The Frequent Flyer: Viva Las Vegas

Las Vegas or Sin City as it's also know as is the location to go for fun times and parties, if you've ever seen The Hangover you'll know what I'm talking about, so when I planned my Vegas trip I was expecting some crazy fun times to..... that was until I landed there with one of the worst colds I've had in a long time! So what fun can you get up to in Vegas when you've got a bad cold with tissues stuffed up your nose, dog tired in bed by 10pm? Well actually there's quite a lot of PG rated fun times to be had in Vegas so I'm going to share just a few of the fun things you can do whilst your there sipping your Shirley Temples.

Visit Shark Reef Aquarium

I love visiting aquariums, there's just something so magical about sea creatures and they're very soothing and calming to watch especially when you're feeling a bit under the weather. There's not just fish to be seen there though they have a komodo dragon and some alligators to, it's a great way to spend a day and worth a visit if you're in Vegas.

Have dessert in Cafe Belle Madeleine

In Vegas you can go to Egypt, New York, Venice, Rome and Paris all in one day, and the cakes they serve in Paris are just as good as the real thing so I definitely recommend a stop of there if you get the chance, my personal fave is the raspberry chocolate mousse, so delicious!

See the Fountains at the Bellagio

This is a must for anyone who goes to Vegas, our hotel was just across the road from the Bellagio so we were lucky to see a few of the different shows and each was just as pretty and magical as the last, it definitely adds a bit of calm amidst the craziness of the strip.

Go see Love

Cirque du Soliel has numerous shows in Las Vegas but I've been told Love is the absolute best and I must agree! I love The Beatles and it was fantastic to see such an unusual and magical presentation of their music if there is one show you have to see in Vegas this one is definitely it!

Discover Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden

Tucked away behind The Mirage is a little habitat set up by retired German magicians Siegfried and Roy which houses some of their white lions and tigers as well as dolphins and other animals. I have a bit of a soft spot for the big cats so it's nice to see them enjoying life in a more natural environment off stage and they're absolutely stunning to watch even when they're sleeping.

Skywalk over the Grand Canyon

Weirdest experience of my life! I don't know if it was the cold meds making me feel dizzy that day or the fact I was standing 4000ft above the Grand Canyon with just a plate of glass between me and the drop. It was a very surreal and strange experience something I can't exactly put into words but the view was amazing and it's definitely something you should try out at least once.

Love & Happy Adventures

Cate

xoxo

The Frequent Flyer: Sunrise in the Skies

It's been a life long dream of mine to go up in a hot air balloon, the whole experience seems so dreamy and magical to me, the thought of just floating in the skies and going wherever the wind blows is something I sure most adventurers dream of so when the opportunity came up for me to finally take to the skies in a balloon I leaped at the chance!

Sunrise is best time to go hot air ballooning as the winds are more stable so my wake-up call came at a very early 4am, so after a few stretches, a quick shower and a lack of coffee (no toilets aboard the balloon!) our ride arrived to take us to the launch site.

When it comes to ballooning you're pretty much working with the wind so the launch site for the day by chance happened to be a car park at the back of Wal Mart, here the baskets were set up and the balloons were heated and before we knew it we were in the skies.

At this point I'd like to mention how my dad was dreading this experience, he has a fear of heights so wasn't looking forward to being at the mercy of the wind in a big basket however once we were in the air his fear disappeared as it was every bit the magical, calm and beautiful experience I had imagined it to be.

Floating over the Nevada desert was on of the best experiences of my life looking (and waving) at the people below was so much fun and in vast contrast to the craziness of The Strip, it was just the perfect way to start the day.

 Our flight time was just over an hour but I honestly could have stayed for days just floating on the wind and seeing where it took me but unfortunately we were out of fuel and running out of safe landing sites, so our journey ended in a field on the south side of Las Vegas.

So after we helped pack up the balloon we visited a local park to toast our pilot and our safe journey. Hot air ballooning is something I definitely want to do more of as I loved the experience so much and would recommend it to anyone and everyone to try out at least once, if you're anything like me you'll be hooked and looking for your next ballooning adventure!

Balloons &Happy Adventures

Cate

xoxo

The Frequent Flyer: The Truth Is Out There

If you couldn't guess from the title of this post I'm a bit of a fan of The X-Files and as soon as saw I you could take a road trip from Las Vegas to Area 51 the geek in me could not resist going, I was on a mission to find the truth, aliens & UFO's

So I admit I'm not exactly a believer of UFO's and the "mysteries" of Area 51 but I've been interested in it for a long time, as a kid I would love reading about aliens and the supernatural which was mostly fulled by my ongoing obsession with sci-fi movies and TV shows.

I love that everything in Rachel is alien themed, the road in to it is called the extraterrestrial highway, there's an Alien Research Center, they sell "alien" jerky on the roadside and of course no visit is complete without a stop the famous Little A'Le'Inn

I honestly can't find the words to describe the Little A'Le'Inn it was well, an experience, and if you're looking for extraterrestrial life then you've definitely come to the right place! The place is covered in kitschy alienware which yes you can buy to take home with you and the world famous alien burger lets just say is not exactly what you would expect.

The Little A'Le'Inn has been featured in numerous TV shows and movies and more recently one of my favourite creations from Simon Pegg, Paul which is about two geeks on a road trip that run into an alien escapee from Area 51, sound familiar? Although we didn't exactly run into any aliens on our road trip.

Aside from the geeky alien stuff it was really great to see just how vast and open the Nevada dessert is, all you can see is open land for hundreds of miles in every direction which is in stark contrast to The Las Vegas Strip and something you never see in the UK as everywhere is so densely populated.

As Area 51 is a working military base you're not allowed past the the gates and there is no chance of you sneaking past either as as soon as we arrived at the gates an unmarked car was watching us from the hillside, so there was no hope of me breaking out the captive aliens inside *wink* but I did send them a note via the infamous "black" mailbox.

I had so much fun on this road trip even though I didn't meet any aliens it was great to see the places where some of my favourite movies and TV shows were inspired and it was a nice break from the craziness of the Las Vegas Strip, so if you're looking for something alternative for you to do when in you're in Vegas I totally recommend a road trip to Area 51!

Flying Saucers & Cactus

Cate

xoxo

P.S. If you're looking to book your own adventure I totally recommend Adventure Photo Tours, I had an amazing time with them and our tour guide was such fun plus nobody got arrested and that's always a good thing!