First View of the Grand Canyon

Before we even made it to the Grand Canyon, there was an airport where we spotted a bunch of helicopters and airplane companies that offer tours over the Grand Canyon. The one thing Byron wanted to do on the whole trip was take a helicopter ride. So we did! It was a big splurge but he had worked very hard over the last 4 months and deserved every bit of it. I'm not sure where Mackenzie and I fit into that but we got to go too.

Each helicopter can take 7 passengers and the pilot. We saw at least 6 helicopters in this fleet and they were taking off every half hour. It was incredible.

All strapped in and ready to go. Mackenzie was enthralled with the helicopter itself. I'm not sure she cared much about the views but she had fun.

Byron had the best seat in the house. He was in the front on the right side and probably had the most unobtructed view. I'm glad he wanted it...I was just as happy in the back with Kenzie. There was a family of 4 that went with us as well.

Here comes our first ever view of the Grand Canyon.

It's really hard to explain how cool this is if you have never been there. It's almost surreal. The little strip of water you see in the middle of this picture is the Colorado River. Waaaaay down there.

Feet back and the ground and feeling a little relieved!

Next, we drove into Grand Canyon National Park and did a little walking on some of the paths that follow the rim. The wild thing is, there are not a lot of guard rails and it is freaky! If you get too close and take one wrong step...well it wouldn't be pretty!!

We felt much better with Mackenzie on Daddy's shoulders!!