We got up around 10:00, spent about 20 minutes in the hot tub in the courtyard just outside our back door, made 4:00 reservations for a helicopter ride into the canyon, ate breakfast out, and then headed up to see the Grand Canyon.
Absolutely amazing wonder of the world! No sense going on about it. As they say, no words can describe it, and no pictures can do it justice. Though, this did not stop me from taking many.
We viewed the canyon from Mather’s Point, and then drive the 25-mile road along the south rim to the Desert View.
We took a nap in the afternoon, and then went to the airport for 3:30. We checked in, got weighed, and waited for our 4:00 flight. We ended up in a helicopter with a mid-eastern couple, and a French couple. The wife (or girlfriend) of the French man, was chosen to sit in front with the pilot. (The criteria was based on weight distribution of the passengers.) Robert sat across from me with the French man to his right. The mid-eastern couple were to my left, so Robert and I each had a window seat.
We put on the headphones, and I struggled the entire time to understand our pilot, who was Japanese, I believe. I liked when he asked all of us, “So, who is flying in a helicopter for the first time?” We all raised our hands, and then he said, “Me too.”
Interspersed with his commentary as we flew, there was background classical music playing. We flew over miles of forest with low-growing trees. As we approached the edge of the canyon, the music suddenly went into an “expecting phrase,” indicating we were approaching something great. Then as we left the edge, and flew into the canyon, it was like the bottom dropped out even though we hadn’t changed altitude. It was totally stunning through the canyon. I took a lot of pictures, but I’m not sure how they’ll turn out for two reasons: 1) pictures don’t do the canyon just as we know, and 2) they were through the glass of the helicopter. We’ll see.
I got choked up for a minute with the beauty of the canyon around me, and Robert sharing it with me sitting across from me.
We stopped at McDonald’s on the way back to the hotel for a quick lunch.
Later, we had pizza for dinner. We watched a little bit of the Amazing Race. I saw more of it while Robert was out picking up the pizza. Some of the contestants ate live octopi as part of a “challenge” or something. It was totally disgusting. The animals were crawling around the plate while they were stabbing them with their forks, and they made faces as they were chewing them, saying, “those little suction cups are clinging onto our teeth while we chew them.” Gross!
We went to sleep shortly after the show. It was early, maybe 9:00.