First thing I knew Rodd was prodding me awake as the housekeeper was knocking on the door... 9 am already? Took us nearly 2 hours to get up showered and out the door just on check out time. First priority for me now is to get a cup of tea and a croissant to keep me going for the bus ride back to the stratosphere to change for the day. I had sent Heather a few texts and finally on the way up there she rang me to say they hadn't yet been to bed and were totally shattered but apart from Tim losing his phone and some money they had a fantastic night. They however were going to bed for the day! I guess we got back there around 1 so by the time we'd had a snooze and got ourselves organised it was time to head out to the Minus 5 ice bar and Carrot Top. Before we left however we did a Maccas run for the poor suffering younguns and we also organised and paid for a trip to the Grand Canyon for them tomorrow... They'll never be back and we didn't want them to miss seeing it.

We jumped in a taxi down to Monte Carlo, after last night we didn't feel like sitting in the bus for half an hour or so.... I had a free entry voucher from MyVegas for the -5 bar so we only had to buy a couple drinks in there.. It was definitely a novelty and I'm not sure I'd really want to pay $17 pp for it but was fun to try, and of course we had to buy the photos as they make you leave your camera and phone in a locker outside. Of course we also picked up the $1 chip for my collection then on to Excaliber stopping along the way at NYNY for a chip as well. We hopped on the tram to what we thought was Luxor however unfortunately it was the Mandalay Bay express so as the tram pulled up and Rodd went to get off I stopped him and said "no this isn't Luxor yet" ... Much to our, and a few other peoples, dismay the tram then started going backward ... Back to Excaliber! Hmmmm ok, anyway a lovely family from Utah got on and we told them the story and she told us we were on the express not the regular tram to Luxor. One change later and we arrived at the Luxor... Straight up to the box office to collect our tickets and of course since Heather and Tim were sick and not using theirs we hung around the box office and found a couple to give them to. Carrot Top was hysterical, this is the second time we've seen him and he had a few of the same lines but a lot of new stuff too. Half way through the show the door opens and a young girl (in her 20s) comes in and instead of quietly slipping into her seat she calls out in a very loud voice "sorry I'm late", but she didn't stop there she just went on and on about how her plane was delayed and how much she loves Carrot Top... He eventually said "it's ok love I didn't even know you weren't here" and "it's ok, I've got it from here" she was whooping and hollering so much that security came over and told her to shut up!! I mean really... What an idiot!!! Show finished, we're fading a little but walk over to MGM for a chip and then pick up some subway then we stroll up the strip to the bus stop and hop on the SDX back to the Stratosphere. One more day in Vegas.

Once again we were woken by the sound of knocking.. Heather and Tim had to come and collect their jackets before their Grand Canyon day cos we'd brought them home with us Saturday night and not returned them yesterday. I tried to nap a bit but finally got up and organised, first stop today is the Buffet at the Bellagio, this is another freebie I earned through MyVegas loyalty points... Bargain! We hopped on the bus and before we knew it were getting out at the Bellagio stop... We walked along the front of the fountain area but they weren't playing so we just got some lovely shots of the gorgeous Bellagio in daylight. Of course we had to stop for a $1 chip for our collection and then to the mlife desk to have the buffet loaded onto my card. Straight into the mlife card holder line and escorted to our seats..... Now this may be a buffet but wow it's a very upmarket one. Orange juice was real and omg so yummy, tea came in a silver pot and the cutlery was real silverware... Maybe I should just call Beverly Hillbillies tour!!!! The food whilst nice was average buffet fare and we left with bulging bellies to make our way on the SDX to Fremont Street to go to the Mob Museum.. With an ever so quick stop into Ballys to pick up a chip.

The Mob Museum is 2 blocks back from the Fremont Street experience so an easy walk from where the bus drops off. It is a fairly new attraction in Vegas and I would definitely recommend it as a "day trip" for anyone wanting something to fill the hours between drinking and gambling. It is the history if organised crime in the USA and very we'll laid out. The entry fee is $19.95 but I had printed off a voucher I found on the internet for $2 off pp so a little of a discount. 
From here we walked up to Main Street Station and California for another couple chips then back onto the SDX and on to the North outlet mall to pick up some cheap shoes! We spent a few hours there, wandering around lost and trying to find the shoes we wanted, in the end I got pair of Nikes and 2 pairs of sketchers and after much confusion following the centre maps and not being able to find the Reebok store then when we did we were told they had in fact moved but it hadn't been changed on the map, Rodd got 2 pairs of Reeboks and we both bought some fantastic polarised sunnies... 3 pairs for $80!! Totally shopped out and exhausted we jumped back on the bus back to the stratosphere.

Quick change, pack bags for our early morning flight and we jump back on the bus getting off at the Venetian for our casino crawl down to the Flamingo where we had tickets to the Vinnie Favorito show. We had about 2 hours so we played some, collected some $1 chips, took some photos and drank some! We accidentally ended up walking through the indoor canals where the gondola rides are at the Venetian and I was blown away... I can't believe I've never seen this before it's so beautiful! But there's even more, next we stumbled upon the Chinese New Years display at the Palazzo, honestly everything is so amazing and huge and extravagant here and you could spend a week or more in Vegas just taking in all the displays and the magnitude of it all! Finally after going through O'Sheas, Margaritaville, The Quad and who knows where else, collecting chips of course, we made it into the Flamingo and picked up our tickets. I entered Bugsys Theatre with some trepidation cos Vinnie is known to be absolutely merciless with his audience but somehow both Rodd and I managed to escape his barbed tongue... I know right... Unbelievable! The show was very funny but if you do catch his attention you better have a thick skin.

 As we were leaving I got a call from Heather to say they were home so we made our way back to the Stratosphere where we met up with them for a last drink in Vegas together..... Hmmmmm.... Famous last words!!! We drank.. I played craps for the first time ever cos this was my mission for this trip and here we were about to leave and I hadn't yet played, we also played some blackjack which was a lot of fun cos there was a lovely couple from Canada there and the whole table was chatty and telling each other what to do. Well before you know it it's 3am... Oh well no point going to bed now, what was that about having an early night cos we've got an 8.30 flight... Limo coming at 6.30! At around 4 am we all headed up to shower and get ready for the flight.... Oooh this isn't going to be a fun day... But it seemed like a good idea at the time!