Let's start at the beginning, it's a very good place to start…..

Our Vegas story starts in New York 2015. It was our 2nd trip there and it didn't exactly get off to a good start. Day One, a pleasant walk around Times Square and quicker than you can say Statue Of Liberty, Jane goes over on her ankle. Back at the hotel which, as a side note was where some of the movie Big was filmed (St James Hotel, West 45th Street) and the injury was plain to see.

Did it ruin the holiday? No but it didn't stop me thinking after the year we were having that maybe, just maybe a trip somewhere later in the year would be something to look forward to but where would we go? I know where we're not going, Vegas. Mom and Dad had gone there on their own that year and weren't overly impressed but I'll go into that in more detail on another blog. The trip had to be cheap, I'm not one for lying on a beach doing nothing and nothing against Europe but I just didn't fancy it.

Weeks later and I went against everything I had said and booked a package holiday through Thomas Cook to Las Vegas staying at the Tropicana. We're not on the Strip so away from the noise, it's smaller than Harrahs where the folks stayed and Jane was already on Operation 'Things To Do' and had planned on at seeing Penn and Teller at Rio and having Afternoon Tea at Mandarin Oriental. It's a good job Jane had found some other things to do because after seeing the sign, Bellagio Fountains and the Mirage Volcano there's not really too much to do apart from gambling and then there's a place called Downtown Vegas that looks a bit dodgy but it's supposed to be good so we'd probably pop there to see this canopy thing they have.

One of our family friends, we'll call him Martin because that's his name was round our house fixing something I was totally incapable of doing when the conversation turned to Vegas. He'd mentioned how he was surprised the folks hadn't been too keen and it was at that point we found out he and his wife go to Vegas numerous times a year. He suggested watching some chap on YouTube from the UK who films his trips and to join the Vegas Message Board because it's full of interesting, useful information and it's where he found out about this chap called Matt Bridger.

Thanks to the Vegas Message Board, Matt Bridger on YouTube and Google I felt that I knew everything I wanted to know about Vegas but to be honest, it was just a week away somewhere different and if we didn't like it then we'd put it down to experience.

October came, we got on the plane. Over 10 hours later we arrived, looking out of the plane window we saw what I could only describe as being like nothing as I had ever seen before. Little did I know, this one week trip was going to change our lives forever.