Archive for the tag 'grand canyon'

Grand Tourists

Today was a big day for us as we decided to splash out and go for a flight tour of the Grand Canyon. Much like a Vegas casino, the tour is HUGE and well worth seeing. First up was a 45 minute flight in a two prop plane which was pretty cool. The views from a smaller plane are amazing since you fly at a much lower altitude however the trade off is that if a large size bird farts somewhere in front of the airplane then you are going to feel a jolt of turbulence. Maybe not quite so bad, but you get that picture. Speaking of which, here’s a couple from the flight.

Preflight check

Preflight check

nice and cosy, no free booze though

nice and cosy, no free booze though

Me and Princess Ieia

Me and Princess Leia

We flew over Hoover damn on the way there and got a few in flight pics.

Inflight pic

Inflight pic of Hoover dam

After we touched down in Arizona, we boarded a bus and were driven to the Skywalk lookout at Eagle point. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take cameras on the Skywalk which sucked since it has the potential for some really great photos. Instead you have to pay $30 for them to take photos for you doing stupid poses, naturally we didn’t bother. Stepping out on the Skywalk felt really unnatural, not that I’m afraid of heights but walking over 1 inch thick plate glass didn’t feel all that safe to me.

The eagle watching over the canyon

The eagle watching over the canyon

After the Skywalk we waited for the bus to take us to the next stop, ‘Guano Point’. As we were waiting we overheard a tourguide mention that the Teepee we were waiting next to was a traditionally made Teepee. I figured as much after seeing that it was stacked full of traditional propane tanks and traditional slabs of bottled water.

Fortunately for us, Guano Point was alot more open for photos and exploring. In fact, they didn’t even bother with guard rails and we were only warned by the bus driver to stay a body length away from the edge. However I got the feeling it was only a recommendation. We got some great shots here, the view was awesome. The Grand Canyon is definitely a must-see in America, a big hole in the ground might sound boring but it is actually very spectacular, beautiful and mesmerizing. Words cannot describe it – and photos don’t really do it justice either. But here are some anyway:

Grand Tourists

Grand Tourists

After that we took the bus back to the terminal and the plane back to Vegas and stopped by the casino next door for some $1 pints of microbrew for dinner and a final hit of the pokies.

This day really wraps up our Vegas trip nicely, looking forward to seeing Uncle Bob tomorrow and San Antonio / Kerrville. Can’t wait to see what Texas has instore for us.