So thunder and lightning storms or not, we were having a great time. Our only concern was that the next morning we were supposed to get on a helicopter tour to go over the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead and then to the Grand Canyon for several different stops. We didn’t want the thunderstorms to interfere, and low and behold, when we woke up the day was clear and beautiful!
We met our shuttle to the helicopter site around 11:30 and would be gone until evening. (We’d already planned it out so it wouldn’t interfere with any shows… heaven forbid.) We arrived at the helicopter site with several other couples and groups. Michael of course was figuring out and telling me the logistics of how many people would actually fit in each helicopter and where… They finally called our name along with another couple, who turned out to be from Kansas, and three family members from Poland. Michael was right in that three people fit up front with the pilot and the other four were in the back. While we started in the backseat, we were assured that at each stop we would rotate so everyone would have a front seat view. Being the camera man, however, Michael had to have the window seat once we were situated in the back.
We were given some simple safety instructions (“Don’t open the door.” No kidding?) and took off!
It was pretty amazing, and for someone who is not 100% comfortable with the idea of flying, I have to say that Michael did great. There’s something about a helicopter that seems much more seamless to lift and control than a huge aircraft. Anyways… we left the strip behind and headed into desert for as far as the eye could see. After a few minutes we passed over Hoover Dam and then Lake Mead- although we only saw about 5% of it at a time!
It’s the largest manmade lake/reservoir and it looks it! There are concerns about it not being sustainable and depleting more over time, to the point where people who get their energy and water from it might be given stipulations on when they can shower, etc! We followed the Colorado River for about twenty more minutes and came upon the Grand Canyon! I know it’s in the name, so I shouldn’t be so surprised—- but that thing is SO expansive!
We landed in the Canyon at the edge of the Colorado River and the scenery was breathtaking!
We began snapping pictures and Michael took footage— he was especially pleased when he came across a Gecko like lizard among the rocks, and I swear almost twisted his ankle and dropped the camera trying to scamper behind the guy amongst all the rocks.
After a refreshing champagne beverage, we took to the air again- this time flying between the canyon walls to reach our next destination of the Skywalk.
The Skywalk is a recent addition to the Grand Canyon, and a somewhat controversial one. Owned and operated by the local tribe of Hualalpai Nation, it opened in March of last year and has provided revenue to the tribe, even though some within the tribe feel it is disturbing sacred ground. The Skywalk, however is only the beginning of a much larger plan to attract tourists to the region that will come to be known as Grand Canyon West, with the building of restaurants, gift shops, even hotels and golf courses. At the time of our visit, though, it was just the Skywalk and I think we preferred it that way. We flew by it first in our helicopter and from the air we thought it looked rather unimpressive against the massive background of the Grand Canyon. However, once we were putting on our slippers to help prevent scratching the 5 panes of glass beneath our fit and preparing to step out onto the ledge, we were overcome with a different emotion!
Cameras are not allowed, again to prevent scratching, they say. But it might also have something to do with the three photo stations that they have set up to take your picture. We obliged and now have a photo of us seemingly suspended in air miles above the Colorado River.
After the Skywalk we were served lunch up at a peak of the Grand Canyon, where the view was unbelievable.
There were no guard rails however, and both Michael and I were very anxious about the proximity that children would play to the edge! (Mike is not really on the edge. It’s a cliff that just looks impressive.) We mentioned it to our pilot later and he says that there have been no accidents yet, but he’s sure that as soon as something happens they’ll have to reevaluate the point.
It was already late in the afternoon and we had to take the bus back to where we caught the helicopter for our return to Vegas. It felt a little weird to be surrounded by such an amazing natural sight, carved out by one river… to suddenly be going back to the flash and phoniness of Las Vegas, but we couldn’t stay out here forever. Plus, we had another show to go to the next day! 
We made one final stop—which literally felt like the middle of nowhere in the desert—to refuel. We were told we could get out and stretch our legs but not to go far as we’d be taking off again within minutes. We took pictures with a Joshua tree, which can only be found out here
(and that Michael adorably referred to later as the Tommy Tree when he couldn’t remember its name). I stayed close to the helicopter while Michael went to take even more desert footage and… found another salamander and I think would have followed him for miles had we not been summoned back to the aircraft.
We flew over a herd of wild Mustangs as we passed the shores of Lake Mead again, and then the strip came into view. We were back from our wild excursion that for me would end up being the highlight of our trip. However. We almost lost it all.
While Michael mainly had his hand glued to the video camera, I was enjoying taking still shots on the camera and couldn’t wait to go back through them. Once we landed on the air strip, we then took a van back to the offices where we could gather our things and would then have a shuttle take us back to our hotel. I reached into my (small) short pockets only to discover them empty. The camera must have fallen out either in the helicopter or when we got into the van. The pilots were still there, and got back into the van to go out and secure the helicopters. They said they’d look for us in both places, but came back empty handed. Did I leave it out in the desert, they wanted to know? I knew I hadn’t, as I had JUST taken pictures of us returning to the strip… Mike was NOT his happiest with me and asked to go search the van and helicopters ourselves. We inspected every inch of both vehicles, and couldn’t understand where the camera could have disappeared to. We already had well over 200 pictures from our first vacation and they were all gone. We had just given up as another pilot came riding up on a golf cart and told us they’d found it! Where was it, you wanted to know? Well, it turns out the van they were inspecting hadn’t been the one we’d actually taken back from the helicopter… They had just hopped in it to go back out to the landing strip and started looking in that one without thinking that WE had come over in a different one.
Regardless, we were very happy to have our memories back! That evening we just relaxed after our day’s adventure and after a nice meal, retired to bed in order to rest up for the rest of our adventures.. I mean after all, we had the Hoover Dam the next day and that could get pretty wild!
