We are here.

I am a few days behind but we have been busy and by the time we return to our unit I am too tired to think.
The plane was packed out of Brisbane due to it being school holidays. It was a long haul and we did not get any sleep. Kic might have caught a few zzz but not many. Customs in Los Angeles was easy and if we had known it was going to be so quick we would have booked an ealier flight to Las Vegas but you can never tell how long the customs process will take. We arrived at LAX at 7am and left at 2.00pm so it was a few hours we had to hang around the airport. Watching the Americans at the airport kept us quite amused.
Our accommodation in Vegas is right in the middle of everything. The Strip is at the front door and the monorail is at the back. We have a lovely 1 bedroom apartment on the 6th floor overlooking the pool-s- not one but several. We have a shower room and a spa bathroom, nice full size kitchen, dining area ,lounge and laundry. Kic just poked fun at me "what use has the kitchen been to you?" Well it is there if I want to use it. maybe.
After we had dinner on Monday we caught up with some friends from Texas . I think that because we stayed up till 11pm it made it easier for us to change time zones so jetlag was not as bad as we have experienced on earlier trips.
Tuesday morning saw us up and ready to visit the Mining Show. After all that is what this part of our trip has been organized around. The show this year is huge and the crowds very big. After visiting the company site we wandered the displays collecting lots of giveaways on our way round. (It cost us a fortune to post it home).
We were very lucky to be included in the company outing for the evening. Dinner at a lovely (expensive) steak/seafood restaurant followed by a show. One of the Cirque du Soleil shows called Ka. Great show. The ones that are done in the huge tents are excellent shows but they do not compare to the ones done in a permanent theatre.
Wednesday was again spent at the mining show collecting stuff. As it was the last day of the show the company had a "lets party" night and again we were lucky to be included. This time we had dinner at the Voodoo Lounge on the 50th floor of the Rio. Spectacular view of Vegas at dusk and by the time we had finished dinner it was beautiful with all the lights on. The show that followed was Penn & Teller. I would not have picked it but it was a good show and we enjoyed it.
Today we had a slow start, did the washing then went and picked up a hire car down at the Planet Hollywood. We went to the post office and then to the outlet mall to buy one of my favourite boys some jeans. Then we drove out into the suburbs then out in a wide loop to see some of the desert and canyon country.
This evening we went for a walk down the strip so Kic could take some nightlife photos and the Bellagio fountain. Now he is sound asleep so I better finish and send him to bed.