Vegas Baby!

Plane fatigue had certainly set in by the time we reached Las Vegas. The flight from Palm Springs was one of the roughest we have ever experienced. Beads of sweat developed and then began to run down the gentleman's head sat in font of us. Reassuring looks and words came from the flight assistant who was to make the trip a further 3 times before hopefully calling it a day and finding a less nerve wrecking career. Em now reflects on it as the plane of death and the memories of reaching for the sick bag still linger.


We loved Vegas as soon as we landed and were swept away to our hotel in a taxi by a native New Yorker. A former salesman now fulfilling a childhood dream to drive a cab for a living. He informed us the MGM Grand was currently the biggest hotel on the strip with over 5000 rooms, I forget the exact number. Our lodging on the 27th floor impressed immediately. We deserved a good view after the disappointments of San Francisco and L.A. The heat outside was still intense, the air conditioning working overtime to create a fake climate inside the hotels, keeping everybody cool. Everything you could need was inside, there was no real need to venture outside apart from to walk down the building site that is the Las Vegas strip to view the other hotels. New hotels are being built to replace the middle aged ones that don't fit the image anymore. We did a bit of gambling on the slot machines and to Emma's' annoyance managed to win more than I put in.


The main reason for our stop in Vegas was to use it as a base to take a trip to the Grand Canyon. Booked on a trip scheduled to leave at 4am we were startled to receive a phone call at 3.30 informing us to be in the lobby in 5 minutes or be left behind. We made it and took the looks and scowls from the fellow passengers who must have had some inside information regarding the pick up time. A smooth flight out over the Hoover Dam and parts of the Canyon in what appeared to be a bus with wings provided some stunning landscapes as the sun rose in the distance.


I'm trying to recollect the feeling I had of viewing the canyon for the first time up close and personal. Obviously the scale of the place and the colours strike me first, but I was also surprised by how green it was. Vast planes of trees stretching out along the tops of the canyon. The coach tour was a rushed affair with little time to really sit back and take it all in. We could have spent the whole day watching the shadows change as the sun moved to the west. The flight back to Vegas was an experience we're trying to forget. The pilot looked like he was having fun, we on the other hand struggled to hold onto our breakfast.



Cheers.