I have to confess, Las Vegas was never on my travel bucket list.
Casinos, casinos, casinos. Celine Dion...
The mental picture wasn't helped by seeing Nicolas Cage's alcoholic death spiral in 1995's Leaving Las Vegas. (I know I'm showing my age here!)
But: earlier this year I went to see A Star is Born and I fell in love with Lady Gaga.
Then I saw an article about how she was starting a two year residency in Las Vegas.
Wow, I thought to myself. Maybe it's not such a dive after all?
I told my poker playing boyfriend about the article. He'd seen the film too and gotten misty eyed just like me. He's been to sin city plenty of times and was always trying to wrangle himself another trip.
A week later an email lands in my inbox.
“Hey babe;
Just a cheeky idea.
Lady Gaga starts her Las Vegas residency on May the 30th and she will be fresh and still loving it. Anyway - Lady Gaga concert in Las Vegas, June the 12th at 8pm…..there are about 100 tickets still available for sale. We can get two standing tickets for NZ$1,500 right in front of the stage!
And the weather is perfect in June, 33 degrees….not too hot. July and August are crazy hot.”
It's pretty tempting.
But the “cheeky” part was the World Series of Poker was on in June and Mr T wanted to play an over-50’s tournament after the concert.
Ugh. All alone in Vegas for three days? I hate gambling and you can only do so much solo dining and lounging by the pool. 
Poker's not exactly a spectator sport.
However, there's actually a bunch of AMAZING national parks within a few hours’ drive of Vegas, including Bryce Canyon, Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Grand Canyon and Zion.
I figured I could do three days in Vegas then leave Mr T to his poker and head for the hills.
The beautiful buttes of Bryce Canyon lie close to Las Vegas
I got googling and found several companies that offered guided hikes but with my specific dates and many already booked out the choices were limited. Then I spotted a two-night small group camping trip to Bryce Canyon with REI Adventures, leaving from Vegas, all food and tents included.
Sounded perfect!
No need to bring camping equipment.
We bit the bullet and booked what turned out to be a fantastic trip.
The Las Vegas Strip might have been on the seedy side 10 years ago but in 2019 it looks and feels like Times Square with palm trees.
It has the bright lights, the buzz and the billboards.
We were staying at the Aria Resort, walking distance to the MGM Park Theatre where Lady Gaga was performing.
It's smart and modern with spacious rooms and expansive views across the city towards the mountains.
And possibly the most outrageously pricey mini-bar IN THE WORLD. I ate a small pack of cashew nuts without checking the price list. They cost USD$22.80. Ouch!
We arrived early evening via LAX and with the concert the following night it was swim, dinner (miso sea bass and cold beer at Sake Rok Restaurant) - and quick pop-in to the theatre to see what time to show up the following night.
Checking out the Park Theatre
Weirdly, it was open but there wasn't a soul in sight. We wandered past the carpeted bar area and into the main theatre where the following night Lady Gaga would take the stage.
Next morning we rented a car, cranked up the air con and hit the highway south to Lake Mead. It doesn’t take long to get out of the city and into the wide open Nebraskan desert; in little over an hour we were cooling off in Colorado River water. After lunch at the marina it was just few minutes up the road to the dam itself.
An armed security checkpoint pulled us over as we approached the parking area and armed officers asked us if there were any guns in the car. Negative.
They waved us through to the carpark where we slathered on more sunscreen and joined a steady stream of people walking up to the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.
View of Hoover Dam from memorial bridge
Completed in 2016 it took five years to build and offers amazing views of the dam. We did a tour inside and walked along the top but it was forty five degrees and we were relieved to get back in the car and head back to Vegas for our big night out.
Mr T had booked a pre-concert dinner at Yellowtail Japanese Restaurant in the Bellagio: ‘…as close as you can get to Japan on the Las Vegas Strip!’’
Look at moiiiii
We sat on a balcony overlooking the Bellagio's famous lake, fountains erupting in time to classical music. When it gets dark there’s a light show to go with it. It was cheesy but wonderful, the food was delicious and I wished we had more time to soak up the atmosphere.
But Lady Gaga was calling.
We caught a free monorail to the theatre and joined the throngs pouring in. Being a middle-aged couple from Christchurch we didn’t feel at all out of place. There were a few ‘little monsters’, a drag queen or two but most were wearing jeans and tee-shirts and everybody feeling like the bees-knees to be there.
I lined up for a gin and tonic. “Want to upsize to a double?” the barman asked. “It’s only an extra four dollars.” Why not, I thought, charmed by his American accent. Well that G & T along with a beer cost US$36. You only live once!
It was nearly 8.30pm by the time stage lights started flashing; the crowd turned their faces towards the ceiling and roared like one as Gaga descended from the heavens.
For the next two hours she sang and danced like a badass goddess, chastising, charming and delighting her fans.
Getting sassy with the dancers
There was just one moment when we caught a glimpse of a darker side to fame.
She asked her ‘little monsters’ to throw messages up on the stage and the one she picked was from a guy called Mohammed. Gaga reluctantly invited him on the stage and there was a kind of rolling of the eyes when she said “oh I think I know Mohammed, I think I’ve seen you outside my place in New York...(slight groan from the crowd), but you’re not too bad....one of the nicer ones.....shall we bring him on stage?”....and the crowd roared their approval.
He got on the stage and smiled like a smitten teenager. He looked older than he was. He was actually only 19.
She played piano and he smiled and stood, leaning against the piano.
They had a brief hug and he chatted to her. She smiled, but she did look a little uncomfortable as she ushered him off the stage
But as Mr T put it later, she was in full flight that night, “nothing left out there.” A young woman at the top of her game.
After a day spent catching up on sleep, some shopping, a massage and a riotously funny circus/burlesque show called Absinth, I packed my sleeping bag, hiking shoes and outdoor clothes ready for my camping weekend in Bryce Canyon National Park.
I’d had three days in Vegas but it felt like a week.
Hunter S Thompson was right. A little bit of this town goes a very long way.
