We had a nice sleep at the truck stop but it was cold this morning. We got a takeaway coffee then headed to the lake mead visitor centre to ride our bikes along a historic rail trail to Hoover dam.

Mike pumped up the tyres on our bikes and we were off, cycling along a gravel path overlooking lake mead. It was 4 miles along the cycle path, which went through five tunnels through volcanic rock. and had signs to stop and read about the history of the railway.

The railway was built in the 1930s to transport all the material required to build the dam and equipment for the power plant. When they were building the dam, trains ran 24 hours a day.

We couldn’t cycle to the dam so we locked our bikes up and walked the rest of the way.

It was another 10mins walk down stairs to the dam. The water level was really low in the lake but we saw a couple of fishies.

Afterwards we continued in towards valley of fire but got sidetracked by a free camping site overlooking lake mead. We saw our first coyote sauntering along.

We are both still pretty tired so spent the afternoon sleeping and reading our books. Off to valley of fire tomorrow.

Today was a bit of a stressful day.

We woke early this morning and it was freezing! Yesterday’s 26 degrees was replaced by 7 degrees this morning. We had a nice nights sleep in Rodger though.

We headed towards Lake Mead today but didn’t get very far. Our tyres needed air but none of the pumps worked or didn’t pump our tyres enough. We needed 80psi and they only did to 60psi. So we went to an auto shop in Henderson to ask them to do it, as well as an oil change and a check our van. They said to come back at 2pm. it was currently 10.30am.

We were nervous wondering what they might find wrong with him. He had been creaking and groaning more than I remembered.

While we waited we headed to Walmart to get a SIM card for my phone. I bought a straight talk one the same as I had last year. But to set it up we needed wifi. Thankfully Walmart has free wifi, so we made a little makeshift office with the chilli bins and set about getting my internet working.

Three hours later and we still weren’t connected and feeling incredibly frustrated. We headed back to drop Rodger off for his spa treatment and headed to Starbucks for a much needed coffee.

Thankfully Starbucks had internet and I was able to finally get connected to internet with the help of straight talk agent online. I know have phone calls too, which is helpful for calling campgrounds for vacancies.

We picked up Rodger and thankfully nothing is wrong with him. They rotated the tyres, brakes and tyres in good order. The steering and struts are old though and may need replacing at some point.

By the time the service was done it was 4.30pm. We wanted to stay at Lake mead but all campgrounds were full. So we stopped at a truck stop outside a casino for the night.

We slept in! We had the alarm set for 8am for just in case we didn’t wake up and just as well we did!

I kicked Mike out of bed and sent him to get coffee. He came back with two black ones, having forgotten we take milk. This is very typical jet lag. But he did bring croissants so all was forgiven.

We finished off our beef patties and bacon from the previous night, had showers, then looked at our mess. Our bags had somehow regurgitated all over the room. If I didn’t know different, I would swear someone had been rummaging through our stuff. And we have so much stuff! Have you seen our article on packing light? Well, we didn’t do any of that!

By the time we packed up, it was 9.30am and we were supposed to pick up Rodger at 10am, and there was a massive queue to check out. Seriously, why do we need to queue to check out! A man saw us in distress and was able to check us out on his mobile check out thingy. At least we hoped that’s what he did!

We caught a taxi to the storage unit, arriving only 10 minutes late. I don’t know why I was feeling nervous. Guess I was worried what condition we’d left him in, would he start, had he become a makeshift casino?

I needn’t have worried. There was no sign of slot machines or partying of any kind. There was no sign of mouse poo or creepy crawlers. Not yet anyway.

Then it was time to start the van. He started first time! He had been on trickle charge so all good.

Mike put our bikes on the back of the van and we were off! First stop was the CVS store where we had a parcel to pick up. But more about that later.

We had planned to go to Walmart and go shopping but decided to head to the Rv park instead. We are staying at the rv park next to Circus Circus casino on the Vegas Strip. It’s pretty good location, but the laundry here is closed which is why we chose this place! Oh well, we’ll just have to go to bed in smelly sheets that have been cooped up for 6 months.

We spent the day getting Rodger organised. We were quite excited that we still had coffee, and also some two minute noodles. And some muesli. So no need to go to Walmart in a hurry.

We went for a short walk down the strip, but neither of us could be bothered sightseeing. Or gambling. I tried to find a SIM card but no luck. And a lady coughed on me. Gross.

On our way back through the circus circus casino, a circus act was about to start so we stopped and watch some trapeze artists from Argentina. They were amazing. And a free show!

Things are so expensive in Vegas since covid. Last nights burgers were $20 ($35 nzd) but it was delicious. Today we saw a slice of pizza for $8.50 ($15). So when we went out for dinner we weren’t expecting much.

A steak restaurant caught my eye. I looked at the prices and baulked! The cheapest steak was $88! (Nz 150), and this was in the cheap hotel!

We continued on and I saw pizza for $20.

‘Is that for a whole pizza?’ I asked.

‘Yes’

‘How big?’ Mike asked, questioning the suspicious pricing, expecting a tiny pizza.

She pointed to a massive pizza box, bigger than anything I’d seen in nz. It was so delicious and we only ate half before we were full. So leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

When we got back to our van, a Canadian couple were parked next to us. They insisted we visit them in Canada and gave us their phone numbers and email address. People are so friendly here!

Almost time for our first nights sleep in Rodger. We’ll let you know how it goes.

As I mentioned in the last blog, we had a show to catch at 7pm. Our plane landed on time, got in a taxi at 5.30pm, made our hotel by 6pm and we were feeling good about making it to our show on time. That was until we saw the queue.

Now I understand why the backdrop to reception is a giant fish tank. It’s to calm people down. We queued for about 30 minutes to check in, so still plenty of time.

Our room was nice. We dumped our stuff and made it to the show with minutes to spare, as the show is in our hotel.

We saw cirque du Soleil Love which is a show set to music from the Beatles. It was incredible. High energy, people flying about in the air, kombi vans on stage. There was so much going on we didn’t have time to feel tired! I would definitely see it again.

After the show we headed out for a walk, but it was super busy. We were going to watch the bouncy water at the Bellagio but the crowds of people put me off. Besides, we’d seen them many times before!

By this time we were incredibly hungry. We found a burger place. Mike had a corned beef and sauerkraut toasted sandwich while I had the healthy option. A huge greasy burger! But oh it was delicious. Two giant beef patties, freshly made. (It wasn’t your mass produced all the same shape nonsense). There were 8 rashers of streaky bacon, melted cheese, and fried onions. It was the best burger I’ve ever eaten, even though I only ate a quarter of it. We took the rest to our room for breakfast.

Tomorrow we pick up our van!

We started the day with a flurry of activity to finish packing, clean up and get our washing done. We booked our flights on the same day as sister Lynda so we could get a lift with her as well as hang out at the airport.

Niece Jenn had arranged to pick us up at 12 noon. At 11am we were still mucking around sorting ourselves out when I had a panic moment. If Jenn is anything like Lynda she might be early. Then it was a mad panic to get everything done. Thankfully we did as Jenn was 10 mins early. But we were ready!

It was the first day of the airport layout change. They’ve made a larger drop off area, but it also meant a longer walk to departures.

We had tried to check in the night before, but for some reason it wouldn’t allow Mike to. But thankfully it was no problem at the airport kiosk.

We said a brief hello to Jodie and Craig who had arrived from Melbourne, then breezed through security, apart from Mike having his bag drug tested.

We hung out for 4 hours with sister Lynda, watching the planes come and go, many toilet breaks, and a feed of Vietnamese noodles.

When it came time to board, there was and extra security screening for USA flights. Once again Mike got taken aside while they checked him and all the contents of his bag. His boarding card had been marked as super serious special search. If you ever see SSSS on your boarding pass this is not a good thing. It means the TSA have flagged you a person on interest. So maybe there is someone with the same name or something, or it could just be random.

The flight was nice in premium economy, it’s so worth it if you can get tickets when they’re on special. But everyone seemed to be coughing or blowing noses, so I can’t imagine not catching something.

We’d done something a little stupid before we left home. When we found out Cirque de Soleil Beatles Love was playing in our hotel, we booked it, knowing we had only 2 hours to get from Vegas and get checked in. So, it depended on making our connecting flight at LAX (sometimes a two hour wait at US immigration), our connecting flight being on time (not uncommon to be late in US), trafffic from Vegas to hotel being reasonable, and queue to check in ok.

Arriving in lax can sometimes be an intimidating experience. But this time there were hardly any queues. Since they scrapped the Auckland-Chicago route, a lot of people on our flight were transiting to Chicago, so they went to a different queue. and the lady on the desk was very nice. And because we have a b2 visa they didn’t even fingerprint us.

Then came the fun part. Figuring out how to catch our next flight. It really was easy but when you’re jet lagged every thing is difficult.

We walked to terminal 2 then tried to check in. But Mike had the delta app and it seemed we had boarding passes already. But we hadn’t checked in. So we were very confused. It took a while to find someone to confirm they were boarding passes. Weird.

We made it to the gate in plenty of time, and thankfully our plane was on time. Amazing. It’s just a short 45 min flight to Vegas and we were on an A320, jammed packed. It felt a little claustrophobic with the dark interior and cramped seats, and I was thankful for the short flight.

We arrived in Vegas airport, walked past all the slot machines, had to get on a little train to take us to the taxi rank. They have fixed prices for taxis to the strip, so this was nice knowing we wouldn’t be ripped off.

More about our first day in Vegas in the next blog as I’m running out of time and we have to pick up our van this morning.

Hey there fellow germophobes. This is a light-hearted guide to surviving hotel stays with your sanity (and cleanliness) intact!

Baggage Etiquette:

Hold your horses there, luggage flinger! Before you treat your bed like a bouncy castle for your bags, consider this friendly warning: bedbugs don’t need a passport to hitch a ride. They’re like the sneaky stowaways of the hotel world, and trust me, you don’t want them infesting your van!

Now, if you’re the extra-paranoid type (and let’s face it, who isn’t when it comes to bedbugs?), you can take things up a notch with the classic “backpack-in-a-plastic-bag” manoeuvre. It’s like giving your bag its very own hazmat suit – stylish AND practical! 

2. Bedbug Bites:

It’s time for the mattress inspection! Time to play detective and hunt down those pesky uninvited guests hiding in the seams, corners, and crevices. Keep your eyes peeled for mysterious dark stains that could easily pass for ink splatters – their toilet habits are not fooling anyone! 

And don’t forget to check for bed bug shells – they’re like tiny ghost costumes left behind by the critters as they outgrow their old skins. If you spot blood spots on the mattress, don’t panic – it’s just the bed bugs getting a little too excited during their nightly feasts.

Now, about that musty odour… Let’s just say if your mattress smells like the pair of damp socks you left in your shoes last year, it might be time to leave. Immediately!

But remember, just because you can’t see those sneaky critters during the day doesn’t mean they’re not plotting their night time attack. Stay vigilant, my friends, and may your body be free of nocturnal blood sucking critters!

3. Sheet Sniffing:

Time for the classic sniff test! Give those sheets a whiff and make sure they smell fresh and clean. If they smell like yesterday’s gym socks, or there are any visible stains, hairs, or other debris on the sheets and pillowcases, it’s time to call in reinforcements (aka new sheets).

Top Tip: Bring your own pillowcase for peace of mind and a touch of home comfort!

4. Bathroom Bleach:

Grab those disinfectant wipes and prepare for battle! Wipe down everything in sight – from the taps to the toilet seat. And don’t forget to inspect those toiletries for any funny business.

5. Remote Control Shenanigans:

Give it a good wipe-down before settling in for some TV time. Who knows what kind of remote-controlled funny business happened before you arrived?

6. Blanket Toss:

Say goodbye to questionable blankets and pillows! Toss them into a corner and let them stew in their own filth. Because let’s be real here – those cosy companions don’t exactly hit the spa for a deep cleanse between guests.

They’re like the forgotten relics of past hotel stays, collecting mysteries and memories with each new visitor. 

7. Parting Wisdom:

As you bid adieu to your hotel room, pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Remember, a little laughter goes a long way – and so does a squirt of hand sanitiser!

There you have it, germaphobes of the world, a practical guide to checking into your hotel room like a boss. 

testing to see if email still works.

As we count down the days till our epic American road trip, it seems like our to-do list is longer than the Alaska Highway itself!

First things first, we’ve got to find our passports. Last time we saw them, they were hiding under a pile of clothes in our floor-drobe. Time to play a game of ‘Hide and Seek: Passport Edition’!

Then there’s the matter of packing. Since we’re aiming for a minimalist approach and going carry-on only, every item needs to earn its spot in the bag. Do we really need to bring our chickens with us? It would be great to have fresh eggs on the road, but our campervan might get a bit crowded. Maybe we’ll just take the duck!

Of course, we can’t forget about Rodger, our campervan. He’s been chilling in a storage unit in Las Vegas for six months, probably plotting his revenge for abandoning him in the desert. We’re half expecting to open the door and find him transformed into a makeshift casino with blackjack tables and slot machines. Fingers crossed he still remembers how to start!

But there’s an undeniable sense of excitement bubbling up. We’ll be driving from Las Vegas all the way to the rugged landscapes of Alaska, traversing the legendary Alaskan Highway. Stay tuned!

Some interesting things happened today.

We started the day with a late checkout from our hotel. Just by chance I noticed I still had pepper spray in my bag. How that didn’t get picked up at Vegas security, I have no idea. I quickly chucked it in the bin. It could have been a disaster if I had’ve tried to bring that into NZ!

Then we wandered downstairs and sat by the pool and read our books. A couple of girls were vlogging there and we wondered if they were live streaming on YouTube. I asked them and they said they were so I told them about our YouTube channel too. Then they invited us on their livestream. We did a brief chat with them then sat backdown as we couldn’t imagine them being interested in us. Then I saw in the comments people were saying ‘bring back the van people’.

So they started looking at our vlog on our livestream and invited us over again and kind of interviewed us, which was really nerve wracking, knowing she had 86000 followers.

We had a good chat with them afterwards and they gave us some good tips on growing our channel, and live streaming is one of them. So we’ll give that a go sometime. They also seemed really interested in what we’re doing and thought others would be too because we are down to earth and have accents. Maybe we just need to find these people! Anyway, it was a good laugh and took our mind off things for a bit.

We had a little nap by the pool until it got really hot. Instead of going for a swim like normal people, we decided to head to the airport. When we got there we found we had two hours to wait before we could check in. Ugh. We could have been lazing by the pool, instead we’re stuck in a noisy, busy airport.

Once we’d checked in, we got through security, then headed for the Star Alliance lounge. This is where the next funny thing happened. We don’t have lounge membership, but you can pay to visit the lounge and it is $75 per person. We figured it was worth it, as we’d spent $100 having dinner at the airport the previous evening in Vegas. And we still had five hours to wait for our flight.

When we went to pay for the lounge, our payment was declined. We’d run out of money on our international card. Mike had another international card as well, but that only had $100 on it. He asked it he could pay over two credit cards. She said fine. She took one payment, and then said that would be fine, and she didn’t bother taking the second payment. Maybe she couldn’t be bothered or she felt sorry for us, but the two of us got into the lounge for only $75. We figured she must have felt sorry for us. Admittedly, we did feel a bit like hobos.

So we’re now, sitting in the outdoor area of the lounge, fire pit burning, waiting for our flight. See you soon.

There seemed to be a lot to do before we could fly home. I’d checked with the storage unit a couple of days ago and they said we could put our van in early so that was good.

It was still a 6 hour drive to Vegas and we weren’t entirely sure what time we’d be arriving, but we would be gaining an hour so that was a bonus. So we rang the storage unit to see if we could put it in a 4pm and they said no problem.

I then called AirNZ and was able to change our flights for Thursday night. (It’s currently Wednesday here).

There seemed to be so much to do before that could happen. We needed to get to Vegas, find some storage boxes and clean our van out. Then we needed to find our way to Los Angeles airport for our flight, and also book a hotel. One thing at a time, we decided.

We found a Walmart on the way in and bought two storage boxes to put food and smelly things into. Then we tried to find a car cleaning place, and this was harder than expected.

The traffic was so bad in Vegas, and the lights, for some reason, take so long to change. It was brutal sitting in 40 degree heat (No A/C) while trying to navigate. We found a car cleaning place, but it wasn’t self-wash. We gave up and headed straight for the storage unit.

We drove down Fremont street, which is not the nicest area, and found our place. There was a homeless camp set up across the road and the entire area seemed really sketchy.

There was no office door so I tried ringing them but they hung up on me. I thought, oh no, we can’t put our van in early, they’re ignoring me! I left a message for them to call.

While we waited, we started clearing our car out in the carpark in the 40 degree heat, but we were both stressed and hot. And the homeless people wandering by were making me a little nervous. Finally they called me back and let us inside to finished cleaning in the air conditioned warehouse.

We’d booked indoor storage in a large warehouse and there were a few other vans in there, all much flasher than ours, which made me feel better. There were also quite a few in the outdoor lot as well.

It took us a good 2 hours to clean the inside and we didn’t do as good a job as we would have liked but it would have to do. If the mouse gets in, we’ll just have to throw everything out and start again.

We had some fridge stuff we hadn’t even opened so I went looking for Caitlin, the girl that let us in, but she was nowhere to be found. It seemed like we were left alone in the warehouse. I rang the office number and another guy, Jason, answered. I asked him if he wanted our leftover fridge contents and he said yes please and that he’d be about half an hour.

An hour later he still hadn’t arrived, so we put the fridge stuff in front of the van for him, and loaded our bikes inside. We then booked an uber to take us to Las Vegas airport. We didn’t have a flight booked yet, but hoped we could book one at the airport. If not, we’d find a hotel nearby.

We went outside to wait for our Uber, and realised we were locked in the compound, big fences towering over us! A few homeless people were lurking in the carpark, and I decided we’d be safer to wait inside anyway.

The Uber turned up and I asked her to wait. At least I’d left the door to the warehouse ajar. We went back inside to see if there was a code written down somewhere. There wasn’t. But at least we had shelter and a toilet if need be.

We headed outside again to update the uber driver, and I said to Mike, ‘make sure you keep the door ajar’

Next thing I hear the door slam shut. Dammit, now we’re locked in the carpark in 40 degree heat with no shade!

I continued to ring the guy but it kept going to voicemail. I worried he’d had an accident or something, and we would be stuck in this carpark all night! And my phone was going flat! Jason said he’d be 30 minutes over an hour ago! I was getting agitated and after about 20 mins pacing backwards and forwards, I decided to call 911.

They put me through to the fire department and as I was explaining my situation, Jason showed up towing a caravan. So long story short, we didn’t get rescued by firemen.

It was such a relief to step into the air conditioned comfort of the uber, and the lady got us to Las Vegas airport in record time, taking all the back roads.

We walked up to the Southwest Airlines Helpdesk and asked if we could book our flights there and she said yes. (just like they do on TV). She booked us on the next available flight at 8:50pm, and it was only $74 each! We asked about seating, and she said it was open seating, so basically a free for all. Then she told us she would see what she could do. We didn’t know what that meant.

Check through was easy and we stopped at a restaurant for a burger and chips. Brother Paul rang while we were there. After dinner, we sat and waited, listening to the flight announcements, all of them made in an over-enthusiastic manner. Here was an example. “This is a call for passengers blah blah, your plane is now ready to depart from gate C-23 – that’s Chicken-23′

While we were waiting for our flight we booked a hotel, not really knowing which one to pick, so we picked the cheapest that was closest to the airport. The Sheraton gateway won, as it’s only 0.5 mile.

When it was time to board our flight, they called priority boarding. I checked my tickets and the lady at the counter had given us priority, so that was a surprise. So we got onboard early and managed to get good seats together,

It was just a short flight on a 737-800, which has a 3-3 configuration. It’s only a 42 minute flight time to LAX and the air steward was funny. She said “You can sit back and relax, or sit upright and be uptight, but it will still be the same 42 minute flight.’ And they even brought us snacks and a coke!

On arrival, we made our way to the free shuttles. Many came and many went, but nothing for the Sheraton Gateway. One turned up with “Sheraton Four Points” on it. We asked if he also went to Sheraton Gateway, and he said he would get us there. It all sounded a big suss, but we were so exhausted we hopped on board.

The airport traffic was crazy and this guy navigated his shuttle like a madman, I thought I might vomit. Mike said we’d be fine as he was playing with his rosary beads. It also started to fill up with people for the Sheraton Four Points, and I just hoped we’d be getting dropped off first (which is why I booked a close hotel).

It turned out okay in the end, we got dropped off first, and we got to our hotel room about 11.30pm. We were so exhausted we had a shower and fell into bed.