Well, my pets, the third and last full day of Vegas had two planned highlights that we were all excited about. The day started with a limo ride to Pappillon Adventures at the Vegas airport. Colleen had bought me a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon for my birthday, and we rose at the buttcrack of dawn (early in Vegas standards anyway) to catch the limo and make our way to the helipad.
Our adventure began when we got to the helicopter and saw that the six of us had to squeeze our adult frames into tiny seats that most children would find a tight fit. It was more evident when the Pappillon staff pushed up behind us with a giant shoe horn. Let's just say we got intimate! Once inside, we all prayed the door would close and not pop open from the strain halfway through the flight. BUT, we were in and up in no time.
The tour was to take us over the Hoover Dam, land on the floor of the canyon, have a champaign lunch, and fly back by way of the Vegas strip. The fly over of the Hoover Dam was spectacular — much more so that I expected. We flew by the "sky bridge" which we later learned was actually owned by Chinese businessmen, and, frankly was a racket. We got the much better view, pictures and overall experience for roughly the same price, thanks to Colleen's savvy skills.
We landed on a small overlook in a crook in the Colorado river at the base of the canyon, had lunch and flew back up for a refuel before a spectacular flyover of the Vegas miracle mile. All joking about the tight fit aside, it was a great trip!
That night I had finagled us a table in Aureole restaurant — a Charlie Palmer deal with a(n) (in)famous 4-story wine tower in the center. The tower was encased in glass and surrounded by a system of pulleys and cables from which these women, clothed in black would "zip" to your wine selection and retrieve it for your table. Now, the advertising called the, Wine Angels and led you to believe that these supermodels in skin-tight leotards would be flitting up to your bottle and whisking it to your table. Well 1) the wine tower on included "young" red wines and 2)the wine angels were easily all matronly (to say the least) and were (thankfully) dressed in baggy pants and shirts. The meal, though, was exquisite (despite the rather awkward digital wine list, provided on a tablet PC). I just wish I weren't so tired when we sat down to eat...I faded quickly.
All in all, it was good to see my Aussie buds and spend some time with Colleen. Next time, though, I pick the location :-)
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Several years ago I did that same helicopter trip...it was the highlight of my stay. As you said, the Hoover Dam flyover was awesome! I was lucky enough to be in the front seat, so not "squished".
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