We had some spare time on our 2nd day in the city of sin, so I decided to finally ride the famous rollercoaster at the top of the Stratosphere. I had been to Vegas three times previous, but never managed to get on this, mainly due to being too young, and not wanting to go on it. But I was determined. We had stayed at the Mirage, which is about mid way along the Strip. The Stratosphere was at the far end, so we had quite a way to walk, but it was a gorgeous sunny day (As would be expect in the middle of a dessert), and we wanted to take in some of the sites along the route.

So off we went, taking our time and soaking up the rays. As we made our way further down the strip, I couldn’t help but notice some very ominous looking black clouds appearing over the top of the mountains in the far distance, which looked quite striking against the bright blue cloudless sky. About thirty minutes after we had set off, the tall thin structure of the Stratosphere was getting close. Thirty minutes later the Stratosphere seemed to have moved further down the strip. Perspective is a funny thing. Those black clouds on the other hand, had gotten allot closer. In fact the temperature was starting to drop, and it was getting noticeably darker.

Finally we reached our goal. Inside, the casino is not much to look at, well compared to the other casinos on the strip, it comes across a little dated. Having said that it does have some very stiff competition. We made our way through the usual gambling floors, to the top deck, but were stopped upon reaching the entrance to the lift taking you to the roof. They had closed off the roof literally minutes ago due to the threat of lightning. Well we agreed that it was looking a little cloudy outside, but surly closing off the roof access was a little over the top.

Disgruntled, we made our way back through the casino, although when we stepped out into the street, we were quite amazed at the site before us…

The story continues: Going Down Like A Storm