Light is just coming in at 7am as Addy and I leave the kids sleeping to see the sun rise over the South Rim of the Grand Canyon where the edge is only 20ft from our hotel room! We walk along the trail along the edge for 2 hours with a layer of snow over the ground (icy in parts) all around us and a light icing sugar dusting on parts of the rock formations below. Really beautiful and worth the long drive yesterday (at least Addy and I think so!). Only a few brave people venture out on the cold morning to walk along the path (few kids, just old people like us). A lovely start to the day. We head back to the troops and round them up for breakfast in the restaurant area. The rooms in this lodge/hotel were decidely 3 star with a 4 star price (location was 5 star) We assumed breakfast would we 3 star also, how wrong we were! We were sat down at a window table, overlooking the Grand Canyon and had silver service for a great breakfast (eggs benedict - Addy and my fav) and omelettes and great food, fussed over and made to feel special for a great memory of GC.

The bags were then packed and off we drove at 10ish heading for "viva Las Vegas". A 5hr tripwith all our electronic utilities charged and ready to go.... We left the South Rim with snow falling for the next hour or so around us and headed south towards Flagstaff and then west towards Vegas. Time went relatively quickly and we arrived at our hotel, the Mandalay Bay to check in. After bouts of "cabin fever" (all being in the same room) we decided to get adjoining rooms for the kids and us for each other sanity for 3 days! They ended up offering us a suite with 2 bedrooms for the same price, and what a room! 22nd floor overlooking the strip, the kids can talk more about that, little time to enjoy as we get dressed for a matinee at the theatre downstairs at 4pm. Time to go and see the Lion King!

We had high expectations off the show and they were easily met, it was a wonderful experience. After a quick bite to eat after the show, we headed back to our room and crashed on our great beds for an end to a big day.

viva Las Vegas!