While the Grans were here P and I took a week off work at the end of November and we all headed out on a road trip for about 6 days. First it was a short visit to Hoover Dam, where we had lunch and walked around the visitor centre and took some photos. Later that day we hit Las Vegas, this time we stayed at Treasure Island (TI) which was very nice and very convenient to everything. The first night of our stay I took the Grans to see Phantom of the Opera while P played chief babysitter and took N for a walk to see the lights of Vegas. Phantom was an incredible production with superb singers and really spectacular effects (fireworks and flares among them), I loved it and was really glad that we took the opportunity to see it. The following night we all went to see the Cirque du Soleil show "
Mystere", which is the only show in Vegas that you can take children under 5 years to see. It was playing at TI so it could not have been more convenient. N was really spellbound by it all and it was neat to see so much wonder on his face as he took it all in. It has long been a dream of mine to take Mum to see Phantom and Cirque du Soleil so to share that with her was very special for me. There are a fairly limited number of things you can do with a 3-year-old in the gambling and excess capital of the world but it was enough just to walk around during the day and take in the whole spectacle. We took a gondola ride at the Venetian with a gondolier who was more interested in hearing about copper mining than singing us some opera (which is what he expected us to tip him for doing). We made a very quick 
(just a few minutes) visit to Paris which was absolutely beautiful inside - I will definitely try to get back there again for a longer look around next time we visit. There were so many beautiful little shops and the whole interior of that part of the casino was just gorgeous - it was all done in such a way that it really did feel as though we were walking in Paris.From Las Vegas we headed east to Williams, from whence we took a day trip by train to the 
Grand Canyon. The train trip included lunch and a bus tour at the Canyon which was an ideal way to see a lot of scenery while minimising the amount of walking that the most senior and junior members of our party had to do. The Canyon was no less impressive the second time around and I am still awestruck by the sheer immensity of it. It appeals to me as a place where I could just sit and contemplate, well, anything for hours...the massive scale and incomparable beauty of the Canyon; our place in the Universe and how small and insignificant we really are when we compare ourselves to the great things that Mother Nature has created; and I found that it just really put a lot of things into perspective for me. I would have loved to be able to just sit there for a long time and soak it all in but of course we didn't have time to do that and with a little boy to watch out for (no guard rails on a lot of the lookouts, yikes) it's pretty hard to relax. The Canyon is a truly awesome place and I can't wait to 
visit it again. Travelling by train was not a bad way to go, at least we didn't have to worry about driving and could just relax and watch the scenery go by. Before the train left Williams that morning there was a mock shootout that had N very worried (he thought the gunfighter had really been shot so we had to explain that it wasn't real) then during the journey the outlaws boarded the train and "demanded" that we hand over our valuables. The outlaws and Sherriff (who of course was there to bring them to justice) are all former police officers who I guess are doing a much more entertaining job this side of retirement.
Grand Canyon. The train trip included lunch and a bus tour at the Canyon which was an ideal way to see a lot of scenery while minimising the amount of walking that the most senior and junior members of our party had to do. The Canyon was no less impressive the second time around and I am still awestruck by the sheer immensity of it. It appeals to me as a place where I could just sit and contemplate, well, anything for hours...the massive scale and incomparable beauty of the Canyon; our place in the Universe and how small and insignificant we really are when we compare ourselves to the great things that Mother Nature has created; and I found that it just really put a lot of things into perspective for me. I would have loved to be able to just sit there for a long time and soak it all in but of course we didn't have time to do that and with a little boy to watch out for (no guard rails on a lot of the lookouts, yikes) it's pretty hard to relax. The Canyon is a truly awesome place and I can't wait to 
visit it again. Travelling by train was not a bad way to go, at least we didn't have to worry about driving and could just relax and watch the scenery go by. Before the train left Williams that morning there was a mock shootout that had N very worried (he thought the gunfighter had really been shot so we had to explain that it wasn't real) then during the journey the outlaws boarded the train and "demanded" that we hand over our valuables. The outlaws and Sherriff (who of course was there to bring them to justice) are all former police officers who I guess are doing a much more entertaining job this side of retirement. After spending a wonderful day at the Grand Canyon in chilly but sunny weather we had planned to continue east from Williams to Flagstaff. Instead a big snow storm came in so rather than drive into the worsening weather we decided to head back to Bagdad. It was a shame to have cut our holiday short but rather that than end up stranded somewhere because of the terrible weather.
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