Day four, large rocky outcrop

So, in planning the trip, we decided to book a tour to the Grand Canyon with a visit to the Hoover Dam thrown in! That's not thrown in the Dam, just included in the price and also included lunch which suited us - anything including food keeps Becky happy - you'll notice a theme running through the holiday, I'm sure! So early start with breakfast in Starbucks again and ready for bus pickup from hotel at 7.50 a.m. which was there waiting for us as we went out early at 7.45 - good start! The driver introduced himself - "I'm Randy" he said. "Oh, ok" I said "and what's your name?" Ha ha, I thought it was funny - doesn't mean the same in the US as home in the UK so I don't think he really appreciated the humour!

After a few more pickups, the minibus filled up with an eclectic group of people and once full we got started to the Hoover Dam. It didn't take too long to get there and was a much better coach trip than the last one, thankfully. So a few photos later of the impressive Dam, we were on our way again and drove through the desert with a quick comfort break where alien pictures were placed all around the car park with signs saying "Area 51" so "Randy, are we near Area 51?" "No, it's way over the other side of LA!" Hmmmmmm.

However, I didn't realise we were passing by the original Route 66 - slightly upgraded now but still some bits of the old road. Cool, expecting to get some kicks on Route 66, if I'm lucky - or maybe not with the daughter in tow! Hmmmmmmm.

Driving through the desert with commentary from Randy, suggesting we look out for wildlife. How interesting, we thought, wild cougar, coyote, what would we see? Well, apparently we might see some sheep, cows and if we're really lucky, maybe a horse! Americans are so easy to please! Anyway, we got to the ranch where we were to get the helicopter ride over the large rocky outcrop and lunch after. It's a beautiful day but the cold wind meant keeping all clothing on and probably not going for a horse ride or wagon ride as it was too damn cold! The helicopter ride was amazing, I was just excited by being in the helicopter but it was a real bonus to see the Grand Canyon, it really is impressive to be flying over it and seeing the immensity of it all.



After the helicopter ride, we went to the ranch for lunch and had delicious ribs with corn on the cob and musical entertainment from Casey who had an excellent repertoire and did a few requests for the drunken group of English stags that were there when we arrived! They sang drunkenly along with Casey singing American Pie and then one of our group, a slightly strange Glaswegian lady, got up and danced (I think it was dancing - it was definitely strange rhythmic movements in varying directions). We were embarrassed for her but she was fine and well into it! Oh to have such a lack of self consciousness! Anyway, we all enjoyed the music, the lunch and the wander around the ranch after - apparently, the owner of the ranch in the 1860s lived in a little stone building consisting of one room and very very draughty walls and roof, and was friends with Butch Cassidy and Sundance who used it as a base when passing through!


Time came to return to the city and we were back in Vegas for late afternoon wanderings around the other end of the strip to see the few hotels we'd missed the day before! The Bellagio, the Venetian with its canals and gondolas and amazing ceilings inside, the mirage with erupting volcano and bit of greenery in the entrance area. By the time we returned to the hotel we were tired and getting to the stage where they all looked the same again! We couldn't even summon up the energy to go out for dinner and ate in one of Planet Hollywood's many restaurants. There's been a shortage of wine so far, the cheesecake incident put our appetites completely out of kilter, so we managed a jug sangria with dinner - it was our last night in Vegas after all!