Route 66 & Vegas baby

[SMcGirr]

Vegas

from Route 66 we went on to Kingman and on up I 93 which is completely uneventful and across the new bridge that avoids the Hoover Dam. The bridge is high but you can't appreciate it as its got high concrete walls either side unlike say the Millau where you see down. By this time the temperature was getting to 35 degrees, just a wee bit toasty. the EGU isn't easy on the gasoline so I was starting to get concerned as having been this way before I knew there wasn't much along the road. The EGU on average needed 2 fills to every one of the R and RT although at $3-4 a US gallon, a fill cost $16-$18 or just over a tenner. Its worth remembering that a US gallon is 3.8 liters (note the spelling) to a UK gallon being 4.5 litres. This in itself when measuring mpg makes it seem that US motors are 12-15% more gas guzzly than our motors.

 

[SMcGirr]

the ride into Vegas

once over the GC and into Boulder City we were in Nevada home of the Casino. As we hit Boulder City and just over the hill you can see in the picture, Vegas is laid out in front of you. Stephen King describes this view much better than I can in the Stand. the day time view here is good but having done it at night on a previous occasion that's the real deal with all the lights and neon. My right leg was mildly char broiled from the exhaust at this point but now as traffic slowed us up and mind now, there is no "lane splitting" in Arizona or Nevada ($2000 fine) we ambled and scorched. You hear a load of old shite about 55 speed limits but some of those good ole boys don't appear to have heard of the riles of the road and weave in and out at crazy speeds. I even clocked one of those silver aluminium caravans being towed at about 80 !!

 

[SMcGirr]

I 95 took us into the heart of Vegas and the EGRs built in ShatNav took us right to the car park at New York New York, not that we needed it as we were playing follow my leader anyway. The built in ShatNav was OK but nothing more. I'd rather have my Nav5 anytime on my RT and some brakes.

 

[SMcGirr]

If you are staying in Vegas all the hotels on the strip are good. the Birthday Bro particularly likes NY NY so that's where we stayed and met up on the Saturday night with Mrs Bro and niece. If you've been, you'll know that all these hotels are quite rightly called "resorts" as they have dozens of restaurants and bars and acres of casino. Manoeuvring the EGU through the multi-storey was a challenge but we got there safely and booked in. Beds as big as a squash court and a cold shower to try to cool down.

3 nights in Vegas sorted any pressure sores out and I am ashamed to say the bikes never moved at all for the 3 days.

great places we went to and great restaurants included (note I said included ! as a taxi driver told me on my last trip that what happens in Vegas goes on facebook, so there will be limited narrative and photos of the 3 days as I am writing this before the watershed !)

Restaurants & Bars:

Gallaghers Steak House in NY NY : spot on but pricey, all silver service and white cuffs if you like that sort of thing
Nine Fine Irishmen : pub and restaurant in NY NY; used to be my favourite until we found the next one below
Ri Ra in the Mandalay Bay

"Constructed from a pub meticulously restored in Ireland then shipped to Mandalay Place, Rí Rá epitomizes the true Irish pub experience with its comfortable neighborhood environment where conversation flows as smoothly as Guinness ebbs in the glass." they are feckin mad these Yanks but this place was the deal. Whilst we were there they were doing a continuous gig for 16 or something days to break a Guinness World Record which they did. Knocks the Nine Fine into a cocked hat this place does!

I am cheating a bit with this next one : http://www.hashhouseagogo.com/vegas/ as we did this one in August when I was there with the family. Its a great breakfast and all day joint. you wont eat it all unless you are a feckin pig !

America in NY NY : a diner with about 400 million seats. good grub and not too bad a price !


As for casinos we did Roulette in NY NY, black jack, night clubbing and roulette in Planet Hollywood and had the odd drink or two and late night in "various upmarket establishments" !!

 

[SMcGirr]

heading back

after 3 days of liver torture we headed back. I had the bike booked out until Wednesday but we headed back on Tuesday morning out of Vegas towards Phoenix, a wee jaunt of about 288 miles

 

[SMcGirr]

that would have been OK if they hadn't decided to resurface half of the bloody I93 after Henderson and with "fines doubled in construction areas" and $2000 for lane splitting, on more than one occasion we were stopped long enough to need to take helmets off. The trick was to find a big truck to get in the shadow off to prevent total crispification. a journey that should have been 5-6 hours with stops took 7-8.

A revelation occurred on the last leg of this journey; the Bro and the Nephew cut off to head to Anthem and we headed back to the HD Stealers. when we parted company, for the last 40 or so miles we on our own with Sally ShatNav. All of a sudden, because we weren't trying to keep up with anyone, the bike started to make sense. We knocked 10 mph off and took it as it came and in a way this was a very enjoyable way to ride the EGU. no on and off the accelerator, no pogo-ing on the shite suspension and no falling behind.

We left the bike off at the stealers and the Bro and Neph followed us down. I got changed out of my dripping with sweat clothes in the dealers bog as the Bro had brought a bag and we hit the town for the last night.

Final word tomorrow on the British Airways fiasco : still haven't heard anything about my complaint if you are reading BA !!!

 

[sven]

3 days in Vegas? A 10 minute ride up and down the Strip was more than enough for us Then we made a hasty retreat and headed to Death Valley - now that's a fantastic place

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Great report and had me laughing out loud

Thanks for sharing

 

[SMcGirr]

So finally ! After buggering up my trip, BA got in touch to offer the absolute minimum I.e the EU regulation refund for being delayed more than 4 hours. No refund offered for booked seats, loss of luggage, lack of meals, nothing !

if I ever go stateside again, I Will do everything I can to avoid BA!