23rd September
Early start today - up at 4am - ready to be picked up at 4:50am. We had always planned to visit the Grand Canyon whilst we were in Vegas but due to a lack of research on our part we hadn’t realised just how far it was from Vegas to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon - some 330 miles or about 6 hours drive each way. After a fair bit of umming and ahhing we decided to do a fly and bus tour.
So, out of the door of the hotel we went at 4:50am and there was the coach waiting to pick us up. We were the first pick-up, so after a few more hotel stops to collect more people we headed off to North Vegas airport. We checked in for the private flight and then a short time later we boarded the plane - a small 30 seater twin-prop plane and took off for the short 45 minute flight to the Grand Canyon National Park airport.
The views on the way were stunning, from the views over Vegas, to the detour over Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, to the canyons that feed into the Grand Canyon. Whilst you don’t actually fly over the South Rim of the Canyon, you can see it as you come into land as the airport is only some 3 miles away from the South Rim.
Once off the plane we were straight onto a tour bus, with the driver also acting as tour guide, pointing out things along the way and providing us with other interesting facts, figures and information.
Our first stop was Bright Angel Lodge, where we had about half an hour to wander around taking in the view.
It was then back on the coach over to Mather Point. Here we had the most stunning views which really captured what you imagine the Grand Canyon to look like. 
On the way back from here, the driver/guide told us that from where we were stood on the South Rim it was 7 miles across to the North Rim as the crow flies. Even in person, it is hard to judge the sheer scale and size of the Canyon, so the pictures don’t really do it justice.
It was suprisingly cold here - probably in the high 60s, with a cold wind - which we hadn’t really banked on coming from Vegas where temperatures are probably in the low 70s even in the early morning, but the canyon at some points is 7 to 8 thousand feet above sea level, and as we noticed when flying over, quite green in places and also has snowfall during winter, which our guide informed us last year was 7ft deep.
We had an hour at Mather Point before getting back on the bus and back to the airport for the flight back to Las Vegas. We were then taken back to the hotel where we arrived around midday. So it was a short but very sweet visit to the Grand Canyon. If you’re short on time and want to see the Canyon, then I would certainly recommend this trip - it gave us a good ’taste’ of the Canyon. To really experience it though I think you need to spend a lot more time there, and probably hike it from the rim down to the Colorado river at the bottom, but we simply didn’t have the time for that - next time perhaps!
Once back at the hotel we made some Skype calls back to both our families before having a siesta to make up for the early start. An hour spent by the pool reading in the late afternoon sun followed. Unsuprisingly it’s really hot here in Vegas, approaching the high 90s around midday, and remaining hot late into the evening.
We went back to the Cheesecake Factory in the evening, this time sharing just one appetizer between us (yes, an appetizer - it was huge) leaving enough room for a slice of cheesecake - again one between us!
We wanted to take a look at the Paris casino, so headed over there for a look before going back to the Bellagio to watch another 3 fountain displays - again, very impressive, and kind of addictive. Spellbinding. The superlatives could go on and on. Below you can see a video we took of the fountains in action.