drive and I couldn't remember if they had moved it back to Bally's or not.

We will be going to Palms to Alize for OH's birthday, but will probably get a taxi rather than the shuttle.

luci

Thursday 9th September

Went down for breakfast which wasn't that great, but it's free. We then went to the pool to have a look for loungers and they were all hogged with towels. There's loads of Brits here and they're hogging the loungers all the time and there aren't enough as it is. We couldn't get any so decided to go out to the shops. Went to the outlets near downtown for a while and got some stuff. Was quite good. We may even go back up there in a taxi when we are at Trump.

Drove back via TJ Maxx. Luci - I also saw your Tuesday shop whatever it is called. It was right near WalMart on Charleston at Decatur. We turned down there thinking there might be some shops on Decatur on the way back to the Hotel, so we stopped at the Tuesday place, can't remember the name. It's not very good to be honest, and if you take the bus all the way out there just for that you'll not be too happy! It's a bit like a sale section in Marshall's, but I didn't see anything I wanted to buy at all. If you are close to one pop in and see, but don't go specially.

Back at hotel just after 3 and still no empty beds. There was a half broken one and someone offered us their partner's who had left to go to their room anyway. Sat till 430 or so and went up to get ready.

We couldn't decide what to do. Thought about Il Fornaio at NYNY, or Mandalay Bay buffet. We had decided to go to the Brad Garrett comedy show in the Trop, so went up to the coke bottle for tickets. Then realised it wasn't on, and had to think of something else. Ended up with Playboy Comedy at the Palms, and it was very good. On the way there we went up for the Gold Coast shuttle at Bill's but we saw one just leaving so took a cab as we were fairly tight for time. Had buffet at Gold Coast and walked over to the Palms. Had a bit of trouble crossing as there was a very nasty looking accident at the junction. One car was way over the other side of the road and the other was in the middle and totally smashed up. There was an ambulance and a stratcher but it looked like the person may still have been trapped in the car. Didn't look good at all! Enjoyed the comedy show when walked back over to GC with the intention of taking the shuttle back, but again saw one leaving as we got there and took a cab back to the hotel. We were tired and also want to get out early for our last day in the car today. We also need to de-tag all our shopping, take the gifts we got for some kids off the little hangers etc to make them take up less space, chuck out shoe boxes etc. It would make sense to see if it all fits in our bags when we move to Trump. Then we know we can shop some more if it does lol. We've got one case each (expandable). Limit is 23kg each, I think we were about 30 total on the way over. We brought a holdall inside the case too though and we're going to pay the $50 cost for the extra bag on the way back. We also have small cases as carry on which were practically empty on the way here, so we should be fine!

Anyway, best get ready now as I want to be at Boulevard mall for it opening or even before to see if TJ Maxx is open over there earlier. We thought about going to Springs Preserve, but I don't think we'll make it this time.