Yesterday was our last day in Vegas and was also our wedding anniversary. This is really where planning for our mammoth trip started - coming to Vegas for 5 days for our honeymoon (albeit a year late). From there it got extended in both directions (by several thousand miles). It is crazy to think we're only halfway through our trip. We've done so much and it feels like we've been here for a month already!
We had an early start (6am to be precise) because we booked onto an early helicopter trip back to the Grand Canyon. We loved it there, and we love helicopters, so it made sense to combine the two, and we were super excited to not only see the Grand Canyon from above but to fly down and land inside it, something we didn't have time to do on our trip to the South Rim.
We stopped off at Coffee Bean for an early morning breakfast (most people were still out from the night before) and navigated through the maze that is the Venetian to our pick up point. We even got there with 9 mins to spare! It took about an hour to pick up other visitors and drive to the heliport, and then we checked in and had time to relax until our flight was at 8.45. Our pilot, Conor, picked us up and we boarded the helicopter (after a safety briefing and a quick photo). Last time I flew in a helicopter I was petrified but this time I was super excited. We took off and flew at about 150 - 190mph over the desert, which was immense from above. The Mojave Desert is two thirds of the size of the UK, to give some perspective. Soon we were approaching Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake in America. This is created by the Hoover Dam and provides water for three states of America (and power for many more). From above you can see how huge Lake Mead is - around 117 miles long. We flew over the Hoover Dam, awesome from above, and then over into the West Rim of the Grand Canyon, where we landed. It was amazing to fly over and through the canyon and get a different perspective. From below, you could see the Colorado river flowing through with the huge cliffs above you. I don't think one trip was better than the other - both were great and I'd recommend seeing the Grand Canyon from both perspectives.
We had about half an hour in the canyon. It was super hot already and there were picnic tables and an umbrella to provide some shade. Aside from that, it was just us and the canyon (and a condor and two species of rattle snake, eeek). It was so peaceful! Conor cracked open the champagne and it was the perfect way to start our day! After half an hour we boarded the helicopter again and it was our turn up front. The views flying out of the canyon were just amazing. We flew for 15 mins and then landed to refuel. After that it was another 30 mins back to the heliport. All in all this was a great trip and I'd highly recommend it. What a great way to start our day!
Back on the bus and we hopped off at New York New York and went straight to the Luxor (via Excalibur and Mandalay Bay - it is so hard to get anywhere here). After the disaster of yesterday we went straight to the roulette table and won lots of $$! Yippee! Claire even won a black chip!! Luck was obviously on our side. After that, Claire had a go at black jack with a really nice dealer who showed her what to do. Sadly the dealer kept winning and she seemed genuinely sorry after helping Claire out! I have been surprised by how nice a lot of the dealers have been here. A lot of them have advised people to leave when they're ahead, and are genuinely happy when people win. I guess they are just employed by the casinos and must see people lose a lot of money.
After the Luxor we had a quick look around New York New York and then went back through the MGM and got the monorail back. We stopped off for some lunch and ate it in our room. Salad for Claire and pasta salad for me, followed by a fruit platter. Yum! We also stopped at coffee bean for tea and iced tea. Double yum!
After lunch and a half-hour snooze, we headed to the pool. It is so hot around this time - over 100 degrees - so we ended up reading our books in the pool! It's the only way to cool down. We had to leave after an hour or so and shower ready for the theatre. We went to pick up our tickets and had just enough time to grab some pizza before Mystere, a Cirque du Soleil show. This was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. From start to finish the whole thing was just awesome! The performers and so skilled! The show was also really funny, which I hadn't expected. I would highly recommend this show to anyone who comes here!
After the show we were exhausted so headed back to our room. We attempted to sort some of our stuff out - being here for four days we have made a right mess of the hotel room and have no idea how we are going to pack all the stuff we have bought, but in the end we gave up and watched a film and ate m&ms in bed. As you do. We can sort the mess out this morning!
Today we leave Vegas and head for California and Death Valley (when we can get out of this mega comfy bed, that is).

Day: 15
Total Miles driven: 2567
States Crossed: 7 (Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada)
License Plates Checked: 41
Road Kill : 1 + wasps