It’s been just over two weeks since we got back from our holiday of a lifetime, and despite being desperate to share what we did and what we saw I’ve been struggling to put it in to words.

We started our adventure on the 31st of May when we headed up to The Hilton at Heathrow Terminal 5- we had booked a park and fly package which worked out brilliantly for us. It was only about £30 more to do it that way than it was to drive up in the early hours of the Saturday morning and park at Terminal 2 and it was a fantastic, luxury start to our holiday. Getting to Terminal 2 was a doddle in the morning and we were far more relaxed than if we’d had to leave our house at 3am!

We flew with United Airlines who were fantastic, we missed our connection to Las Vegas from Chicago due to a delay in London, but once we landed we found we only actually lost an hour and had been booked on to the next flight.

Landing in Las Vegas was insane- straight away you’re greeted with Slot Machines, and as first time visitors to the USA everything was larger than life. We were exhausted at this point and were desperate to get to our hotel. A short Uber ride later and we arrived at The Four Seasons where Bob had booked us a suite.

The Four Seasons is above the Mandalay Bay hotel and has it’s own private entrance, making it one of the few hotels on the strip where you don’t have to walk through a Casino. This was much welcomed after our first full day, and whilst we technically didn’t need a suite, it was a beautiful sanctuary after the heat and madness that is the strip!
The hotel is located at the far end of the strip (near the Luxor) making it a little quieter than some we saw. It’s so easy to get anywhere you want in Vegas- either using the monorail or Uber so we didn’t feel we had missed out by not being more central.

We only had two full days in Vegas, but it felt like enough. Evidently we took very few photos as we were just flat out overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the place, and it felt like by whipping out the camera we were constantly in someone’s way.
Mostly we spent our days walking around various hotels and casinos, but we did take a short trip to the Las Vegas North Premium Outlets which we highly recommend for designer bargains. I picked up the Kate Spade bag and wallet you see above for a mere £103!

With so little time we didn’t get chance to really explore the culinary scene, and the restaurants within casinos were very pricey. We mostly stuck to chains- PF Changs was a hit, however we had an excellent meal in Citizens within the Mandalay Bay- the New York Strip steak and Fish Tacos were divine!

On our last morning in Vegas we picked up our rental car (highly recommend Sixt) and headed to our next destination- Flagstaff in Arizona.
Obviously we had to stop at the Hoover Dam on the way, although it was 40 degrees out so we limited our time there to an hour of very sweaty walking.
The Dam itself is a breathtaking sight, it’s entirely man made and mind-boggling to think about how it was achieved.

Driving in America was something we didn’t tire of the entire trip. 12 hours in the car was no big deal when there was so much to take in. We were blown away by the sheer amount of open space and just how much you can see!
The drive to Flagstaff was our first time on the road and the rules of the road took some getting used to. Once we settled in and got the music blaring we just enjoyed the crazy scenery.

We spent about four hours driving that day before we hit our home for the night- the Twin Arrows resort just outside of Flagstaff. We had already dined on the road – why is Chick-Fil-A not a thing in the UK? Their waffle fries are insane! We were exhausted at this point and after a brief explore turned in for the night ready to be up early the next day for a drive to see the Grand Canyon and then make the epic trek back down through Arizona and in to California.

The Grand Canyon is one of the most insane things I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s just breathtaking. We weren’t really prepared for how busy it would be though, and by the time we had parked and walk to the viewing point it was lunch time and heaving. We had to cut our visit short, with a ten hour drive ahead of us, but it was well worth the heat and the crowds. If we’d had more time in Vegas I think we’d definitely have done an organised trip to see more of it, but just the snippet we did see left us blow away.

We then hopped back in to our car and started driving. And driving, and driving. We spent much of the day going through Mojave desert which is somewhere I have wanted to see for the longest time. It was a balmy 44 degrees when the above photo was taken and I had just made the mistake of googling local wildlife (pro tip- don’t!)
After a USA sized bucket of icy cold drink it was back in the car and on to Ventura, California.

Stay tuned for the next installment!