Route 66 – Day 16: A Day Off in Las Vegas!
After yesterday’s soaking, flash flooding and mechanical dramas, we decided it was time to take things a little easier. Day 16 was all about having a sleep-in, relaxing and getting a few things sorted before continuing our Route 66 adventure.
Of course, when you’re travelling on a motorcycle, a broken gear linkage isn’t something you can simply ignore and hope it fixes itself. So, first on the agenda was a visit to EagleRider to get the bike repaired.
Thankfully, we were able to get the problem sorted, which was a relief. There’s nothing quite like having your motorcycle back in working order when you’ve still got plenty of miles ahead of you!
With that little drama out of the way, it was time to explore a couple of Las Vegas attractions.
Gold & Silver Pawn Shop – Where Are the Stars?
Our first stop was the famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, made popular by the television series Pawn Stars.
If you’ve watched the show, you’ll recognise the place straight away. We were keen to have a look around and see what all the fuss was about.
The shop attracts plenty of tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of the familiar faces from the television series. Unfortunately, the stars themselves were nowhere to be seen during our visit, with the other staff left to deal with the steady stream of sightseers.
Still, it was interesting to see the place in person. It’s one of those tourist stops that has become famous in its own right, thanks to television, and clearly draws plenty of visitors wanting to experience a little piece of the show.
We also visited Rick’s Restorations, another popular stop for fans of television restoration shows.
Once again, the famous personalities weren’t around, and other staff were looking after the visitors. It seems the reality of visiting television attractions is that the stars aren’t necessarily waiting at the front door to greet you!
Nevertheless, both places were worth a look while we were in town.
The Great Las Vegas Bus Tour That Never Happened!
We’d originally planned to take a bus tour of Las Vegas the previous evening after dinner. It sounded like a good way to see the city lights without having to walk everywhere.
So, off we went to the bus stop, where we waited.
And waited some more.
Eventually, we discovered that the night tours we’d planned to take were no longer operating.
Well, that was a bit of a fizzer!
There we were, standing around waiting for a bus that wasn’t coming. A valuable reminder that it’s always worth checking current tour schedules before heading off, rather than relying on what you thought was still available.
With our grand sightseeing plan officially abandoned, we decided to do what we’d done the night before and explore the Strip on foot.
Las Vegas – The City That Never Sleeps
If there’s one thing Las Vegas does exceptionally well, it’s keeping people entertained around the clock.
We headed back out along the Strip, and once again the sheer number of people was amazing. Crowds filled the footpaths, casinos buzzed with activity, and the bright lights made the whole place feel like one enormous entertainment precinct.
There was something happening everywhere you looked. Restaurants, street performers, enormous hotel complexes and people from all over the world wandering around taking it all in. It’s certainly a different pace of life from the quiet country towns we’d been travelling through along Route 66!
After spending so much time riding through wide-open spaces, small towns and stretches of highway, the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas was quite a contrast. You could easily spend hours just wandering around, checking out the sights and watching the crowds go by.
And the best part? There’s no shortage of places to stop for a bite to eat or a drink along the way.
A Much-Needed Day to Recharge
All in all, Day 16 was a welcome change of pace. We got the motorcycle’s gear linkage repaired, visited a couple of well-known television attractions and enjoyed another evening soaking up the atmosphere of Las Vegas.
The bus tour might have been a disappointment, but sometimes the best thing you can do when travelling is simply go with the flow. After all, we’d already had enough excitement from the weather and the bike the previous day!
With the motorcycle sorted and a little time to relax, we were ready to get back to our Route 66 adventure.
Tomorrow, it will be time to leave the bright lights of Las Vegas behind and see what the next stretch of our American road trip has in store. Hopefully, the only thing we’ll be stopping for is sightseeing, a good feed and the occasional souvenir!
#Route66 #LasVegas #PawnStars
