Dave and I decided to do something different this time while in Las Vegas and signed up for a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon. The tour guide company we signed up with picked us up from our hotel and took us by bus to Boulder City so we could get on board a plane and fly to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. http://www.nps.gov/grca We started out at Boulder City, NV; the only city in Nevada which doesn't allow gambling.
Dave & Amy on the bus to Boulder City (self-portrait thank you very much!)
The Grand Canyon is a very colorful gorged carved out by the Colorado River and is in Arizona. While the weather in Las Vegas was sunny but cool; it was darned cold in Arizona! Dave and I neglected to address the fact that we were going to be at 7,000 feet and it was snowing! The day before the folks said it was in the 70's. Thankfully we had pants on and I had a light weight sweater. Dave loved the temps; I on the other hand prefer the heat of Las Vegas.
The Grand Canyon is a very colorful gorged carved out by the Colorado River and is in Arizona. While the weather in Las Vegas was sunny but cool; it was darned cold in Arizona! Dave and I neglected to address the fact that we were going to be at 7,000 feet and it was snowing! The day before the folks said it was in the 70's. Thankfully we had pants on and I had a light weight sweater. Dave loved the temps; I on the other hand prefer the heat of Las Vegas.
Scenic Airlines; our carrier that takes us to the Grand Canyon Airport
Thumbs up! Dave ready for take off
The flight over was in a small site seeing prop plane with big picture windows. Dave enjoyed the ride over, unfortunately I was not so lucky. While I didn't actually have to utilize the air sick bags I was a little queasy. It started out choppy and for some reason the heat was blasting which made it even more of a rough ride over. We were the very last passengers in the rear of the aircraft. Add to that the lovely smell of jet fuel I was not having a great time. We were the only American tourists on board. The couple in front of us were Italians and all the remaining passengers were Japanese. We saw Lake Meade and the Hoover Dam on the flight in to the Grand Canyon. Here's a shot of Hoover Dam I took from our airplane.
Once we landed we were given a box lunch and taken over to the hilo-pad. We learned we were on a flight delay due to the weather. The company we were signed up with took us to a neighboring company who less than 30 minutes later got us up in the air flying! We had a great helicopter and the pilot flew with three passengers up front and Dave and I had the second row all to ourselves!
Dave in the helicopter
Tom, our helicopter pilotThe route we flew over covered the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The Canyon is divide by the South Rim and North Rim. While the distance across the Canyon is 10 miles; it takes about five hours to drive from the South to the North by car.
Amy's shot of the Grand Canyon!
After touring the South Rim we were brought back to the Bright Angel Lodge. The lodge was built in 1935 and is a registered national historic landmark. http://www.grandcanyonlodges.com/Bright-Angel-408.html Dave and I had just under 30 minutes to kill so we stepped out to view the scenery and then we went to the bar. Shopped around the gift shop for a little while as well.
After that down time at the lodge we departed by bus back to the airport. The flight back over was much better and no queasiness for me! I downed some Dramamine and slept the flight back. We got back around 7:30 pm and had a great time. We spent the remainder of this trip gambling and eating; eating and gambling. No shows this time but if you need a recommendation we say see Cirque du Soleil's Beatles Love! Great show. Perhaps in July or October we'll get some golf in; it'll help keep us out of the casinos! No star sightings this time but a good trip nonetheless. Next stop.....Shanghai, China!
After that down time at the lodge we departed by bus back to the airport. The flight back over was much better and no queasiness for me! I downed some Dramamine and slept the flight back. We got back around 7:30 pm and had a great time. We spent the remainder of this trip gambling and eating; eating and gambling. No shows this time but if you need a recommendation we say see Cirque du Soleil's Beatles Love! Great show. Perhaps in July or October we'll get some golf in; it'll help keep us out of the casinos! No star sightings this time but a good trip nonetheless. Next stop.....Shanghai, China!
