Measors West Coast Marathon - August 2011 - Day Three

[joandwayne]

West Coast Trip Report - Measors West Coast Marathon - August 2011 - Day Three - The Grand Canyon including The Skywalk and The Hoover Dam

Me – Jo – 41 – I am absolutely mad about everything to do with Disney. We have had some of our best family holidays in Florida and I love theme parks and rides. We love travelling, as a family, and our holidays are our highlights of our year. I am the holiday organiser and planner and just let everybody else know where we are going.

DH – Wayne – 40 – DH celebrated his 40th birthday this year and so he wanted a couple of special holidays (like I did for my 40th last year). Loves Disney and Florida and rides like the rest of the family but will only agree to Florida every other year as he likes to visit other parts of the World in between. Doesn’t like to get involved in planning and organising – normally just pays for everything!

DS – Matt – 15 – Matt is the rollercoaster fan in the family. He knows all of the rollercoasters in the World and his ambition is to visit every Six Flags theme park in America. Having been to New Jersey Six Flags, this West Coast Trip promised to add another Six Flags to his list, which is Valencia in LA.

DD – Rachel – 12 – Rachel is another ride fanatic! She is not scared of anything and will ride anything that the rest of the family will do. Rachel also loves travelling and enjoys visiting historical places and Cities.



I was very much looking forward to today. I had always wanted to see The Grand Canyon and was really excited to be going. I had researched many day trips, flights, helicopter rides etc. My sister had visited earlier in the year and done a helicopter ride and said it was great but not worth the money – you see it better from down on the ground. This trip was already expensive so we decided to go for the day trip – plus I am not a good flyer so any excuse to stay on the ground.

We booked the day through Attraction Tickets Direct – after reading great reviews about them on DIBB. We were collected from our hotel at 6.40am so we just grabbed some pastries and drinks from Starbucks in the hotel lobby to eat on the journey for our breakfast.

The journey took about 2 hours to get to The Canyon – our bus driver was brilliant. She actually lived in Arizona and the information she gave us throughout the journey was so funny and informative. This is the benefit of doing an organised tour instead of DIY – you do find out so much more! We also watched a film on the bus about how the Skywalk was constructed - really interesting but made me more nervous about walking on it!

Joshua Trees – we passed thousands of these on our journey



We had decided to visit the West Rim as it was closer to Grand Canyon and we had decided to do the Skywalk – you know, the glass horseshoe bridge that is thousands of feet over the Canyon. I was feeling a little nervous about this – but was adamant I was going to do it!




You had to pay extra to walk on the skywalk. You were not allowed to take anything onto the bridge – no cameras, bags etc. And you had to wear covers on your shoes. This was obviously to protect the glass.

DH and DS both laid down on the bridge to see what it felt like to be flying – they said the view looking down was amazing.



DD and I stayed close to the edge!



A professional photographer goes around the bridge with you and you get the opportunity to buy the photos – which we did. You can’t go all that way and not get the pictures of you on Skywalk – they weren’t cheap but they were worth it! We could see the Eagles flying below us under the bridge - amazing!






The West Rim Grand Canyon belongs to Hualapai Indian Tribe and by allowing visitors in this is now how they make their living – it was good to think we were helping. The bus drops you at the Central Stop – in the middle of nowhere – and there were shuttle buses that took you to the various viewpoints for The Canyon. We decided to visit Eagle Point first – it was absolutely breathtaking. This was also where the skywalk was. I took hundreds of pictures here – and nothing can compare to actually being there in person. It was just awesome.







Next we got the shuttle bus to Guano Point – the views here were very different and just as breathtaking. Here we had 360 degree views and there were lots of people going for too close to the edge to get the best photos – I was a bag of nerves! We spent about an hour here walking around to see everything. I really can’t tell you just how amazing it was to be here!









After this, we got the shuttle bus to Haulapai Ranch (forgot the name) where we had lunch. It was like a real Western type village – and we had chicken, mashed potatoes and corn – our favourites! There were stables, horserides and other things to keep you entertained here.



The bus collected us about 3pm to take us back to Las Vegas – we all agreed we had the most amazing time at The Grand Canyon.

We had a short stop on the way home at The Hoover Dam – WOW! Yet again, another amazing sight. We got off the bus for a look around but it was unbearably hot so we didn’t spend too long here.





We got back to Las Vegas about 6pm – after the various drop offs it took a bit longer going home. Would definitely recommend this excursion. Can’t remember where we ate tonight but we won’t have travelled far – we had to pack our stuff together ready to collect our car tomorrow and head of to LA.

[MFras23]

Grand Canyon looks amazing! Very jealous :p

[joandwayne]

Originally Posted by MFras23

Grand Canyon looks amazing! Very jealous :p

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Gosh you were quick - I was still in the middle of writing the day - only half of the pictures were up. I agree - The Grand Canyon is super awesome amazing!

[Guest]

it looks amazing and this is something we are looking at doing (again as a bus tour for us) mainly because we will have my mother in law and she's said no to a helicopter and the costs are more reasonable for the bus escpecially for the mil's budget

can i ask just one question? did you notice if there is anything offered at the lunch for a veggie (my daughter will eat fish but not any meat and this is our only concern) i don't want a stroppy teen with a face like thunder because there's no food for her, she doesn't do mash or corn either so it's not like we could say well just leave the meat off

Marie

[joandwayne]

Hiya Marie - yes - there were a number of options for lunch. Chicken, ribs or veggie.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by joandwayne

Hiya Marie - yes - there were a number of options for lunch. Chicken, ribs or veggie.

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that's great to know thanks Jo (it's the one thing that's been worrying me)

cannot wait to get out onto the skywalk ~ can i be cheeky and ask a guide price for the pics? so i can budget if i allow $100 would this be enough we won't want too many just a few

[joandwayne]

Originally Posted by mazz

that's great to know thanks Jo (it's the one thing that's been worrying me)

cannot wait to get out onto the skywalk ~ can i be cheeky and ask a guide price for the pics? so i can budget if i allow $100 would this be enough we won't want too many just a few

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Yes - it was $100 for the pics. We got 4 pics in beautiful frames and then they put all of the pics they had taken onto a memory stick for us along with some other skywalk general pictures. Also got a notebook and other bits and bobs. Make sure you tell the photographer going round with you what you want and get them to take as many pictures as possible so that you get the best value out of your $100

[WileyCoyote]

Wow, simply stunning, what an amazing day

[KarenG]

ABsolutely fantastic - what an experience! We didn't do this, but I would like to next time. We really enjoyed Hoover Dam though.

[Guest]

The Grand Canyon looks amazing!
Great report