Grand Canyon West 26th Anniversary

Eagle Point 

I was invited to go to the 26^th Anniversary celebration of Grand Canyon West. It was Saturday April 26, 2014. I went with another co-worker and then we met up with another co-worker, her husband, their daughter and a nephew. It was raining on the way up and then snowing when we got up there. I had gotten out a sweatshirt, but then left it thinking that I was taking too much stuff with my rain/wind jacket and hat. I ended up buying a sweatshirt at the gift shop there because it was too cold for just my light jacket. After I did that we went and got in line to take the bus to the Skywalk. My co-workers husband picked up the shirt they were giving out to everyone for each of us. We rode the bus to the Skywalk and Eagle Point. We took pictures of the Eagle in the rock, why it is named Eagle Point and looking down into the canyon.It was kind of scary because this little kid was running around with no parents around and we were afraid she was going to take too big of a risk and fall. We walked around and looked at the different examples of houses: teepees, and huts. After that the co-worker, that I rode up with and I got in line for the Skywalk. I am not afraid of heights, but am afraid of falling, so I thought being up on the Skywalk where I could look down below me would make me freak me out.

Skywalk

We aren’t allowed to take cameras or cell phones up there. They say that it is to preserve the glass by preventing those items being dropped on it. We had to put all of our stuff in the complementary lockers. It was a long line, but the wait wasn’t too bad. Fog started coming in while we were waiting. Once we got up there we could see that they had rugs laid on the one side to walk on so that people wouldn’t slip and fall on the glass since it had been raining and snowing. I actually wasn’t afraid at all. There was a photographer assigned to our group to take pictures, so we would walk a little bit and then he would stop us to take pictures. You don’t really get to spend a long time up there but kind of get herded along. After that we went back into the main building to look at our pictures and decide which ones we wanted to purchase. Since we had these purple wristbands it was not as expensive as normal, which was a good thing for me since I didn’t have much money to spend. I was able to get three pictures. I got one by myself, a nice one of my co-worker and I and a silly one of the two of us. After that we went through the line and got the free lunch, another deal with the purple bands. They were doing a presentation for the Anniversary. It was a nice and informative presentation. After that we went to look for our other co-worker and her family but we couldn’t find them and the cell service was non-existent. So, we hopped on the bus and went to the next point, Guano point, and walked out a ways almost to the historic tram and looked there. The sun was starting to come out so we decided to head back to see if we could get the helicopter ride. We rode the bus back to the starting point and went and got tickets for the helicopter and boat ride. It was also discounted because of the purple wristbands, which was nice because I definitely would not have been able to afford it otherwise. The timing was perfect and we didn’t have to wait at all. I was a little nervous since it was windy. I hate turbulence in planes and so wasn’t sure how I would handle being in a helicopter.

 When we took off I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to laugh or cry. I really enjoy it though and loved getting to see out of the helicopter. We flew to the bottom and took a short boat ride up and down the Colorado River. Then we ended up having to wait for awhile until the helicopter came back, but I didn’t mind as I was thoroughly enjoying being there. After that we flew back up and got in the vehicle and headed back to down. We went out to sushi for dinner and one of the choices I had was the Grand Canyon roll, as I thought it was fitting. It was a great day and I am glad I had the opportunity to go.