There are moments in life that well and truly take your breathe away. The experience I am about to describe didn’t just take my breathe away… It knocked the breath right out of me.
A five hour drive from Las Vegas and we were cruising down the highway, Route 66 bound. It was goodbye to the glitz and glamor of Sin City and hello to the glitz and glamour of the, uh, desert. We made a quick stop in Seligman, the original Route 66 town in Arizona which was the inspiration for the movie Cars! It was everything you would picture it to be… Overly friendly small-town folk, cute little icecream parlours, cadillacs galore and those famous Route 66 signs plastered on every free wall, door, shop and floor space.
Once we got our taste of a true American roadside town, we were moving forward towards the Grand Canyon and I was giddy with excitement. We finally arrived at Maverick Helicopter Rides and prepared ourselves for the ride of our lives. It was my first time in a helicopter and the feeling on taking off the ground was like no other. We spent about 10 minutes cruising over the forest, and I found myself surprised at the greenery surrounding this natural wonder. I always had pictured a desert that extended for miles, but this was quite the opposite. The anticipation built, and finally we hit the edge of the grand canyon. As the helicopter swooped down in to the canyon, my mind was well and truly blown. Every expectation I had of this place was blown. It was wider, deeper, grander than I had ever imagined. It was then I realized no photo could ever do this place justice. Until you are physically flying over the Grand Canyon, it is impossible to comprehend its magnitude and splendor. Our helicopter ride lasted for an hour but it felt like five minutes. I tried my best to completely drink in the view and the moment whilst capturing the place on my camera. I was shaky with excitement by the time we landed.
Our next stop was driving to the actual rim of the Canyon. It was amazing to get a different perspective as the Canyon looked completely different peering out from the rim then what it looked like from above. Unfortunately, we were very rushed for time at the rim and I didn’t really have a chance to explore or capture much around the park. But no doubt I will be back in my lifetime to see it again, because I could have spend hours on end staring at this natural wonder.
I can safely say flying over the Grand Canyon was definitely one of the best experiences of my life and I couldn’t recommend it more. Add it to the bucketlist!
N x
