Day 292: Monument Valley - Grand Canyon
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Friday May 27th
I really wanted to sleep in this morning – after 6.5 hours’ sleep I awoke feeling terrible, thanks to this cold I just can’t shake. As the showers didn’t open until 7am, I first used the toilet block to put on my make-up before having breakfast. By this time, the showers were open and all 10 of us girls trotted down (thankfully, there were lots of showers – most campgrounds had only 1 or 2, if any at all!)
After our normal pack-up routine and morning briefing, Cassie drove us to a famous highway stop. From here, you could see miles of highway, and the mesas and buttes of the valley in the background. The area is recognisable from Forrest Gump (the scene where Forrest Gump gives up running), so of course everyone wanted to replicate the scene, running down (well, up) the road. We also had group shots of us jumping and planking (although not simultaneously!) in the middle of the highway.
There was a group of middle aged French bikies there, one of who ran into Sharyn’s photo. I said to Sharyn, ‘Let’s go over and get photos with their bikes!”, as the group was very friendly. They loved the idea, and had us up on the bikes, posing on them – even giving the digits of one of the younger bikers! It’s so random the people you meet and experiences you can share ….
After lunch in the car park, we were on the move again – this time, working on a craft project. Cassie had us all make a tinfoil crown, decorated in whatever fashion we desired. We then pulled into a carpark, and Cassie told us to put our tinfoil crowns over our heads, and proceeded to lead us down a rough, earthly path. I’m sure everyone was looking at us thinking, ‘what on earth?’
We had no idea where we were going – was it area 51? What aliens were there in this area? Finally, Cassie stopped us and told us to take off our masks. In front of us was – the Grand Canyon! What a magnificent view, made so much better by the grand reveal, as opposed to bit by bit. It felt like we’d just arrived onto the surface of another planet – the size of it was just amazing, as were the colours and the contours.
After a few minutes of being awe-struck, we started to take photos – planking, jumping, normal (although what’s the fun in that?) We didn’t have long though – we had a full day tomorrow to explore – as we had more important things to do. Like a helicopter ride!!
After quickly setting up our tents at the campground, the 7 of us that had signed-up for the chopper ride were ferried out to the airport. After signing in, being weighed, and reading the safety guidelines, our pilot called us out to the chopper. After a quick safety briefing, he positioned us all around the chopper according to weight (I scored the best seat – front right!). We were all miked up so we could hear the pilot give a running commentary of the canyon as we soared through the air.
It was definitely a completely different experience than flying in a plane; and you really got a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the Canyon, which is 16km in length as the crow flies but would take 5 hours to drive around. The flight was over way too quickly, and we were back on the ground in half an hour.
As we waited for the others to return from their flight, I purchased a couple of laminated maps – I’ll have to make a pit stop at the post office in Vegas now, as they definitely can’t continue on with me!
Lucy and I walked back to the campground via McDonalds, grabbing a shake to soothe our throats and some fries to quench our hunger pains. Whilst we were waiting for dinner to cook, I went down to the lobby to use the wi-fi, calling home and checking the news of the world.
After dinner of burgers, Cassie gave us a run-down of options for the next day. A few were keen on sunrise the next morning followed by a massive long hike (not me!), whilst the rest of us decided to head in at 8:30am.
I really wanted to sleep in this morning – after 6.5 hours’ sleep I awoke feeling terrible, thanks to this cold I just can’t shake. As the showers didn’t open until 7am, I first used the toilet block to put on my make-up before having breakfast. By this time, the showers were open and all 10 of us girls trotted down (thankfully, there were lots of showers – most campgrounds had only 1 or 2, if any at all!)
After our normal pack-up routine and morning briefing, Cassie drove us to a famous highway stop. From here, you could see miles of highway, and the mesas and buttes of the valley in the background. The area is recognisable from Forrest Gump (the scene where Forrest Gump gives up running), so of course everyone wanted to replicate the scene, running down (well, up) the road. We also had group shots of us jumping and planking (although not simultaneously!) in the middle of the highway.
There was a group of middle aged French bikies there, one of who ran into Sharyn’s photo. I said to Sharyn, ‘Let’s go over and get photos with their bikes!”, as the group was very friendly. They loved the idea, and had us up on the bikes, posing on them – even giving the digits of one of the younger bikers! It’s so random the people you meet and experiences you can share ….
After a quick gas stop in which we all stocked up on snacks (seriously, the USA is ridiculously cheap – bottles of diet coke for 99c, chocolates bars for 50c), we made our way towards the Grand Canyon. We made a stop at a huge souvenir store, full of souvenirs for Route 66, Arizona and the Grand Canyon. I always love everything in souvenir stores and want to buy it all, but I limit myself to snowdomes and postcards (with the occasional extra thrown in) – otherwise my bag would weight 100kgs!
We had no idea where we were going – was it area 51? What aliens were there in this area? Finally, Cassie stopped us and told us to take off our masks. In front of us was – the Grand Canyon! What a magnificent view, made so much better by the grand reveal, as opposed to bit by bit. It felt like we’d just arrived onto the surface of another planet – the size of it was just amazing, as were the colours and the contours.
After a few minutes of being awe-struck, we started to take photos – planking, jumping, normal (although what’s the fun in that?) We didn’t have long though – we had a full day tomorrow to explore – as we had more important things to do. Like a helicopter ride!!
After quickly setting up our tents at the campground, the 7 of us that had signed-up for the chopper ride were ferried out to the airport. After signing in, being weighed, and reading the safety guidelines, our pilot called us out to the chopper. After a quick safety briefing, he positioned us all around the chopper according to weight (I scored the best seat – front right!). We were all miked up so we could hear the pilot give a running commentary of the canyon as we soared through the air.
It was definitely a completely different experience than flying in a plane; and you really got a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the Canyon, which is 16km in length as the crow flies but would take 5 hours to drive around. The flight was over way too quickly, and we were back on the ground in half an hour.
As we waited for the others to return from their flight, I purchased a couple of laminated maps – I’ll have to make a pit stop at the post office in Vegas now, as they definitely can’t continue on with me!
Lucy and I walked back to the campground via McDonalds, grabbing a shake to soothe our throats and some fries to quench our hunger pains. Whilst we were waiting for dinner to cook, I went down to the lobby to use the wi-fi, calling home and checking the news of the world.
After dinner of burgers, Cassie gave us a run-down of options for the next day. A few were keen on sunrise the next morning followed by a massive long hike (not me!), whilst the rest of us decided to head in at 8:30am.
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