So, we left SLC and touched down in Las Vegas. Didn't even leave the terminal before we saw people using poker machines - right there in the airport.

It was the first of many things that made me shake my head in disbelief.

Checked into our accommodation.

Pretty cool. Another airbnb find.

That night, we were seeing our first show - The Beatles LOVE at the Mirage.

It was SPECTACULAR. So many things to look at. The music was amazing (original Beatles songs), the staging was fantastic, costumes fantastic. My fave song was Lucy in the Sky of Diamonds. The aerial work was just beautiful. Here is a link to a clip from you-tube http://youtu.be/P4juuTgg12M

Was an awesome show.

Across the road, we went to the Venetian. I've seen photos of this before, but its nothing until you see it in real life.

This is INSIDE a shopping centre.

Next day, we went to the Grand Canyon ....... Via HELICOPTER. We had never been on a helicopter before. I was ...... Terrified for about ten seconds. Then, I was fine.

On board with my honey.

Best view of the Las Vegas strip.

We went to the glass bottomed skywalk. We couldn't take anything onto it (including cameras). We had a pic taken by the operators, and it was printed for us.

An awesome experience.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the strip.

The Luxor - an Egyptian themed hotel resort. It has an enormous pyramid and sphinx. Totally tack!

New York New York. 

M and M museum - this one was for you Mark and Melanie.

At Vdara - an AWESOME timber sculpture.

Lots of real floral arrangements around. This one was in Aria.

Not France, Las Vegas.

In Bellagio. Just beautiful. Inspired Kylie to hang her parasol from Japan upside down from the ceiling. That is, if I didn't get rid of it in the last cull.

Time for another show.

This is playing at Mandalay Bay. 

Another AMZAING show. So immersive. When it snowed, it snowed inside the theatre The bungee jumpers bunged basically above our hearts. The dancers were right in with the audience. Audience photos were up on the screen.

Another day, another Cirque show - 'O' at the Bellagio. This one was not planned, but there were tix still available. Have you seen O? It was amazing. There is a pool in the show. It was just amazing. 

Of course, after the show, time for another amazing show - the fountain.

Was spectacular.

Went to meeting on Las Vegas. Check out this incognito photo I took.

The brother handling the microphones is 11. He was such an awesome young brother. Great to meet you Colby.

Last day in town - time for a Gondola ride, wax museum and lunch. Thanks Gayle!

Is that how they do the lean?

Time to leave - there are thousands (probably literally) or other pics to show you.....

We fly to New York overnight and our next adventure begins. Thanks for reading.

Today was our last day in Utah. I woke up feeling dead. So, Kylie arranged for us both to have oxygen treatment, which helped a lot. Felt better after that.

Beautiful setting for it.

We had an enormous amount of gifts/prizes that we somehow had to get home, so Stampin Up had arranged to send 12 pounds (i still cant get used to this stupid system ouf weighing things).

Check out a all of the prizes/gifts/bags

Its mostly craft items, but there were a few bags that were quite large. So, even after the 12 pounds, we still had about ten pounds of stuff to send - we were NOT going to be lugging around ribbon and stamp sets. So, we ventured down to Park City. We went there the other day when Kylie was sick, so now it was my turn to go there whist sick. lol. Our main purpose was to arrange to post the items back home. We were looking for the post office and couldn't seem to find it, Mainly because we were both looking for the big red P (the Australia Post symbol.

Park City was such a nice town.

Im not sure if I showed you this but this is the Furnicular that runs up the back of the Hotel. You can either drive up the mountain using twists and turns. Or, ride up one of two Furniculars (or Funulator as some AWESOME person from NSW calls them).

That night we were whisked away for a secret dinner /goodbye party

It was at a massive ranch and it was a Utah Party in a barn.

It was pretty cool. After dinner, we had dancing in the ..... rotunda? Surely there is a more country name for it?

And, the dancing went into the night.

Line dancing aplenty.

Tomorrow - Las Vegas! 

Sorry I haven't been invading your inboxes for the last two days. As the title of the post suggests - it was my turn. For what? For altitude sickness. It was horrible. It's amazing - we are. In Las Vegas now, and I have none of the symptoms I had in SLC and Deer Valley. But, lets catch up on what two days worth.

Wednesday was a MASSIVE day. The alarm went off at 4:30 am. This photo was taken 2 minutes later.

We were off to a place called Kanab. It was a one hour bus ride, one hour flight then a two hour bus ride to arrive and the same in return. It was a super early start, so there weren't many photos taken until we got to the airport. With all usual morning starts, there was the obligatory morning coffee. Contrary to popular belief (myself included) there are lots off coffee shops all around SLC, including the airport. 

So, one thing I forgot to tell you is that Stampin' Up chartered a plane. THE.ENTIRE.PLANE. There was about 200 people on board. It was a LOUD and crafty plane ride. Did I mention that it was LOUD?

We touched down in a place called St. George. It was hot as hades. 

This was the view that greeted us when we walked out of the airport.

So, we are basically in the middle of the desert.

In fact, we made the local news;

http://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2013/07/25/boeing-757-brings-international-crowd-to-southern-utah/

This was typical of the views we saw on the 2 hour bus ride. 

When we arrived, we were greeted by all of the staff (and some ring-ins for the day)

It's a literal oasis in the middle of a parched landscape.

And, then we had lunch provided and took a tour of the facility. We were stunned. The stamps are literally hand made. I expected automation.

In fact, I made one for myself.

Sets being cooled before trimming - by hand!!!!!

Kylie had a go at assembling a pack - also done by hand.

One of the many freebies for the day. These other husbands were chuffed about getting their first stamp set. I pretended it was my first to fit in. Lol

Labels being affixed to the ink pads

Card stock being sorted and packaged.

We had 2 stain up home office employees on our tour.

We also had a look at Shelli Gardeners holiday place which is on site. I took some interesting pictures. 

On the way home, we stopped by at a park where the off its from the rubber stamps are used in a park. So, I buried my arm in it.

It was really bouncy and really hot.

SUPER Cute

The park

This was at the edge of the park

Then, we headed home. It was not good. The bus ride was good. We all boarded the plane. To conserve energy, the ac was not on while we waited for the flight plan ....... For in excess of 45 minutes. On the Tarmac. Someone had an asthma attack. It was HOT! But, then we took off as soon as it was received. Took the flight attendants by surprise. Add a bit of turbulence and there was an almighty cheer when the plane touched down.

That was a super eventful day. I'm still 2 days behind because the next 2 days, I was sick so I have to catch up on those.

Altitude Sickness

Like me, youve probably never really heard about Altitude Sickness. Let me break it down for ya - When we left SLC, the height above sea level was;

When we touched down in St. George, the height above sea level was;

Two hours later, when we arrived in Kanab, the height above sea level was;

To give you an idea by comparison, note this excerpt from Wikipedia;

Mount Kosciuszko is a mountain located in the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park. With a height of 2,228 metres (7,310 ft) above sea level, it is the highest mountain in Australia.

The ENTIRE city of Salt Lake City is above the highest point in Australia. And, the hotel we stayed in - I didn't take the reading. But, we were driving for about 20 minutes up the mountain. So, you can understand why some, including both Kylie and me, suffered from altitude sickness.

Symptoms? Wikipedia - thanks again;

Primary symptoms[edit]

Headaches are the primary symptom used to diagnose altitude sickness, although a headache is also a symptom of dehydration. A headache occurring at an altitude above 2,400 metres (8,000 feet = 76 kPa), combined with any one or more of the following symptoms, may indicate altitude sickness:

• Lack of appetite, nausea, or vomiting
• Fatigue or weakness
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Insomnia
• Pins and needles
• Shortness of breath upon exertion
• Nosebleed
• Persistent rapid pulse
• Drowsiness
• General malaise

And we both had all of those.

Anyway, all seems ok now.