November 15, 2012 ~ So we decided that we wanted to do something fun today. So we took a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon! We signed up for the Wind Dancer Tour which says "Experience an exhilarating flight as you ascend out of Las Vegas and over Hoover Dam and the country's largest man made lake, Lake Mead. Enjoy amazing views of Temple Rock, Iceberg Canyon and fortification Hill, which is an extinct volcano. Keep an eye open for wildlife along the way as big horn sheep, mountain lions and wild horses roam free. You will then fly through the Grand Canyon, descend upon and land 3,500 feet below the rim at a private landing area on Hualapai Indian Territory. Champagne, beverages and a light snack will be served some 300 feet above the mighty Colorado River. While flying back through the Grand Canyon, you will observe the stunning red rock formations of the Bowl of Fire and Wild Pinto Wash. Conclude your adventure with a breathtaking flight over the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas. Total trip was about 4 hours total.
It was awesome to see the view of Vegas and Arizona as we flew over head. It seemed like we were moving so slow but we were cruising along at 125 mph. Going over the Hoover Dam was awesome! When we were there before and took the Dam Tour the highway wasn't complete yet so it was nice to see it all done!
The top picture is at the top of the Grand Canyon and where we would go after our tour at the bottom. The second picture is the Grand Canyon Skywalk.... yep we walked it! 4,000 feet above the Colorado River!
Heading to the bottom of the Grand Canyon!
Of course Brandon thinks he needs his own helicopter!
Such a beautiful view!
The Spry's!
After we had our champagne and snack at the base we flew up to the top. We arrived at the main terminal and took a bus to the couple other locations to look a the view.
This stop was called Eagle Point and the view was amazing!
We were excited to walk on the Skywalk which was a glass floor looking down into the Grand Canyon! Awesome! We aren't afraid of heights and seriously the pictures don't even do this place justice! Truly amazing!
They wouldn't let you take anything on the skywalk so of course we had to buy some of the photos they took to remember this trip! It was really a great view!
They had a couple of dances performed by the Native American Dancers of the Southwest.
They had several Tipi on this location and one Hopi (house).
We then took the bus over to Guano Point where we would have lunch. They served chicken and Bar-B-Que.
The view of this place was beautiful too!
We met some amazing people while we took this tour and they were on the
helicopter tour with us. (6 people plus the pilot) This is Lee & Wendy Markus! Super sweet people and it's always nice to go somewhere and have someone that you can connect with!
Seriously, the pictures can't even touch how awesome this was!
We headed up to Guano Point to see what this was all about. The sign read "During the 1930's a boater passing through the Canyon discovered a cave which later was found to be rich with "Guano", bat droppings. This material was rich with nitrogen and very useful as fertilizer. The U.S. Guano Corporation had purchased the mining rights in 1957 and began to construct the Tramway to extract the Guano from the mine. Utilizing cable that panned the Canyon at 7,500 feet and the use of cable car for both the Guano and miners it was mined until early 1960. A few months later the cable was damaged by an Air Force Jet's tail and never re-opened. The cable head house remains as well as some remnants at the cave and it's now a tourist destination at Grand Canyon West."
It was really neat and of course we had to leave our mark!
After we had a couple of hours to check things out it was time to hop back in our helicopter and head back! Such a neat view from up above and things don't seem so big from a birds eye view!
Vegas is back in our sights!
This is Freemont Street... see the "tunnel" in the middle? That's where the big screens are that they play videos at night and you can now zipline under it! It's a great place to go to people watch!
A view of the strip! Gosh I love this town!
We went to the 7:00 pm David Copperfield show at the MGM Grand Hollywood Theater. I still can't figure out how in the world he did all the stuff he did. We sat 3rd row and you could see everything but how in the world he did it I'll never know! Really good show and interacted with the crowd well. I recommend seeing him if you get a chance too!
After that show we wanted to see another show. So at 9:30 pm we headed over to Planet Hollywood. I had VIP tickets with a meet and greet for Holly Madison's Peepshow. Since she was preggers they cancelled that and had a replacement gal, Angel Porrino staring as "Bo Peep". We went to the 9:30 pm show and it was a good but the best part was they got a guy from the audience to find "Bo Peep" a man. Turns out he was part of the cast but you wouldn't have known it at all. The costumes and dances were choreographed well.
In Vegas it's easy to loose track of time because there is always something going on! We decided to try a little gambling. I like to play on the penny slots because if you bet a dollar you have a chance to win a portion of that dollar back if not more. I had been playing for about 10 minutes at .60 per bet and got mad because I wasn't really winning so as I stood up I hit $1.00 and took a spin.... well I hit $1,000.00! (I started with $50 and cashed that baby out!) We decided to call it a night since we had a busy day tomorrow!
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