universal studios and travelling to Las Vegas

Whiskey Pete at Primm Valley
Calico ghost town

Hollywood sign no fog!!

Monday 3rd March. Today we packed up and went to see the Hollywood sign before leaving. Success, there was no fog and we had a great view of the sign. We even managed to drive through the winding streets towards the sign and got the closest look at it that you ever could. Basically it was the point where signs stated if you went any closer you would be arrested. I don't think many people would have driven as close as we did. We then decided to drive to Beverly Hills and do a lap of Rodeo Drive. We didn't bother getting out of the car to go shopping as most of the shops were out of our league. We then headed for Phoenix Arizona and decided to stop at a place called Calico, which is a ghost town on the way. Little did we know there are two places in California called Calico and we were heading to the wrong one. By the time we realised we were 200ks out of LA in the wrong direction. We turned around and headed for Las Vegas instead of Phoenix as we were no where near there whatsoever. Because of the time wasted we only made it to Primm Valley which is about 90 ks from Las Vegas. Stayed the night at Whiskey Petes which is a casino, the room only cost $35 for the night. Had dinner at the restaurant down stairs and then went to bed. By the way on the way to Las Vegas we did find the real Calico, but it was about 4 hours later in the day than we expected. The ghost town was really good as we did stop for a quick look.

Universal Studios

Richie on the motor bike from T2

Jurassic Park ride

Sunday 2nd March. Today we went to Universal Studios to see how films were made. We caught the metro underground to the universal stop and then had a short walk up a steep hill to the entrance. We entered the park and decided to do the universal tour first thing. We got on the train carriage thing and spent 45 minutes being driven around the back lots of the production. Got to see props and cars from movies from over the past few years. The Wisteria Lane (Desperate house wife's) set was closed as they were getting ready for filming the new season. The one prop on the tour that was really good was the 747 crash site from War of the Worlds movie. They have a real 747 that they have pulled apart and placed over this area of crashed cars, smashed houses and caos. If you have seen the movie you would know the scene. We then went on the rides starting with Jurassic Park which is a river ride where you do a giant drop at the end and every one gets wet. The second ride was The Mummy, which is a roller coaster in the dark. Both these rides were lots of fun and we rode them each several times. There was a lot of other things to see and do and I think we managed to fit in all of them. The day was very enjoyable and we had a great time. We left the park at around 5.30 p.m. and caught the metro back to the motel.