Leaving Vegas!

 Saturday saw me have a lazy day but I checked out where I was to get the tour bus the next day - I wasn't going to be late again! I went to the 'Mob museum' which was really interesting and got me out of the hot sun!

Sunday was an early start and I was ready for the tour in plenty of time! I was heading to the southern rim of the Grand Canyon. Luckily there were fewer people on this bus so we all had space to get comfortable and as it was a long trip out to the rim it was needed. It had entered my head that perhaps I could go on another helicopter trip. As the journey progresed it became windier and windier and by the time we arrived all helicopters had been grounded!

The views from the walkways were spectacular!

I didn't arrive back until 10pm but it was well worth the long drive!

On Monday it was another early start and the bus pick up was at another spot! I took a cab to make sure I was at the right place! This was a small group tour to the 'Valley of Fire' National Park. There were only seven people so a good size. It took about an hour from Las Vegas to reach the park and was rather spectacular with all the different coloured rocks. Its earliest inhabitants were probably hunter gatherers, known as the Basketmaker Culture, according to the petroglyphs we saw. The scarcity of water would have made their stay short.

The sandstone and limestone rocks gave the name to the park.

 Elephant rock

We had plenty of time to explore the different areas and because of the early start were not there in the hottest part of the day.

A week had passed and so it was time for my return to a much cooler temperature in Illinois!!

Las Vegas is not a place I would return to even the heat would not entice me!