After a slightly disturbed night we got up early, had breakfast at the Pyramid Cafe and then met our bus at the southern entrance to the Luxor. The bus took us out to the airport where we boarded a 19-seat aeroplane for our trip to the Grand Canyon airport. The flight took a long time as we detoured low over Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam as well as the Grand Canyon. We also flew over the Mojave desert. The top of the Grand Canyon is 7,000 ft above sea level (as ...

Tom organised for Shannon and Jessie to go up to the cockpit and meet the Captain. Shannon and I saw the lights of Hawaii. We arrived at LA in the morning and flew out after lunch, on to Las Vegas where we stayed at the Luxor Hotel - an incredible hotel built in the shape of a pyramid with inclinators rather than elevators because of the angle they travel at. They could fit 9 jumbo jets stacked in the atrium. We had dinner in the Pyramid Cafe, then a ride on th...

Well - an epic trip planned and organised and paid for. The little ones (Sophie and Charlotte, only 4 years old) being looked after, originally just by my mum but she has had her melanoma spread into her lymph nodes and has just had them removed. Tom's mum and auntie Joan will look after the girls for half the time.

We landed at 11.30am and went home!!!!

Today we packed and rested. We had dinner in the Chinese Restaurant next door to our hotel - the Peking Duck was wonderful. We flew out at 11.40pm.