.............went well. Mum woke up and we treked over to Caesar's Palace for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Thanks to mum and her gob my dessert arrived bearing the words "Happy Birthday Claire!" in chocolate sauce and a candle. Various threats were made against anyone thinking of singing.

Stuffed to the gills we had to walk back. We finished the evening with a gentle stroll around the Bellagio lake, and caught 2 wonderful fountain performances. I really could watch them forever.

Even after last night's adventures I was forced to get up early this morning. We were due to meet the others at 11.15am and Grumpy wanted to get breakfast on the way. Having missed out yesterday we joined the queue for the Bellagio Buffet. Took a while to get to the front, but once we were seated we started to relax.

Grumpy had told me to pack a black dress cos we'd be eating somewhere special the night before my birthday.

I spent the afternoon being pampered in the Bellagio spa - their indian head massage and egyptian gold treatment were to die for :D. As soon as I got back I was ordered to get ready for dinner at the Top Of The World restarant at the Stratosphere.

So I glammed myself up and off we went to the Stratosphere. We were a couple of hours early, so we coiffed cocktails as we watched the sky get dark and the lights of Vegas start to sparkle. Gorgeous.

Today we followed the interstate from our hotel on Route 66 towards Vegas. On the way we passed the Hoover Dam, and stopped for a bit of a mooch about.

After a quick snack we took the tour - very well put together, very informative and a good buy at $11 dollars each.

Back in the car we followed the road as it took us over and around hills and mountains until finally, after coming over the crest of a hill, we got our first sighting of Vegas. Pretty amazing to see so much civilisation after several days of remote desert!

They can't get that many Brits over here. They go nuts as soon as you talk!

.................... on ROUTE 66!!!!

It had to happen sometime. Been waiting for it ever since Grumpy declared that the tickets I bought for the Italian Grand Prix as a wedding present were a bowling ball. Today he got his own back!!!

(For the uninitiated, a 'bowling ball present' refers to an episode of the Simpsons where Homer has forgotten Marge's birthday. He tries to pass off a bowling ball he has bought as her present. It has 'Homer' engraved on it. Just to spite him she takes the ball and takes bowling lessons.......... It's a great episode.)

We travel a bit further south before turning onto a highway that is headed east (inland). U2 is still playing on the iPod, and I have not the energy to argue.

At this point Grumpy tells me that we're headed for the Harmony Motel in a place in 29 Palms called Joshua Tree. Sound familiar? It's the name of a U2 album.

And U2 stayed at the Harmony Motel when they were writing and recording the Joshua Tree album. (Apparently Bono stayed in the room we're in, but they could say that about every room!)

This morning started early. This is the longest day of driving, so we needed to be on the road ASAP. It's Columbus Day over here too, so we were expecting lots of holiday traffic.

Got off to a good start - heading south on Highway 1 for a couple of hundred miles towards Los Angeles. Grumpy told me we'd be having a picnic lunch in a park on the way.

What a fab day!!! Grumpy had researched the local wineries (there are several hundred) and decided that a trip to www.justinwine.com was the thing to do (the actual winery, not just their site!).

We were booked in for lunch, a winery tour and then a tasting session. Took a good hour and a half to drive the 40 miles to the place - these roads are seriously wiggly - where we were given a warm welcome. Our table came with hot and cold running labradors and retrievers (well, one of each), so I was happy!