Hi Everyone,

It seems to be my turn to write the blog again since Mike is researching the AFL website again. He has just been given news from Lauren regarding Kerr so he is quite interested.

On our last night in San Diego we met up with Shane and Jay for dinner which was really nice and Mike got to play poker with some randoms and Jay later in the night while I caught up with Shane.

We had an early morning flight the next day to Las Vegas.....it was only 50 minutes but 50 minutes of hell...We had the emergency seats which meant we were in charge if the plane decided to crash....Mike read his manual several times and was ready at any stage to pull the hatch. Me on the other hand, I was busy throwing up into my sick bag....first time since we left so the odds are not to bad!

We arrived at our hotel the Exacilbur, apparently its had a revamp and it was great. We had a huge tv screen and two double beds...one for our bags and one for us! and a real shower with water pressure and I didnt even have to wear my thongs in there.

After settling into our room, we met up with Jed and Mike and Kelly who we met at our previous hostel. We went out to a dinner/show called tournament of the kings. It is medieval themed so we ate an entire chicken (thats a lie, we got given an entire chicken) and had to eat with our hands, drink soup out of bowls and eat bunches of brocolli etc. We were all seated in Russia....this meant our knight would fight and we would chear him on...Our table was situated next to the damn Frenchys which we hated...closely followed by Spain. It was great fun and an amazing show to watch. Especially because the crowd got so involved.

After the show Mike and I set out to discover the strip. We had been told by previous visitors to vegas that drinks were free....we decided to try it out.. A Margarita for Mike and a Strawberry Daquiri for Bek. And it worked....so we ordered again and once again no charge. I cant tell you the total amount....but I believe I managed to fill up on at least 20 free daquiries whilst we were there.

We took our time going up the strip....once casino at a time. The trick is to sit on the 1 cent machines and order drinks...finish the drinks and walk to the next cas. It worked great and we had such fun doing it. By the end of the night we had managed to win enough to cover all our expenses for that day.

The next day we slept until lunch as there is not a huge amount to do during the day and then went and laid by the pool and soaked up the sun. Our hotel is one of the smaller ones with only 4000 bedrooms!!! there was 4 pools which we explored for the afternoon. Later that night we met up with Jed and went for dinner at the Mirage...it was AWESOME. Sizzlers could learn a thing or two about vegas buffets... $25 and it was all you could eat. There was stations for each country and food was about. Dad..you know the show we watch..deadliest catch...well I ate almost a deadly amount of crabs legs..they were huge and plentiful.

After dinner we went for another gamble...or should we say..free drinks then went out to studio 54 and some other bars. We attempted an early night because we had the grand canyon in the morning! once again we could only squeeze in 4 hours.

The next morning we were up at 5am for our grand canyon tour. It was a 15 hour day for us but well worth it. The Grand Canyon is an amazing place and we are excited to now say we have seen at least one of the natural wonders of the world. Quote from Mike at 5am "Why are we getting up so bloody early for a hole in the ground" Quote from Mike at 10pm "Pictures wont do it justice" ANd he is right, you cant understand the beauty and size of the canyon until you witness it up close. Mike and I have both said that we think both sets of our parents would actually enjoy Vegas and the Canyon now that we have seen it for ourselves. even if you are not into gambling the canyon is amazing and so are the shows you can visit. The casinos and size of the strip is another spectacular thing.

After the Canyon we were so tired and grumpy but we wanted to see the Belagio fountain...but unfortunately due to the wind the show was cancelled. We decided to go to the casino to Mikes favourite poker machine to have one last bet.....and once again we won a decent amount that covered our days spending. So Uncle Martin....we did you proud and left Las Vegas at least $4 up on the Exalibur Hotel. And to those people considering going to las vegas...we would recommend you spend 4 nights there if you plan on going to the canyon to ensure you get the most out of it and have a relaxing time.

We are now in New York and already loving it, we just explored time square but will give you proper updates soon.

lots of love,

Bek and Mike