After flying out of Hawaii, we hopped straight from LA to Vegas, then picked up the hirecar (the sweet new Dodge Charger, two comments from strangers already) and drove out to Primm Valley, on the Nevada/California border. If you’ve never been, it’s basically three casinos in the middle of nowhere; if you travel there at night you see the halo of light in the desert long before you arrive. It’s best described as old-vegas, and fairly enjoyable because of it. Don’t get me wrong though, there’s a shopping centre, amusement park, and monorails, if you’re unlike the majority of gambling people there. I usually don’t bother at all, but I spent a few enjoyable hours at the roulette table talking to the different people coming and going on the table. I only lost $60. 
After the very disappointing news I had in my last post (“Greetings from Oahu“) regarding one very fine ribs restaurant, we had to try the franchised Tony Roma’s to see if we could find a substitute. While nice (and cave-man portioned) it was nowhere near the rib greatness that Davey Jones’ dispensed. Still, nowhere in Australia could you get a feed of ribs as good as Tony Roma’s.
We decided to spend a day in Death Valley, which turned out to be pretty moderate compared to it’s reputation, probably due to the time of year. The ground temperature supposedly gets to 93 celcius, which would make for a mean barefoot dash. After driving around as much as we could in a day (which is to say we missed a lot) we retreated, chasing the sun back to our casino.
I’m officially over American food again; any serving is enough for two people, and everything is either doused with salt/sugar/sause, or greased up enough for a wrestling match. The buffets lost their charm after the second day, so much so the very word buffet invariably makes us cringe and curl up on the floor. There are rare exceptions; the great Wichcraft at MGM Grand, which serves awesome custom-made sandwiches free of all nasties listed above. Unless you want them, of course – this is Vegas after all.
We’re staying at Bally’s this time around, which (after Primm) is one hell of a step-up. Last time I came I had “desert views”, which if you have never been is Vegastalk for the arse end of the hotel, with views over the greater city and the vast wasteland past the city limits. This time my view overlooks the 1/3 scale of the Eiffel Tower, the Paris pool and most of the Bellagio water fountain. It’s really an unbelievable view, more so at night. Even though I’ve taken a whole lot of photos, I’ll not get the opportunity to put them up until I return – sadly because it’s just too much work.
Perhaps I’m more outwardly cheery, but Americans seem much more friendly this time around. Nearly everybody within earshot of my accent tends to strike a conversation up (and not always about Oz either). Shopgirls smile and say hello (aside from Walmart, but what can you expect) and generally everybody is very courteous and well-mannered. Maybe there’s some new liberal concealed-weapon law that I’m not aware of.
Oh and for anybody interested; the internet situation in Primm was nonexistant (no wifi at all either) but here I can hijack the Bellagio wifi (slow due to being across the road) and some other one that’s horribly slow – I elected for the $10.99 24-hours room broadband, which made this post possible. Hopefully San Francisco will be the same; if not the next post will be from the house we’re renting in Orlando. Take care.
