Tuesday 13 February Las Vegas 2007

We went out fairly early this morning and took the tram over to Treasure Island, we strolled around and bought a tee shirt each and a DVD of La Nouba from the Cirque du Soliel shop. Went down to the Fashion Show and bought Andrew some Levi's and strolled around the shops. We had lunch at the Caribe restaurant at Treasure Island before heading back to the Mirage to get ready for our limo pick up to go to the Grand Canyon. Fred picked us up in a black stretch limousine and drove us to the Sundance helicopter airfield. We boarded a red helicopter and took off. We flew over the desert and over Lake Mead, the largest manmade lake in the USA; apparently it took seven years to fill once completed. Pete our pilot circled round the Hoover Dam so that we got a wonderful view of it. We flew over mountains and a rainbow appeared all of a sudden, eventually we were over the Grand Canyon and then down into it to land. I can't really describe it, a wonderful breathtakingly beautiful place, cameras don't do it justice, although Andrew had a jolly good try and his photos are excellent. The red mountains are reminiscent of Petra. We walked and filmed and looked down into the Colorado River, little birds flitted around and the wind was howling. We were given champagne and a picnic tea and sat gazing at the mountains whilst we ate. All too soon it was time for the return journey and part way back we flew through a storm. But suddenly the clouds parted up ahead and we had a sunset, all pink and gold through the rain. Pete took us all the way up the strip, it was all lit up like a Christmas tree, we could see every hotel so clearly, it was magical. We came in to land; it was cold and started raining again. Fred dropped us off at the Luxor, all miniature statues of various Ramses and Anubis. The Valley of the Kings and Luxor, the Sphinx is huge and has a face reminiscent of Tutankhamen, and the nose is still in place, unlike the original. We strolled around taking in the hieroglyphics on the ceiling and decide that it is very clever, but the atmosphere is quite cold, unlike the Mirage or Caesar's. We put Fiona's bet on here as it's an hotel she likes the look of, doubled the stakes in case she won - and lose the lot! We went through the walk through to the Excalibur, which looks like a scene from Disneyworld from the outside; it is totally geared up for children, a place to stay if you go as a family, but not for us. We wandered over the bridge to New York, New York. Andrew took a photo of Liberty in her basketball shirt, she's been dressed up for the basketball convention that is here at the moment, would you believe? This hotel is quite cool, a miniature New York with a huge casino. We went to the Bellagio next, just in time to see the water's dancing, they are fabulous, but it was raining again, so we got a taxi back to the Mirage and ate at The Californian Pizza Kitchen, before turning in for the night.