Grand Canyon

We woke nice and early this morning for our 7.20am pick-up and for once in my life I was actually on time..even had 5 minutes to spare :)

The bus driver drove us to McCarran Airport in Vegas where we got weighed in (they needed our weights to appropriately balance the aircraft, apparently) then received a purple sticker each - yay purples my fave colour! There were so many people on this tour so they ended up breaking us into different coloured groups and flying us all out in seperate planes. I actually really liked this idea, it meant we had a small group of 20 people which is plenty enough for me.

We had about half hour to spend at the airport before our flights were leaving to head over to the Grand Canyon national park so Pete and I decided to grab a quick bite to eat and some water to take with us for the day. Not too long after this our colour got called and we were asked to line up in order to receive our seat locations. We were under strict instructions to only sit in our allocated seat number as our weights determined the balance of the aircraft. Unfortunately Pete and I weren't placed next to each other, we got placed in row 7, seats A and C..at least we were in the same row right?

Upon boarding the aircraft we were informed we had the best seats in the house. Very back row, extra leg room and no middle seat, yay!
Pete and I were stoked that we didn't have to sit with some random squished in between us - those seats on the plane were tiny as sh!t.

The flight went for an hour each way and took us flying over valleys and creeks before descending into the national park entrance. From here we boarded another bus and made our way up into the National Park. It was incredible and we were told to be on the look out for squirrels and deers as they often are seen walking the sides of the roads as they are native animals here at the National Park and it is illegal to hunt them - therefore they aren't scared of humans at all.

As we drove further into the park we noticed SNOW...it was all across the roads and absolutey beautiful. There wasn't heaps of it as it was a nice sunny day so most of it was starting to melt away but it was great to see regardless.

Once we arrived at our first destination we were told we had a few hours at this lookout peak and then we would be taken to the next lookout peak. We received boxed lunches and a little bottle of water, it was actually a decent lunch too! A salad roll (I have been craving salad rolls since arriving), some apple slices, a bag of choc-chip cookies and a tin of Pringles. Quite a decent lunch if you ask me!

We walked up through the lodges and out into the mountain over looking the Grand Canyon and it was more spectacular to see than I ever imagined. It was very chilly at the peak but so beautiful, we decided here, overlooking the Grand Canyon was the perfect spot to have our lunch and it was something I will never ever forget. Pete and I even spoke about if we were to ever come back and visit the Canyon we would love to spend a few nights at the lodges there. As cold as it would be, the views and experience of sleeping overlooking the Canyon would've been absolutely fabulous.

We then proceeded to the different viewing points around the canyon and surprisingly it looked different at each location. The different colours spread out across the canyon was spectacular.

After checking out the gift shops and some of the smaller museums there it was time to meet the bus and head back to our next destination - higher up into the peak!

This location again was just superb and this time we saw squirrels - so cute. They truly aren't afraid of you either, one walked right across the footpath in front of Pete without even hesitating.

We took so many photos of our trip here and at the final location, we walked past a huge rock called "Jump Rock" so I had to get the token jump rock photo - not even thinking about my two dodgy ankles I literally jumped rock ha. Thankfully the ankles held out for the landing, phew.

On the flight home, I was feeling super sick..I guess my medication was starting to wear off and although I had hoped that the fresh, pristine air at the canyon would do my lungs the world of good, I don't think it did. I slept most of the flight home, I had to. My body was struggling to stay awake and I was absolutely freezing! On top of all of that I needed my energy to last a big night at the Casino watching Chris Angel Mindfreak - I was too keen for that to miss out.

I read that you shouldn't fly when you were sick but I didn't think much of it until the flight home. The last 10 minutes of the flight as we were slowly descending my ears were on fire. I have never experienced such pain in my whole entire life!

My ears literally felt like they were about to explode and I kept checking to see if I had blood coming out of them cos it totally felt like it. I've always had quite a high pain tolerance but the pain of this in my ears reduced me to tears. Here I was in the back of the helicopter bawling my eyes out - I was so embarrassed but luckily I was at the back of the plane and the noise of everything within the plane kept out the sound of my bawling. I was also wearing my sunnies so that held the tears pretty well too but Pete noticed. What made it even worse was that he thought I was bawling because I was scared...he knows I don't like flying too much but that definitely wasn't the case.

We got off the plane and eventually my ears settled back down and I could hear properly again. I never want to experience that kind of pain ever again!

As our plane was one of the first to leave earlier in the day that naturally meant we were returned to our hotel a bit earlier also. For me that worked out perfectly as by this time I was really feeling seedy and in need a few hours nap to hopefully be able to push through the show tonight.

The nap didn't really help but I woke and had a hot shower, took some more medication then rugged up for the walk down the strip to the Luxor theatre. We had a drink at the bar (just juice for me, the little sickie) some dinner and watched Chris Angel Mindfreak.
Chris Angels' show was amazing, absolutely spectacular!

The effects and tricks were phenomenal. Chris Angel performed so many amazing stunts, he levitated more than once throughout the show, walked sideways down a wall, guessed a viewers motorbike choice correctly and made it appear on stage, sawed a lady in half - blood went everywhere, he released himself out of a straight jacket hanging upside down in under a minute and he pad-locked himself in a clear, fully enclosed box and somehow not even a second later appeared beside someone in the audience. I have no idea how it did it but it was amazing none-the-less.

There were fireworks and strobe lighting all throughout the show and at the very end he released confetti into the audience. It was just amazing and if you're ever in Vegas I would 100% recommend his show!

We ended the night with Pete playing (but no winning) on a few of the pokie machines and stopping in at a few of the different Casino's. I felt really bad as I knew we only had a couple of nights in Vegas and due to my sickness it really limited what I was able to do. It would've been nice to gamble a bit more and have a few yummy cocktails. I also wanted to go on the big Ferris wheel and the rollercoaster but unfortunately I just didn't have the energy to stay out for them and that just sucked.

Unfortunately tonight is our last night in Vegas. I wish we had stayed at least an extra night as it is so beautiful and having the full day out today at the Grand Canyon, I feel the extra day to explore would've been worth it. Who was to know I was going to be sick though, right?

We are off to San Fransisco tomorrow and I am very excited for that.
Pete had been to LA, Mexico and Vegas before but never went to San Fran and neither have I so it should be a good experience for both of us. I am on day three of this sickness now so fingers crossed the worst of it is over and it passes so I can enjoy this holiday as much as possible!