Route to Vegas & The Sphere

Most importantly… breakfast.

We stopped at Country Kitchen, where I very sensibly ordered a bowl of fruit 😳

…alongside my Cinnamon Roll French Toast 😂

Thick slices of French toast soaked in egg and vanilla, smothered in cinnamon syrup and cream cheese.

Subtle. Balanced. Light 🤤

> Real Americana

Time to head towards Las Vegas.

We decided to skip the highway and take a more scenic route — to experience a bit of real Americana 😂

Our first stop was the wonderfully named:

Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Art Museum

An open-air collection of assemblage art made from found objects.

Noah Purifoy had a fascinating background, using art as a way to support social change and bring creative education into places like correctional facilities.

The installations felt raw, unusual… and very much part of the desert itself.

> Road Trip Checklist ✅

From there the journey turned into a proper American road trip.

We ticked off a surprising number of “things you only see in films”:

✅ Yellow school bus doing its morning run
✅ A classic water tower over a small town
✅ Rows of post boxes at the end of a dusty road
✅ A supermarket full of very American things

Inside the supermarket I found:
• glowing bottles of SunnyD
• enormous sacks of breakfast cereal
• and entire aisles of things I didn’t quite recognise 😂

Outside, the desert wasn’t as empty as expected.

There were bursts of life everywhere… yellow, white and orange flowers scattered across the landscape.

> More Desert Oddities

We stopped at a slightly crumbling roadside attraction called End of the World Roadside Attraction.

It had definitely seen better days… but that only added to its slightly apocalyptic charm 😂

Somewhere along the road we also passed:
• a huge solar farm with three gleaming towers near Primm
• endless desert highways
• and the moment where, driving past Barstow with the roof down, we shouted:
“We can’t stop here… this is bat country!” 😂

> Seven Magic Mountains

Next stop was the vibrant Seven Magic Mountains.

Seven towering stacks of brightly painted rocks rising out of the desert… a brilliant splash of colour against the muted landscape.

> Sponsor a Mile?

One thing that caught my attention along the way…

Signs offering the chance to “Sponsor a Mile of Highway” 🤔😳

I assume it’s a donation scheme to help maintain the roads…

Though I do quite like the idea of decorating your own personal stretch of highway 😂

> Entering Las Vegas

As we approached Las Vegas, the scale of development was striking… sprawling suburbs, endless apartment blocks, everything expanding into the desert.

Then suddenly…

Vegas.

And the heat.

Scorching hot 🥵

We parked at the pyramid-shaped Luxor Hotel and Casino, our base for the night.

Stepping inside felt instantly familiar… flashing lights, constant noise, confusing layouts (they definitely don’t want you to find the exit 😂) and the endless chime of slot machines.

> The Sphere

After dropping our bags, we set off towards Sphere.

The journey itself was an experience — walking through interconnected hotels like:
• Excalibur Hotel and Casino
• The Venetian Resort

Each one more over-the-top than the last.

The Venetian, with its indoor canals and gondolas, felt like stepping into another world… but we didn’t have time to linger.

Dinner first.

⸻

Dinner, American Style (Again 😂)

I ordered a huge jambalaya.

And yes… the rumours about American portion sizes are absolutely true 😂

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The Main Event 😱

Then it was time.

Inside The Sphere, we watched The Wizard of Oz.

There are very few words that can describe the experience…

Other than:

WOW 😱

The scale, the visuals, the sound — completely immersive and unlike anything I’ve seen before.

After the show, we stepped outside to find another surprise…

The Wicked Witch’s legs, complete with red shoes, sticking out from beneath the Sphere 😂

⸻

An incredible end to an epic road trip day.

From quiet desert art and roadside oddities…

to the full sensory overload of Las Vegas.

What a place 👏Read more