IT WAS A WENDY'S

Not the parking lot of a Taco Bell, our favourite ever quote from Friends, and one that has been oft repeated on this and other trips.

Final hotel stuff involved a treadmill parkrun, done a few miles over the last couple of days, but the Great North Run a week tomorrow will be the opening of the half marathon autumn, and will build through that towards Cardiff.

A lot of squeezing stuff in bags, and keeping half an eye on the Premier League and a full eye on the Swans at Millwall.

Took the tram to the Excalibur, then walked across 'our' New York New York bridge to the food court just a block or 2 up the strip.  Wendy's what Bryn and I opted for exactly as we did 2 years ago, so that now makes it a tradition.

Found out the Swans had got a win, and a rather random shout of Swansea from Mickey Mouse on the strip left a final Vegas imprint.  Bryn and I did a fist pump in the Excalibur.

Kids visited the Fun Dungeon one last time in Excalibur, Chrissi and I had a last beer and game of blackjack.

Last walk through Luxor to Mandalay Bay, picked up cases and off to Mccarron Airport. Swiftly through the bag check and to the land of tech where we all promptly plugged devices into the charge centre, all part of the re-familiarisation with life back home.

Flight back was a dream, only 9 hrs, flew by in the blink of an eye.  Eyes did close for a while, but opened long enough to watch a couple of films.  The Theory of Everything, the personal side of Hawking, now I need to get round to reading his book, I had nominated it recently as the book I would take on Desert Island Discs, as the best way to explore the meaning to life.  Game Night was the second film I watched, a sort of Scream like thriller, with moments of humour and violence, passed the time.  Touched down 30 mins early, through customs and baggage in no time at all and back at the Crowne Plaza to pick up Blackjack, and pleased I could still remember how to use a clutch.  Another great adventure over.

-Carys-

Today was the day to say goodbye to Vegas, and head home. We had some moments of panic whilst packing everything away (we had to be out of the room by 11am), but we managed to get it all sorted in the end. The Mandalay Bay room has been the best hotel room I've ever stayed in, so I didn't want to leave!

W|er checked out at the Delano counted and dropped our bags with some men who would look after them untll we needed them back. I mean, we didn't wanted to be lugging them around all morning.

We did a repeat of what we'd done on our last day two years ago, but strolling through New York New York and over the bridges, to the nearby food court. I had a subway, because I fancied one. I quite wanted a Krispy Kreme too, but due to my full stomach I decided I'd better not.

WE waved goodbye to beautiful Vegas one last time, took some final photos, and walked back to Delano where we picked up our bags. Oh, we did pop intyo Excalbur on the way back, so me and Bryn could have a decider on a racing car game (he won, darn) and mum and dad could have a final go at the casino.

After picking up our bags and jumping into a taxi to Mcarron airport, where we checked in our bags. The line took quite a while, but then we swapped queues and that was a lot quicker. We got through customs quite smoothly and then sat by the charging station for an hour or so.

It was soon time to board the plane. The flight was over pretty quickly. I even managed to eat some of my hot meal on the plane for the first time ever! and I got lots of sleep. I didn't even watch a movie. It was quite an easy flight - no sickness, and I wasn't too uncomfortable.

We breezed through the airport, got another taxi to the airport hotel and said hello to our car. From then on, it was a quick 2 hours home, and now time to readjust to home life.

Thank you for reading, if you have got this far. I hope you've enjoyed following our adventures, and I hope you join us on many more to come!

me and my monkeys

Definitely winding down now, may be the briefest of blogs, as has been a gym, pool, poker and dinner day. Not sure what to do with myself :)

Didn't leave the Mandalay Bay for most of the day. We can now say we have covered off all hotels down this end of the Strip, will need to move up from here on in.  Lovely hotel, feels like more space than the Luxor, Excalibur and MGM Grand, room to breathe.  Chrissi only agreed to marry me in Vegas the first time round so she could be Mrs Williams ... and now we have entered one of his songs too. ..

we got more than a monkey bed

spacious

The addition of the Delano tower and out $90 upgrade has given us even more space to make a little home for a few days. There is a private gym in the Delano, which Bryn and I used in the morning.

hench

another of seattles finest

The girls went for a walk up the Strip, Bryn and I visited the pool, fake beach, wave machine. I was pretty bored after an hour, and he seemed to have met a couple of young ladies, so I didn't want to cramp his style, and went back to the Casino.

lads by the pool

too hot for me

cool inside with jacko

Entered the mid afternoon Mandalay Poker tournament, a shorter chip stack meant I didn't have time to make too many moves, and was busted after an hour.

Couple of hours of reflection; as I have mentioned previously, Vegas carries a lot of importance for me, the place Chrissi and I got married, and somewhere I would want to call a 'second home' If I make it to retirement would like to spend a few weeks a year out here in some of the local casinos amongst some of the grizzled poker vets, chewing the fat, putting a few of the young upstarts in their place.  Life is short, and live fast, enjoy the moment is captured in this place, and something I can really get on board with.

Got onto BA online to check in for tomorrow and get our seats booked together for the direct flight home.

Our last night out was a trip next door to the Luxor to have one of the legendary Vegas buffets.  Pretty much eat all you want for $100 for a family of 4 seemed the best deal in the immediate vicinity.  They threw in some rather random cocktail for that, although any other alcohol would have cost - we stuck to the 'blue milk' cocktail, and as is the way with buffets, ate a random assortment of food.  Think I started with salad and sushi (and pizza), had a chinese course, a mexican course, and coffee and cake.  That'll do for me!!

all you can eat

hunt the pizza

ariba ariba

just desserts

free green stuff

Back over to 'the bay' where Chrissi and I had a few last spins on the slots and games of blackjack.  The real beginning to over power the surreal as the trip draws to a close.

vegas pure imagination

game of statues

Today has been one of my favourite days of the holiday, simply because I had so much fun ! MUM and I left the boys behind, and went for a walk down the strip.

It was super hot, but we had to walk through lots of hotels and shopping centres anyway, so it wasn't too bad. I also sat in a large shoe at one point!

For a quick  breakfast ─ we bought some fruit and two cereal bars (and drinks) in a CVS Pharmacy along the strip. We ate that as we walked down.

I love Vegas because of all the themes of the hotels. For example, the hotel named 'Paris' has a large replica (not so big) Arc De Triumph and Eifel Tower. I find it really cool, thinking about each hotel and their themes!

We walked past Bellagio as well, the hotel with the most beautiful fountains, but unfortunatley, the fountains were turned off. I threw a penny in and made a wish though, because I like things like that.

It didn't take us long, so we reached Caesar's Palace, one of the largest and more-popular hotels on the Strip, before 12. We were looking for Forum Shops, so we wandered through the ginormous hotel in search for the shopping centre. On our way, we encountered lots of beautiful architecture, and some...strange...statues.

Once we'd reached the Forum Shops, we went straight to the place, I'd been wanting to go for the whole holiday - The Cheescake Factory! I couldn't contain my excitement at all.

We ordered a cheesecake slice each, and one for Dad too. I ordered The White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake  (because it sounded like heaven) and a strawberry milkshake. I chose the milkshake as I don't normally get them, but when it arrived, I realised why! It was huge, practically a desert itself.

Then,t he cheesecake came, and it did taste like heaven! Luckily they boxed up the remains of my slice with me so I could enjoy that later.

After we'd eaten as much as we could, we went into Bath & Body Works. It's this lovely shop that you can't get in the UK filled with bath products and nice smelling things. I spent ages sniffing all the delicious candles, especially the autumn-scented ones.

Mum was very kind, and she let me buy some things, which i am so excited to take home!

Dad wanted us to get back, so we had a brief browse through some other shops, then hopped on the CURVING escalator (it was so strange) and walked out of Caesar's Palace. WE crossed the road and walked back to the hotel on the other side of the strip, so we could see both sides.

I loved seeing all the commotion of the streets, and how friendly people were, holding the doors open and smiling. It was still boiling hot, and the sky was bright blue  not a cloud in sight.

Back at the hotel, I came upstairs to sit down for a bit, whilst mum went out to find out what was going on wit dad and Bryn. She wasn't gone for long, so when she got back, we decided to head down the pool for the final time.

It was a lot more crowded down there today - supposedly because it's Friday and a bank holiday weekend in america - so we went and used the sunbeds in the Delano 'private' pool. When I checked, I was surprised to see it had reached 100 degrees!

After an hour or two enjoying, relaxing and swimming, we agreed we'd better go up to the boys in the room. I was sad to say goodbye to the pool - it's been really good. We got changed, showered, and headed out for our final dinner in the Luxor Buffet.

It was very tasty, though of course I ate too much. I mean, it's a buffet - who stops when they are full at a buffet?! The buffet had a few different cuisine options, so I had quite a few different things, and even some vegetables!

I was very tired again, so after we'd used the buffet as much as possible, mum and dad sent us back to the room while they gambled downstairs for a while. When they came back to the room, I fell asleep very quickly.