theDIBB - Las Vegas, Anaheim, etc. - Sep '03 - Day 1

Okay, I should warn you all, I never manage to keep things short when I write. I think it has to do with being a fast typist, meaning my fingers can keep up with my brain so I type 'mile a minute' as well as think at that rate, which leads to... well, long explanations like this.

Anyway, since I've noticed a few people are visting Vegas, etc. I thought I'd post a report of my Sep '03 trip; it also gives me a chance to hone my trip reporting skills before I go to WDW in three days time :)

So, on with the show...uh, report.

Cast: Me – Kerry – age 29
Kat – age 26

We've been friends for the last few years after meeting at a training course – we both do similar jobs, though Kat is in Cheshire and I’m near Perth. I’ve been to the USA numerous times, but Kat had never been before. She wanted a ‘once in a lifetime’ trip, so I got into planning mode early in 2003 to organise just that. Kat had suggested Florida but, much as I love it there, I decided that she would prefer something a bit different, so decided on 5 nights in Las Vegas, 5 nights in LA/Anaheim (to get the Disney fix), 2 nights in Palm Springs, 1 night in Lake Havasu and a final night in Las Vegas.

Day 1 – Sat 13th Sep ’03 – The Pre-Journey Journey

I was flying down from Glasgow to London, where I would meet Kat who was travelling by bus. Having stayed at my brother’s the night before (he lives about two miles from Glasgow Airport, very handy and also free parking at his place <g>), I booked a taxi to take me to the airport for around noon – brother was working that weekend, but the taxi only cost £3, so I wasn’t complaining.

Got to Glasgow airport and discovered there were loads of teenage kids (mostly girls) hanging around – soon found the reason when I recognised one of the women in front of me in the BA queue – it was the pop star Louise. Most of the ‘stars’ of that morning’s “Saturday Show” on BBC1 were now converging on Glasgow Airport for their flights home. I ended up standing beside Louise, Abs and Mis-teek (sp?) and apparently Gareth Gates was on his way. I escaped pretty quickly to head for the BA lounge, leaving the teenyboppers to it, though I admit I did send a few text messages to my niece and cousin to make them jealous! <g>

While I was waiting in the lounge for the flight to be called, I got a text from Kat telling me her bus had broken down and she was waiting for a replacement. I stifled a chuckle at that as I awaited my relaxing flight, but let out a loud laugh later as I arrived at Gatwick to another text from Kat saying she’d had to change buses yet again – I knew spending the extra cash for the plane was worth it.

Anyway, I boarded the BA flight and found that all the ‘pop stars’ were on the Heathrow flight (thankfully). If I remember correctly, my flight was a bit late in taking off, but we made good time and I didn’t arrive that late. Don’t remember what I had to eat, but knowing BA, it was some sandwich that I probably didn’t touch.

Arrived at Gatwick and, as said, I found that Kat was running even more late (we should have arrived within half an hour of each other), so I lugged my heavy case (why is it that the ‘hard shell’ cases always weigh a ton when you don’t have much in them, but weigh nothing when empty? ::sigh:: ) and headed for the South terminal, which is where Kat’s bus would be arriving. I found the bus arrival zone and sat down there for quite a while. Apart from the annoying guy nearby who was chain-smoking cigarettes, it was surprisingly peaceful and restful.

Kat finally arrived about an hour after me and we headed for the courtesy bus stop to take us to our hotel – the Renaissance London Gatwick. Didn’t have too long to wait for the bus and there wasn’t much of a wait at hotel check-in either. I’d booked through one of the internet sites (can’t remember which one) and I think the rate was £55 for a twin room for the night, excluding breakfast. We checked in and headed to the room. It was very small with two single beds, so I assured Kat that it would be nothing like that in the US hotels – yet another reason why I love the US so much!

After unpacking what we needed for the next day and grabbing showers, we walked into Horley (about a 15min walk) and found a small pub to have some dinner. It was a nice evening so we sat outside eating and watching the world go by – a very relaxing start to the holiday. Got back to the hotel at a fairly reasonable time and headed for bed, since we were going to have an early start (for the weekend) the next day.

Only downside of the hotel (other than cramped conditions) was that the walls were paper thin. There was an adjoining door in our room and I was in the bed closest to it – around 2am some girls got back to the next room and proceeded to watch football, very loudly for about an hour. I’ve no idea if they were ‘the worse for wear’ or not, but I certainly was the next morning after a disturbed night of sleep. Seriously, I have no objection to people having fun, but they were VERY loud – got my own back the next morning by banging around in our room though! <g>

Day 2 to come - the actual journey