Nearly there....

I left Manchester airport this morning for the 10 hour flight to Las Vegas. The flight was excellent and although much of the time the ground was covered by varying degrees of cloud I did manage to capture enticing glimpses of wintry conditions as we passed the tip of Greenland and headed for Hudson Bay. From there we flew down across the Canadian prairies, over the Rockies and on to Salt Lake City where the cloud cover eventually dispersed to reveal the amazing topography of the canyons. Once Lake Mead came into view I knew we were not far away and was thrilled to have such a clear view of the Hoover Dam which my son and I had visited on my last visit here in December. You can also see the new road bridge which spans the deep gorge below the dam, built to cope with the increasing volumes of traffic. You can also see the white tide mark on the surrounding land which indicates just how low the level of water from the Colorado river has fallen over the past few years.

During the flight I was entertained by a charming fellow passenger who is a frequent visitor to Las Vegas and this time was going just for three days relaxation "to gamble and drink". His wife usually accompanies him on his longer trips and apart from Roulette and Black Jack they both play a game called Keano - which I had never heard of - based on something akin to a lottery ticket. This trip he has four envelopes with cash in them and will open one each day. If he loses it all then he calls it a night and retires to his room; however if he wins he keeps playing and can continue for hours! The next day he opens the next envelope and returns to the tables. Fascinating.

The air temperature when I landed was 98' with a light cloud covering so it felt very pleasant indeed. It is wonderful to be back here with my son and daughter-in-law, sitting outside in their yard chatting and relaxing like I have never been away. I confess I am feeling rather tired now but as Vegas time is 8 hours behind UK time I am going to stay up as long as I can and then hope to sleep into the morning without waking up at crack of sparrow! That is the plan anyway.