say to plan for a 2-4 hour visit. So we decided that we could sleep in a bit
and leave at around 10:30. Chavee and Vic left from Los Angeles at around
10:30PM Tuesday night, and would drive thru the night and go straight there.
They got there at about 5:00AM, but the park is still closed at that time. Vic was able
to convince a security guard to let them go somewhere closer than the parking lot
to see the sunrise ("We drove ALL THE WAY from L.A. to see sunrise..."). So the
guy said, "Follow me", and they drove thru all those signs that say "Employees
Only", "Authorized Vehicles Only", and the like. But he said to leave right
after sunrise or else he would have to come and get them. They complied.
There is a 10 mile stretch of road leading to the site that is unpaved.
Apparently, that area is owned by several different people and some want to keep
it pristine and natural so they refuse to let it get paved. The guide told me
they are planning their own bypass road that will be fully paved. It really was
a bumpy ride. It is packed gravel and rock, but it also is like when one of
those construction vehicles or military tanks drives over something and leaves
those big tracks and creates lots of bumps. After driving several miles, there
was a sign warning us of the rough road. DUH?!?!?
We got there a bit after noon and met Chavee and Vic. They had done the
first helicopter trip of the day and were waiting for us. We bought tickets for
the shuttle bus and the skywalk. The shuttle bus takes you to a few stops for
scenic views and a working ranch. One of the stops is the skywalk. First stop
was the skywalk (Eagle Point). As we got to security, all who were on the
skywalk had to get off because they needed to get a wheelchair on to get someone
off. They passed us by with a teenage girl in the chair. Not sure what
happened, but she might have gotten some kind of panic attack out there. Before
they brought here out, I was joking with Vic, saying a bit loud, "What do you
mean they found a crack in the bridge?!?!?"
So we finally got on the bridge. You can't bring anything with you, lest things
will drop and scuff up the glass. I think it's more so they can get you to
buy their pictures that they take of you out there. You also have to put on
"booties" to lessen the scuffing of the glass. It truly is an amazing
engineering feat. They said it can support 71 million pounds, or 71 fully
loaded/fueled Boeing 747's. So that calmed everyone down a bit. Our "guide"
had us pose for whatever pictures we wanted, mostly on her suggestions. Of
course we didn't know what the pictures would cost yet. Chavee thought this was
the scariest thing she has ever done. Karen was also very hesitant at first,
but she got over it after a little while. It is pretty amazing to see straight
down 4000 feet. Like the Hoover Bypass Bridge, I can't imagine what it was like
working on its construction.
 |
| Fissure in the rock where you can see all the way down |
 |
| Cool rock formation, hence the term Eagle Point |
 |
| SkyWalk sticking out over the canyon |
 |
| One of the pictures courtesy of the gift shop after we bought our photos |
 |
| Skydiving, with shadow of bridge way down below |
The next stop on the bus was Guano Point. It's called that for the word for bat
droppings that they discovered in caves on the other side of the canyon. The
droppings were extremely good fertilizer for the crops. They built a 7500 foot
tram over the canyon to get there. But not long after it opened, an air force
jet clipped the cables flying thru and it never was reopened. The structure
holding the cables is still in place. There are also some really good views
from the small rocky mountains on the edge of the canyon. Chavee and Vic had
already done this stop while waiting for us, so they continued on the bus to go
check in to the hotel. They were exhausted from the overnight drive and the day
in the hot sun (around 95F). I don't care what they say about a "dry heat" - it
is HOT!!!
 |
| Not very appetizing once you learn what "Guano" means |
 |
| Colorado river is the curved thing in the center that looks like a road (as Adina thought at first) |
 |
| Kids are at the top with their hands raised |
While driving on our way back, something up ahead was quickly crossing the road. It
looked at first like a larger lizard looking creature, but as we got close it had just made it
to the other side (not sure why it was crossing :-) ) and I could tell it was a bird of some
sort. I thought it looked like a Roadrunner (yes, that type of bird from the cartoon is
an actual bird). I looked it up back at the hotel, and sure enough that was what we saw.
The windows were all closed so I couldn't quite make out its distinctive "meep meep"
call.
 |
| Picture I found on the web to confirm my sighting of the Roadrunner |
We got back to the hotel at around 6:15PM to relax a bit (pool!) before finding a place
for a hot dog barbecue. We headed out a bit after 8:00 and it was starting to
get dark. We found a park a mile away and set up shop. Chavee and Vic had a
battery powered LED lantern and we had a flashlight. We cooked everything up,
and had sauerkraut, baked beans, corn, pickles, and watermelon. We were almost
done eating when Adina notice some big bug running on the ground. They looked
like very large roaches. Credit goes to everyone for not freaking out, while I
looked like I was doing one of the dancing arcade games jumping around stomping
on whatever bugs I could catch.
 |
| Had to stop for a bunch of cattle on the road on the way out near a ranch |
 |
| We drove thru what looked like cactus farms; miles of fields filled with them |
activity to replenish our supplies. The night before when we went, the cashier
asked for photo id to use the credit card. She saw the address and said, "Oh,
I'm from Piscataway!!" Small world. It's pretty funny that in this Walmart
(Supercenter with the grocery also) in Kingman, AZ, there is a kosher section.
We were browsing the aisle and happened upon a small section of the shelf where
they had the typical kosher stuff - Manischewitz products, etc. But no Dr.
Brown's soda here like in the other supermarket's kosher sections.
Tomorrow we plan to head out at around 9:00 for the 2.5 hour drive to the South
Rim of the Grand Canyon. It's about an hour north of Williams, AZ. The routine
now is that when we need to get up early and everyone complains, Karen says, "You
can sleep back in New Jersey!!" So that has become a tagline.
No comments:
Post a Comment