Eurolanche

Report: Eurolanche in Las Vegas

The first time Eurolanche members decided to go on a longer trip outside of Colorado was during the Eurolanche Invasion V. It was during the said overseas trip that the participating members decided they didn’t want to watch an away Avalanche game on TV and went to the game instead. I remember how we watched the Avs play at home and as we had to endure a never-ending journey to Minnesota to watch the team play against the Wild afterwards. After two days, we finally went back to Colorado. A similar trip took place during the most recent Invasion - Eurolanche Invasion VIII. We had yet another opportunity to go see the Avs play in Minnesota, but we went for plan B instead – a trip to Las Vegas.

After the Stadium Series game, the Avalanche had a pretty long break before playing another game. This provided us with a couple of off-days ourselves, which are pretty rare during an Invasion. We were presented with a unique opportunity to go to the famous “Sin City” and go see some of the most famous monuments and other places on the way there.

You can view the entire photo gallery HERE

We embarked on the trip to Las Vegas after the Stadium Series game. Crammed in a 12-passenger van, we had to drive 500 miles straight ahead, turn right and drive another 200 miles straight ahead. A typical North American road. Just like in the movies. But as the miles went by, we started to notice the lack of any gas stations on the side of the road. At around 3am, we started to discuss where we’d get gas, as the tank was nearly empty by then. Have you seen the movie “The Hills Have Eyes”? We found ourselves in a similar landscape and scenario as the protagonists in that movie. Fortunately, after taking a turn and driving for about 12 miles, we finally found a gas station in a run-down small town.

After driving through canyons in Arizona, the Rocky Mountains and the never-ending Nevada desert, we finally arrived in Las Vegas. The city seemed pretty small from far away, but kept growing as we were nearing our destination. We checked into a hotel that had its own casino. A typical hotel in Vegas. Entertainment and money spending work on a nonstop basis in the city.

Downtown Vegas was lit in every color one can think of. Every corner had a hotel and/or a casino. There were copies of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the pyramids and other rarities from all around the globe. There were numerous pompous hotel complexes that were like cut out of a fairytale. Inside, the hotels were stacked with slot machines and game tables meant for all sorts of games. To put it simply, Las Vegas is like a giant casino, which offers you a wide variety of activities as long as you have money. Vegas is the very synonym of entertainment.

We spent some cash, lost some, too, but we ultimately had the chance to experience something we only knew from movies. If New York’s the city that never sleeps, Vegas is five times the city that NYC is. We met a lot of crazy people out in the streets, most of them dressed in all sorts of costumes. During the day, the weather was borderline unbearable, but one could walk around in a t-shirt even after the sun went down. Aside from all the casinos, we also saw all the chapels that people go to have a quick, Vegas-esque wedding. You can even get married in your car. We also went to a fast-food place called the “Heart Attack Grill”, which sells high-calories burgers. On entry, you get a hospital gown and you’re served by “nurses”. If a customer can’t finish his meal, he or she will get slapped with a ladle. If someone finishes the restaurant’s special octuple burger, he or she won’t have to pay for his or hers order and the nurses will bring him or her to their car in a wheelchair. Anyone who weights over 175 kilogram (386 pounds) eats free. It’s crazy, but hey, that's Vegas.

We could certainly envision ourselves spending more than just one day and one evening in Vegas. It’s like a state within a state. You can drink in the streets and there are almost no smoking restrictions whatsoever. Entertainment can be found almost everywhere. There are several one-of-a-kind shops, which aren’t found anywhere else in the whole world. It’s almost unbelievable given that the city literally rose from the desert, something we noticed as we were passing through long miles of desert and no man’s land on our way there.

We ended our trip in Vegas with a visit of David Copperfield’s unique show, who’s one of many stars who now perform exclusively in Vegas. In the morning, we embarked on our journey back to Colorado, passing through Arizona, where we visited the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon and the Four Corners Monument. Our journey back to Colorado took two days and a one-night stay in a typical American motel by the famed Route 66.

You can view the entire photo gallery HERE

The article was written by David Puchovsky and translated by Michal Hezely.

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Complete photo gallery of Invasion VIII

Complete photo gallery of Invasion VIII