Brighton 2

We got back from Vegas on Sunday 9 December and have been suffering from sleeping sickness ever since, I keep sleeping in till 1pm. Unbelievable, I don't think I've done that since I was about 12 years old and was allowed to as I was staying at my Grandmother's for summer holidays!

I have a list of things to do but really, nothing to do... Oliver is either out working with my brothers or at the skatepark.

I'll write a blog soon about my brother Paul, who was on a TV show with his wife Helen. Called 'The Block' it was about 6 different couples who each had to design and build the inside of a house on a block in Brighton. Paul and Helen didn't win the series but did eventually manage to buy their house - great story, I'll get some pics.

Las Vegas 4

As we drove up the stip to drop off the hire car and collect our bags for the airport, we stopped at lights at the Bellagio - the fountains were on and dancing to Elvis singing Viva Las Vegas... aahh, classic!!!

Anyway, what can I say? We came here for The Wedding and it was FABULOUS, I still love Vegas, I got right into the entertainment and party however I still detect a disturbing note with the people who work here. It's all about generating the money for the corporations - the people we met are paid the minimum wage and all rely on tips for their income. By the time I got to the airport, I was bled dry of my dollars... but I'd still come back for more!

Las Vegas 3

Most of the group left of Wednesday when we waved Hannah & Mark off to their skiing honeymoon in California. That left me, Judy, Paul and my Oli to shop - so we've done all the malls and viwed all the sights on the strip.

When Paul and Judy left, I hired a car and went to Death Valley and Hoover Dam.

Car hire was simple, only cost around $40 dollars for 24hrs and as this was my first time driving in the USA a bit of an adventure - the highways are incredibly busy and nobody signals!

The stars in DV were stunning, this is the place in the US where there is the least light pollution, I'd love to spend a few days here to explore. Hoover Dam is interesting to say the least... we did the damn tour to see the innards of the structure - this only started again a month ago after is was cancelled after 911. The finished design of the dam is Art Deco and by far the most intriguing feature is the site dedicated to the opening of the dam.

The base of the site is inlaid with a star chart/celestial map, which preserves 'for future generations' (ie 200,000 years into the future or reading between the lines, ETs) the date on which the dam was opened (September 30, 1935). The stars on the chart are shown as they would appear to the naked eye at a distance of about 190 trillion miles from earth and are placed so that an astonomer could calculate the precession of the Pole Star for approximately the next 14,000 years. Weird to say the least - incidentally, the dam is compared with the pyramids of Giza in terms of construction genius... no other comment.