So 22 days with our Northern Trail family has passed. Jules left in San Fran, Holly headed to the airport yesterday and today we said goodbye to the boys as they head on their Grand Canyon mini tour. After a few hugs goodbye, we met our new trek leader Morgan and found out that we’d be doing the Southern Sun tour as an eight – so no new people and no awkwardness!

After filling in loads of paperwork, we loaded our stuff in the new van where it finally dawned on us just how much space we have! We took a row up of chairs each and Morgan even gave us blankets so we could sleep in comfort! Ahh perfect! It was a long drive to Vegas, but we powered through and arrived in in good time. Can I just say, it was so hot! In fact it was 47c! We dropped our bags off in our rooms at the Golden Nugget casino hotel and had a quick look around before getting ready for a pizza party in Morgan’s room.

the party bus, welcome to las vegas sign

When it was time to head out, we were greeted by a 26 seater party bus (did I mention that there were only 8 of us?) It was so much fun to let our hair loose and dance! Making our way through the strip we stopped off a the Mirage and saw the volcanos erupt, we stopped for a photo at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign before completing our party bus ride at the famous Bellagio Fountains which were just as spectacular as I had expected. It was then time to hit the clubs but unfortunately Matty couldn’t get in with his shorts and David’s ID had expired so we decided to head back to the hotel, with the girls getting food and Matty and Dave hitting the strip clubs. Classic!

the mirage volcano, bellagio fountains

After last night’s antics and an amazing lay in this morning, me and Polly got ready, had a quick Starbucks by the pool and went back to the Welcome to Las Vegas sign again for a daylight tourist pic. Then it was onto the strip for some sightseeing! Me, Bobbi, Polly and Kirsty all hung out and headed to the Minus 5 ice bar for a cool down (like I mentioned yesterday, Vegas is one hot place!) It was such a fun experience, we all got a cocktail in an ice glass and chilled (literally!)

me and polly at the las vegas sign, new york new york
Once we cooled down, we did a mini tour of the famous hotels starting with New York New York and the MGM where we stopped for lunch at possibly the coolest café I’ve ever been to – the rainforest café. It had fake thunderstorms, animals making noises and was such an amazing place! Despite being full from our main courses, we all thought it was a good idea to get ‘the volcano’ for $4 each – it was literally a chocolate volcano with brownies, ice cream and whipped cream – so sweet yet sickly! We even left half of it as we were so full aha!

mgm grand rainforest cafe, bellagio fountains, flamingo hotel

We then hit the Bellagio fountains again to see them in the daytime. They were just as spectacular as they were at night! Caesar’s Palace was next – I felt like I was in The Hangover (but maybe Dave and Matty had them roles today aha). Our tour ended at the Flamingo hotel where you guessed it, we saw flamingos! It was so cool to visit all of the hotels on the strip and Vegas is exactly like what you’d imagine it to be- like another world!

downtoewn vegas, preying mantace bar, fremont street

After our little tour, me and Polly headed back to the hotel and chilled at the pool which was so nice! The Golden Nugget even had a shark slide (a water slide which goes through a shark tank) which was so cool so we just had to have a go!

We then headed back to our room and got ready for a night out in Downtown Vegas. On the way to Fremont Street, we stopped by the casinos so we can tick off ‘gambling in Vegas’ off of our bucket list! It was then onto the bars – Common Wealth, Griffin and Golden Spike which were really trendy, local bars and it was so nice to be with the locals – we even got some of our drinks paid for! Griffin was our favourite place which was like an indie bar and up our street, with Golden Spike being another fave – we even took advantage of its’ photobooth and in the bar’s garden it had oversized games such as beer pong, cornhole and ping pong!

It was so nice to do our own thing tonight and party it up local style! Bring on plenty of naps in the van tomorrow as it’s Zion time!

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