So yesterday we said goodbye to las vegas, our day started at 7.30am (good old jet lag keeping us on our toes!!!) we chilled in the room before heading to DJT restaurant for some breakfast! It was great, our lovely sever Alma was so polite and the day started with bagels and pancakes....very American!!! Chris went to pick up some stamps and from the hotel shop, and his English manner charmed the ladies working behind the counter (keeping up the tradition....they were of the older generation!!) all he said was 'Cheers'!!
Anyone who knows us well enough will realise that we have yet to mention AandF in our blog....we went there next, a lot more chilled out than the London store, you can both see and hear yourself think! Plus are not constantly put down by ridiculously muscular guys or ridiculously skinny girls!! Next it was time to pack, why is it that a bag will pack perfectly well at home when you go away and then despite not adding to your luggage you can't pack your bag again when you leave?? Sods law I guess! So eventually after much effort sitting and squeezing the zips together we we claimed Las Vegas for Her Maj and departed the Trump international hotel Las Vegas for the airport. Our Cabbie (Taxi Driver!) was very friendly, he has a friend in Britain....Lincolnshire!!! Have we been there we were asked?? No but I hear its lovely! We respond, seems to be the normal conversation Americans have with the British but that great shows they have a love of her Majesty's delightful kingdom!!
We arrived at the airport and were checked in and through sercurity in 15minutes, that, Britain, is how you do it! It unbelievably less stressful but the guy in front of us at security was moaning about having to take his shoes of, I mean dude come on you want something to get stressy about go to a British airport....they can now look through your clothes! So we arrived at the gate a good 1hr 30min early but that wasn't a prob we got ourselves a drink and some pretzels yep keeping with the American eating but then the real fun started....people watching OMG (that's 'oh my god' dad, sure you knew that:-)..but just in case) before we knew it we were boarding flight 247 non stop to Denver
Well it is not Virgin Atlantic pilots that want to be DJ's it is the united pilots! Still they got us there 22 minutes early, quite how i'm not sure... i guess the pilot put his foot down or knew a cheeky little short cut! the flight was good a little turbulent over the Rockies but that is not unexpected, some stunning scenery from the Hoover dam and edge of the Grand Canyon to the salt flats of Utah and then into Denver...WOW the setting is just amazing mountains to the north and plains to the south. We were collected by Kate, ad we headed into Denver our base for the next four and a bit days the abode of Peter and Kate Eaton. It was so great to see them again, they ordered us pizza and Chris got his wish...Domino's thin crust pepperoni pizza (cut into squares... what the what!) we were settled into our rooms and told where everything is, on opening her bag Kate discovered that it was one chosen for inspection by Homeland Security...well really and least it stopped at just a bag search! Shattered we headed to bed so excited for the next adventures.
The adventures of Mongo and The Boy written by
Kate 'rubber glove' Davies and Chris 'the dough-boy' Davies
P.S. Fans (Mum, Dad and Hannah) apologies for the lack of photos this time but we are unable to transfer photos onto Peters computer plus we don't have any from this adventure anyway... However soon, by popular demand a photo from the Grand Canyon of a certain emergency services vehicle...
Our aim...Caesars palace and the Bellagio plus the MGM grand, New York New York, Paris etc etc you get the picture!
Like any other city Las Vegas comes alive in the dark but this is something else. We can't express everything but our highlights have to be
A shop dedicated to all things red bearing the Coca Cola label.
Being able to walk from Brooklyn Bridge into grand central station is quite surreal!! Caesars Palace
was a delight also, the whole hotel being designed around Rome, although my walking Rome guide informs me inside the detail is not correct the outside detail of the pantheon, Colosseum etc is rather good!!
complete with crash survival kit strapped to our waists, because thats what you want if your helicopter crashes into the water... a small yellow pouch filled with a little yellow vest, (presumably to make it easier for the authorites to find your body afterwards)
and Lake Mead, both of these are unbelievably beautiful in independent ways. Lake Mead looked amazing from the sky, you could see into the water a good 10 meters under the surface. Whilst the grandure of the hoover dam is stunning. On route we also saw Lake Las Vegas and Boulder City. Before we knew it we flew over one more and there it was, nature at its finest and most beautiful as we entered the grand canyon.
We soon came into land on a hill side with tiny little helipads. It was from here we took our boat trip up the Colorado river. Only 15 minutes but a wonderful experience and one which puts the great size of the canyon in perspective.
for some lunch and some of the best views of the Canyon. Both of these would have to wait however as Kate took this opportunity to faint in the lunch queue just as we got to the front! 'I'm going to faint...' then slump 'watch my camera!' shouts I. Doused with ice cold water she quickly came to but the staff insisted she see the EMS, an ambulance pulled up and Kate was taken in to be tested... not by the X-files for alien activity but you get what I mean. I meanwhile waited anxiously outside the closed doors inhaling dust and exhaust fumes 'ahhh nature' took some nice photos too. On her release from the ambulance we did finally get some lunch, pulled pork or chicken....we each got one, the pulled pork was very good the chicken not so much!! So we shared the pulled pork in quasedes (I think that is how it is spelt!!) and had an amazing chocolate brownie!! After lunch we took more photos before, of course claiming the Canyon as Her Majesty's territory by planting the Flag. heading back to the 'terminal' and waited to depart for Vegas.