This morning we had an early wakeup, but the kids didn't mind. They had a reason to get up. We were headed for one last view of the Grand Canyon before we left. We packed up the car and grabbed a bite to eat at McDonalds (still remembering mistake #1 from Sunday). After breakfast, we went to the local airport to await our HELICOPTER RIDE OVER THE GRAND CANYON. Now, I must say, I was not on board with this whole helicopter thing and frankly, when Tri-Guy first said he wanted to do it (long before we started our vacation) I was sure he was the only one in the family that would want to go. He mentioned it again when we got to the Grand Canyon. "Sign me up," Supergirl said. Great, I thought, well, at least I know J-man will back me up. "I really don't think we should pay all the money just to have J-man decide not to do it," I immediately countered. "I want to ride in the helicopter!" J-man replied. UGH!!!! So the whole family was now ready to go, leaving just me. I had to admit, after seeing how grand the Grand Canyon really was, it made sense to view it by helicopter. And to have all family members in agreement on something was always a feat. I gave in. So, there we were, getting briefed on helicopter safety. My palms were sweating and my heart was racing. As they lead us out on the tarmac, I really thought I wasn't going to be able to get into the helicopter. I hate that feeling of fear! And then, just to top it off, I was handed a card that said #1. That meant that my seat was the front seat beside the pilot! Seats are assigned by weight, so there are no options to switch. J-man and Supergirl joined Tri-Guy in the back of the helicopter. Minutes later we were off - gently soaring into the air. The helicopter was smooth, kinda of like riding on a cloud. At that moment, all fear turned to exhilaration. We flew over acres of pine trees and then we saw the canyon. It went from flat to canyon with no in-between. The views were breathtaking. The ride was over in 30 minutes and I wish we had had more time. Although I think it was enough time for the kids. Supergirl was busy on taking pictures on the flight. J-man wasn't so interested with the view outside. He spent the whole time fascinated by the fact that he had a cup holder.
After our flight, we practically floated to the car, we were so happy. What a great ending to a great visit.
We started our trip on a small portion of vintage Route 66. The kids knew it as the road in the Disney movie Cars. The strip was only about a mile long, which was long enough for the kids. Now, we had about 500 miles to travel to Disneyland. While we were eating breakfast that morning, we ran into some friends from El Paso. They told us that they were going to visit the Hoover Dam. Hmmmm, where is the Hoover Dam? We had no idea. So we fired up Homer (the Odyssey minivan) and checked the navigation system to see where it was. Wow, who knew it was on the Nevada/Arizona border? And it would only be 20 miles more to stop by on our way to CA. So we modified our plans and added the stop.
The Hoover Dam was impressive, but not as big as we had thought. I think that is only because we were just at the Grand Canyon. Everything looks small after the Grand Canyon. The kids weren't really excited about the stop, so we took some pictures and moved on. Hey, aren't we close to Las Vegas, we thought? It turns out, with only another 30 mile sidetrack, we could drive through Las Vegas. We had nothing better to do, since this was our travel day, so we drove to Las Vegas and down the Strip. After only a few provactive advertisements on the Strip, we realized that Supergirl could read and that Las Vegas really isn't a place for kids. It was fun to see, though.
We ended up making it to Disneyland around 8pm. Once again, we fell exhausted into our beds, this time dreaming of that big mouse we would see tomorrow.
Click the picture below for more pictures from Day 3:
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| Vacation Pics March 2007 Day 3 |
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