Mostly photo’s on this blog as words can’t express what awesomeness we witnessed today.

Simon had booked a tour with Sundance Helicopters and we were told to be in the lobby at 11;30am for our pick up which was this stretch limo.  Slightly over the top for a 10 minute journey but a great way to travel.

On arrival at the ‘Sundance’ base we were weighed in, given a safety briefing and then introduced to our pilot Matthew who escorted our group of 6 to the helicopter where were given more safety instructions an told how to use the headphones/mics.  The other couples in our group were altogether and as you could only sit 2 in the front with the pilot and 4 in the back, they let us sit in the front for the whole journey which was brilliant!!

All buckled up and very excited we took off !  Over the headphones played music and narration about the historic landmarks as we flew past them and then Matthew would give added information.

Our flight took us past:

Hoover Dam – 726 feet high and 1244 foot long. The dam took 3250000 cubic yards of concrete to construct which is enough to pave a 2 lane highway from San Fransico to New York

Mojave Desert – Beautiful sandscapes which look barren from the air but apparently they support a wide array of habitats, valleys, springs, forests and wetlands that shelter an abundance of plant fish and animal species.

Lake Mead – Formed by the Hoover Dam, the lake is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of capacity and the largest man-made lake in the U.S.  The lake is 112 miles long when full has 759 of shoreline and is 532 ft at it’s deepest point.

Colorado River – Ther river is 1,450 miles and and has a flow of 800 million gallons of per hour.

Half way through the flight we landed at our designated picnic stop, giving us the chance to walk around, take some photo’s and then enjoy a lovely champagne lunch.

The Grand Canyon – One of the seven natural wonders of the world.  The Canyon in 277 river miles long and up to 18 miles wide and a mile deep.

 A TRIP OF A LIFETIME!!

The flights to Las Vegas were long but comfortable.  It was our first time flying with United Airlines, they were pretty good even though there cabin crew looked as though they were out of The Adams Family.  The food was OK a little difficult to eat with mini plastic cutlery and Si’s vegetarian food had a lot of peppers 🙁

We’re staying at the Marriott Grand Chateau which is off Harmon Avenue.  It’s a short 2 minute walk to ‘The Strip’  So a very well placed hotel, We have our own kitchen area, lounge, bedroom and a large bathroom.  Anything you could need really.

The first night we ventured and must have walked a good few miles.  With all the lights, music blasting, crowds and so many things to do, it was pretty overwhelming.  A complete contrast from normal life.

On one of our trips out, we went pinball museum which was brilliant.  It houses the worlds largest pinball collection with a few arcade novelty games.  Machine range from 1950’s up to the 1990’s.   What’s great is that it’s a non-profit museum and excess revenue goes to charity.  We had a lot of fun and even came across Simon’s old pinball machine there ‘The Theatre of Magic’

Vegas is the home to gambling and we’ve only really been on a few slot machines.  I’ve gambled a dollar on a cent machine and won about 3$ and but put it all back in and Si gambled 20$ and won 50$   It’s frightening to think how much money is gambled on a daily basis.  It’s got to be a fortune as the running costs of all these places must be huge.

You can see almost any show that you want but as part of my surprise, Simon had booked tickets to see ‘O’ by Cirque du Soleil  …OMG it was visually stunning.    Both of our eyes and the end of the show were so dry.  There is so much going on that you could go time and time again.  I think for me this it the best show I’ve seen.    Acrobatics, divers, contortionist, oh my goodness ..if you get a chance, go and see it!

Also on our amazing adventure, we were fortunate to meet up with an old friend & dive buddy Brandon who is now engaged. His fiance lives in Vegas and runs her own baking company ‘Shebakes’ It was good to catch up whilst 10 Pin Bowling.  Simon won the first game and then Brandon won the 2nd.

I’ve been very bad at updating the blog as you’ve all probably noticed    APOLOGIES!!!!
We arrived back in the UK on the 9th August to experience glorious weather.

Hire car collected,  we drove directly to Simons Mums in Kent as it was her birthday.   On arrival, we were met by Si’s mum, Del and Aunty Pat which was a lovely surprise and then later Si’s brother, Roy popped in.  

For our time in the UK, we’re staying at my sisters, Rosie on the farm.  It’s always nice to be back on the farm. 
We’ve both done accomplished quite a lot, even though we’ve not been back for that long.   It’s been great to catch up with most of the family and friends.  We’ve still got a fair bit to do and time is ticking.

It’s frightening to see how quickly our nieces & nephews are growing up. Especially when they’re nearly as tall as me 😀

It was our 10th Wedding Anniversary on the 26th.   I can’t quite believe it’s been 10 years already.  I am the luckiest wife ever ..as Simon had secretly planned a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate.  Here are a few pics…