Las Vegas, Nevada

OK.  Firstly, if you're expecting our antics in Sin City to read like the screenplay for a sequel to "Fear And Loathing In Last Vegas", you've probably come to the wrong place.  We weren't in Vegas very long and the main reason we went was to meet up with my Mum and Dad, who flew over and joined us for a while on our epic roadtrip.  It was the best place to start a busy ten days in which we would cover four different states together, including most of southern California.  Also they'd never been, and everyone should see Vegas at least once.

That's not to say we didn't have fun; my family is hardly the conservative, teetotal type.  All I'm saying is think more "National Lampoon's Vacation" than "The Hangover".  I didn't even get arrested this time!

Also, I know Sharon and I had just got engaged but contrary to popular belief, we didn't go to Vegas specifically to get married at a seedy motel by a middle-aged man dressed as fat Elvis!

We decided we would stay at a proper RV resort while in Vegas.  As you probably know by now, our usual strategy around cities is to find somewhere on the outskirts that will let us stay for free, but there are some cities where street camping doesn't seem particularly safe, and Vegas is definitely one of them.

We ended up at an RV park right next to Circus Circus at the top of the strip.  I was surprised to find one so central but I guess it makes sense.  Many RVers are of the, shall we say, "mature" generation, and they love nothing more than to streamline the kids' inheritances a bit on the slots!

We got settled and then went to meet my parents at their hotel in the evening.  They were right in the thick of it, about a block down from the Bellagio, with an awesome view of the strip.  When we caught up with them, we cracked open a bottle of bubbly or two as this was the first time they'd seen us since we got engaged.

What with work the previous day and a 14 hour flight, they'd been up about 24 hours at this point, so I half-expected them to be ready to flake out, but they were up for going out and getting something to eat.  So now you know where I get my healthy appetite from!

We went to the nearby Harley Davidson restaurant and wasted no time getting them acclimatised to the American way of life by ordering a huge mixed grill each.

We ate, drank and caught up for a while and then called it a night.

The next morning, we all met up and basically toured the most well-known hotspots on the strip, starting at the south end near Mandalay Bay and Luxor.  You can't fail to be impressed by the scale and lavishness of the hotels.

We refuelled with some Mexican food, beer and cocktails in New York New York before continuing north towards Paris and the Bellagio.

The Bellagio is one of the classiest hotels on the strip and my personal favourite.  You can't really miss it; the 8-acre lake outside its front entrance is a dead giveaway, especially when it erupts into a mesmerising show of water, music and light once every half hour or so.

Sharon and I stayed here once before, a few years ago, and the rooms are pure luxury.  The last time we were there, we wandered into the high rollers' bar by accident in the casino.  The bartender took one look at us and before I'd said a single word to him, he leaned towards me and discretely said "You do realise the drinks in here start at $20 for a bottle of water sir?".  One day when I'm a billionaire, I'll go back there and order Jäegerbombs and pork scratchings all night just to make a point.

Just past the lobby they have an entire botanical garden inside the hotel with various kinds of flora, water features and gazebos arranged meticulously to fill the conservatory.

They also have the World's largest chocolate fountain, 27 feet tall and circulating over two tons of melted chocolate every day.

Once I'd coerced Sharon away from the patisserie and it's many designer chocolates, we carried on towards the Venetian.  This place provides some more solid evidence that most of the architecture on the Las Vegas strip was conceived down the pub by a group of rich blokes with self-restraint issues, after one too many Johnny Walker Blues and presumably with no sensible women around to tell them how insane they were.

"Let's put a full-size canal... Inside the hotel... With gondolas!  And professional gondoliers singing opera to the guests!"

That fake sky you see up above even darkens as the sun sets outside.

Our feet couldn't take much more by this point so we all headed back to base for a while to get ready for the evening.  Sharon and I jumped in the jacuzzi for a while at the RV park, which I guess shatters any lingering impression you may have had about us "roughing it" out here.

We met up again in the evening and headed for the Mandalay Bay, where we saw Cirque Du Soleil live, courtesy of my Mum.  I'd thoroughly recommend this to anyone; it's about two hours of pure stimulation for your eyes and ears.

Each show is based on a theme and we saw the Michael Jackson one, which apparently focuses more on the music than the acrobatics that Cirque is usually known for.  I was still blown away by what was happening on stage and above us though.  The choreography seems to defy the laws of physics and the perfect synchronisation and symmetry of the acrobats makes the stage hypnotic to watch.

The show also makes amazing use of light and optical illusions.  I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise for anyone by describing anything specific, so just check it out if you can.

After the show we went our separate ways once again and got some rest, ready for an epic drive to the Grand Canyon the following day.

So that's about it for our jaunt to Vegas this time round.  Things we missed that I'm keen to do on a future trip would be: the light show at Old Vegas; a big UFC fight at the MGM Grand; and firing off a few rounds at "Battlefield Vegas", where they offer various packages, from "Al Capone" to "Call Of Duty", to let you sample different weapons.