Saturday 25 August 2012 – Helicopter over the Grand Canyon
Happy Birthday Mikaela.
Day 135 and 23 days to go
We had our wake up call at
7.30am in readiness for helicopter flight. We got up and organised quickly as
we were eager to get started.
At 8.45am we were ready and
waiting outside the hotel for our Limo pick up. It finally arrived at 9am and
we were whisked away to the Sundance Helicopter office at the southern end of
the strip.
Once in we had to register,
pay the taxes and then wait for our pilot. Jake Sanders arrived and took the 6
of us out to the little red helicopter. We were given a briefing and then it
was into the chopper. Paul unfortunately had the short end of the straw getting
the seat with no room and this made for an extremely uncomfortable ride.
Once in we were up and away,
leaving the strip behind us and heading towards the dessert. We passed over
residential areas before seeing Lake Las Vegas a glitzy area where celebrities
like Celine Dion and Tiger Woods live. The lake wasn’t particularly inviting I
didn’t see the appeal.
The next lake we saw was
created when the Hoover Dam was built. It is now used for recreation and there
were a lot of people out on boats.
Our flight continued on to
the Hoover Dam where we could see the road bridge traversing the canyon with
the river in the background. It looked very impressive.
We then flew towards the
western edge of the Grand Canyon before finally flying over it’s edge where we
could see the majesty of the 400 000 year old sea bed that has been carved by
the Colorado River. WOW! We could even see the sky bridge that has been built
out over the edge.
Shortly after entering the
canyon we made our decent before stopping on a large, flat ledge. We folded
ourselves out of the chopper. Paul was in agony after being scrunched up tight
and he asked for a different seat on the way back. We then walked to a viewing
area where we could see down into the canyon and the Colorado River below. It
was brown and murky, thick like a chocolate milkshake and probably crunchy!
With the viewing over we
returned to a covered seating area for champagne and a roll. It was wonderful.
We chatted with our two English companions and a couple from Melbourne. It was
uncanny talking to them, as we have crossed paths in so many places here in the
states. We were really stunned.
With our meal and champagne
consumed we were back in the chopper and heading back to Vegas.
Paul had a lot more room this
time so the trip was much more enjoyable. We watched the Canyon disappear
before the landed appeared to flatten out. We could see the Vegas strip looming
in the background before we did a fly over the downtown area we had seen
yesterday and then over the strip where we had a great view of the various
hotels and casinos and at midday we were back on the ground. A great trip.
We waited for our limo to
return us to the hotel and then we had a rest in the room while deciding on
what to do next. We wandered back down the strip and across to Planet Hollywood
hotel. Paul picked up some painkillers for his hip and then we found the ‘V’
ticket office to collect tickets for tonight’s variety show. We stopped at a
Mexican restaurant for lunch and bought a yard glass of margherita to share.
Our meal was good and with most of the icy margherita left we took the glass
with us and continued our wander through the shopping area. I am still
surprised at so much that is here. Most of it is hidden away and you don’t know
it is there until you are in the building. It really is incredible how they
have put them together and the way they are decorated.
We found our way out and onto
the strip. We found a place to buy drinks and then returned to the room.
We didn’t hang around for too
long, as Paul was ready to get on the roller coaster. I decided to give it a
miss so while he was riding I waited for him to return. He had the biggest grin
on his face when he found me. It was so funny.
We returned briefly to the
room to get our bathers and then we walked down to the pool area. We sat in the
spa talking to another patron. It was so warm in the water I was soon looking
for the relief of the pool. We splashed around for a bit and then returned to
the room at 5.30pm.We had showers and organised for our evening. I was able to ring home and check on how things are going.
At 7.15pm we wandered down to the sports bar in the hotel where we had dinner and watched the sport they had showing on the TV. Running out of time out of the hotel and back on the strip and heading back to Planet Hollywood shops. We had to get moving quickly as we had limited time to arrive at the V theater in readiness for the Variety show.
Puffing and panting we arrived just as they were getting ready to close the doors. PHEW! We were shown our front row seats and then sat back to enjoy the entertainment. The host was Wally Eastwood a juggler come comedian who was an absolute laugh. He juggled batons, hats, ping pong balls and tennis size balls against a large flat organ. He was amazing. If you youtube his name you will find lots on him.
We also had 2 guys balancing on each other in various poses, even head to head standing so that one was balancing on the other in the air. Two other blokes, who looked like they belonged in a Chipendales Review flew through the air on a cord barely missing Paul's head on numerous occasions. He said he daren't move incase they did knock it off. I was almost in the girl's lap beside me as they took flight. It was funny.
A comedian came out to do his routine with 4 volunteers whom he put in various full face masks. It was just hilarious what he had them doing with just hand gestures and balloons and it was great that a couple of them really got into their rolls. I was almost wetting myself.
An ex Ukranian gymnast came on stage to show us just how flexible she was and how well she could work with ropes and hula hoops followed finally by a couple on skates who were bounding around the stage with the girl hanging of the guy. At one stage I was sure he was going to smack her head into the stage but she escaped unharmed.
By 10 the show was over and we were so impressed. We picked up our free photo that many of the performers then signed for us and then we went to the Stripper Bar next door to have our free drink. Following our drink we went and watched the rain storm that happens inside the shopping centre before wandering out on the strip again. We stopped at the Bellagio water fountains to watch the show. It is amazing how far they are able to shoot the water.
On the way back to our hotel we wandered through the Cosmopolitan Hotel that is full of hanging crystal and then past the Monte Carlo before arriving at the New York New York where we returned to our room to check out the view and the roller coaster zooming past the room. It was then time to call it a night.
At 7.15pm we wandered down to the sports bar in the hotel where we had dinner and watched the sport they had showing on the TV. Running out of time out of the hotel and back on the strip and heading back to Planet Hollywood shops. We had to get moving quickly as we had limited time to arrive at the V theater in readiness for the Variety show.
Puffing and panting we arrived just as they were getting ready to close the doors. PHEW! We were shown our front row seats and then sat back to enjoy the entertainment. The host was Wally Eastwood a juggler come comedian who was an absolute laugh. He juggled batons, hats, ping pong balls and tennis size balls against a large flat organ. He was amazing. If you youtube his name you will find lots on him.
We also had 2 guys balancing on each other in various poses, even head to head standing so that one was balancing on the other in the air. Two other blokes, who looked like they belonged in a Chipendales Review flew through the air on a cord barely missing Paul's head on numerous occasions. He said he daren't move incase they did knock it off. I was almost in the girl's lap beside me as they took flight. It was funny.
A comedian came out to do his routine with 4 volunteers whom he put in various full face masks. It was just hilarious what he had them doing with just hand gestures and balloons and it was great that a couple of them really got into their rolls. I was almost wetting myself.
An ex Ukranian gymnast came on stage to show us just how flexible she was and how well she could work with ropes and hula hoops followed finally by a couple on skates who were bounding around the stage with the girl hanging of the guy. At one stage I was sure he was going to smack her head into the stage but she escaped unharmed.
By 10 the show was over and we were so impressed. We picked up our free photo that many of the performers then signed for us and then we went to the Stripper Bar next door to have our free drink. Following our drink we went and watched the rain storm that happens inside the shopping centre before wandering out on the strip again. We stopped at the Bellagio water fountains to watch the show. It is amazing how far they are able to shoot the water.
On the way back to our hotel we wandered through the Cosmopolitan Hotel that is full of hanging crystal and then past the Monte Carlo before arriving at the New York New York where we returned to our room to check out the view and the roller coaster zooming past the room. It was then time to call it a night.
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