Las Vegas, The Hoover Dam, and the Grand Canyon

So I finally got time to go through all my photos and things since I got back on saturday night.

The trip was very intense and started badly with mine and Rob Graham's plane being delayed by an hour, but we got there fine and were eventually picked up by one of the others who'd arrived in Las Vegas around the same time as us.

From the hotel we headed out to a buffet to fill us up for the long trek around the hotels along the Strip. We didn't quite manage all the hotels on the first night so the next day whilst everyone slept in past mid-day I got up and went for a wander to some of the places we'd been the night before and also to a couple of other places. In Ceasar's PalacePossibly the biggest Chocolate fountain in the world!The waterfall in the Palazzo

My favourite hotel was definately the Venetian. It was all set out like Venice inside and even had a changing sky, Saint Marc's Square and Gondola trips down canals!

My other Las vegas highlights were definately the rain show inside (not that we needed it really as it was raining both days we were there, typical only I can go to the desert and get rain!), the Bellagio water show, and M&Ms world. I must have walked miles up and down that strip.Being Dwarfed by the big blue M&M :)The ful 32 flavours of M&Ms amazing!

Breaking free from the M&Ms museum end picture in M&M world shop

One night we went to the top of the stratosphere tower and you get an amazing view from up there though it was a bit cloudy so I'm sure it could have been better. then we went to the Freemont in Downtown Las Vegas to watch the light show and lose a few dollars (not that many I didn't find it too exciting really).The Stratosphere tower (above) and the view from it (below)

On our final day we looked at a few last minute things and went for dinner in the rainforest cafe which was excellent, and really fun to be surrounded by all the animals and trees that had been put out to make it feel like a real rainforest.

The journey back was a long one. We drove from Las Vegas to the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon between Nevada and Arizona crossing the first of the 2 time lines, before finally stopping at Flagstaff in Arizona on the friday night.

The mountains I saw as I left Flagstaff in ArizonaSitting in the BIG chair at the Big Texan a steak restraunt where if you manage to eat a 72oz steak in under an hour you get it for free

I thought the Hoover dam was really cool a truely fascinating piece of engineering and you could stand in 2 time zones at once on the border with Nevada and Arizona.
The Lake which acts as a reservoir a the top of the Hoover Dam, you can see how low the water level was this year from the white tide line on the rocks.Looking down the massive wall, it's amazing to think how it was ever built

The grand Canyon has to be the uncontested highlight of the trip. It was so vast and so beautiful . There were so many photo opportunities, the only draw back was that it was extremely cold but I suppose that's what happens at 6737 feet up in the mountains at the end of November. The beautiful canyon in all its evening gloryThe Meteorology gang, Rob W, Rob G, Becky, Rob L, Me and PeteSat in an old tree at the Canyon on the woodland trail

Me right on the edge of what felt like the world, how tiny do I look?!

Me and my met boys on the edgeLooking pensive as I take in the scale of the Gran Canyon

I was glad to get home though and have my own bed, and I'm now getting all excited at the propect of Christmas, it's only 17 days until I come home now, it's so soon.