...today was a big travel day for us...so we didn't do breakfast at the AirBnb...but stopped at McD's on our way out of town...
...for the 2 1/2 hour drive to the WEST RIM of the GRAND CANYON...which wasn't even on our radar for some reason...actually until we flew over it...I didn't realize how close it was...but this is the one with the SkyWalk...so we kindof
had to see it while we were here...
...just more gorgeous views from the interstate...
...and the two lanes...
...we drove through the Joshua Tree Forest...and it really was amazing...these trees are just a few feet tall...but there were millions of them...
...and in no time at all (just chatting and visiting and oooohing and aaaaahing really makes the time fly by)...we turned off onto the Canyon road...
...and found the visitor's center...
...and boarded the shuttle bus...
...and had our fist glimpse of the canyon...and the SkyWalk...
...Our Airman and I did lots of reminiscing about our first trip to the canyon...
...which oddly enough was also in November...but 2011...
...
that saga starts here...
...it did seem a little bit different from this rim...
...looking north...
...we put all of our 'droppables' inot a locker and headed into the building...to don our slippers...
...and walked out onto the glass...it wasn't too crowded...
...the Colorado River...
...the view through the glass...with the camera right on it...
...and the view from a couple of feet up...
...the views were spectacular...
...of course...
...looking into the middle of the loop...there were birds flying around under the walkway...
...looking down through one of the cracks...or maybe spacer is a better word...haha...
...the sheer drop-off from the edge of the canyon...
...looking through the center towards the river...
...and back out at the skywalk from the exit...they told us we could go out for 15 minutes three times during our visit...so you really do get plenty of time on the Skywalk...it was great fun...
...then we went upstairs to the restaurant for lunch...this is the view looking down from the restaurant over the SkyWalk...
...I was really hungry and had the BEST meal I've had so far...it was a vegan "frybread" taco...I'd not had frybread since we lived near the Sioux reservation in North Dakota...they served it at all of the street fairs...it's so delicious...
...then we headed back outside...
...to see the Tribal Structures exhibit...
...it was a short walking tour...
...it was really interesting...
...to see and read about how they were constructed...
... and what they were used for...
...from small shelters...
...to large meeting houses...
...furnished...
...very sturdy...
...an exhibit showing the construction...woven branches...
...covered with mud...
...and reinforced with sticks...
...a more recent pueblo style dwelling...
...also interesting construction...
...and also very sturdily built...
...there were two fireplaces...
...one in each corner...
...and some furniture and food...
...it was getting pretty late in the afternoon and we still wanted to stop at Guano Point before we left...so we headed back to catch our bus...
...there are no guard rails of any kind...and a man fell to his death just yesterday here...
...this is looking over the cliff...I'm standing a couple of feet back and just holding my camera out there...
...just spectacular views everywhere...
...and not too crowded at all...
...as you come out onto the point you can sort of look back to the northwest and see the river down in the gorge...
...it's named Guano Point because back in the 1930s they mined bat guano here for fertilizer...and the derelict tramway was part of that operation...
...guano was mined until 1960 when an Air Force jet damaged the cable (I wonder how that happened)...and it was never repaired...
...can you imagine riding up and down that cable in a little car...
..."Hwal'bay" is the Hualapai word for "people of the tall pines"...and Nyu Wa translates from Hualapai to English as "Our Home"...
...then it was time to head back to the AirBnb 'home'...
...another gorgeous drive...the sun was setting and we saw these sun dogs...
...and since it was dusky dark and we were already in the car...we decided to drive downtown and see the lights on the strip...
...this is Las Vegas Blvd...
...it seems to be the older section...
...still pretty and fascinating...
...Fun City...that's not exactly the 'nickname' you usually hear...haha...
...streets lined with palms...palm trees were everywhere...
...and showgirls...
...we drove right under this arch...
...Circus Circus...with the creepy clown glaring down at you...
...and the hotel on both sides of the road...
...some of the larger casino/hotels too...
...and the dome...just before I snapped this all blue photo it had been many coloured...
...the Needle...actually named the Stratosphere Tower...
...Whew!...that was a long post...
~Have a lovely day - I guess I should say evening as I seem to be posting at night now...
Awesome! I'd love to go to the Grand Canyon one day. I don't know if I'll get there but it's a dream of mine.
ReplyDeleteAnd more beautiful scenery! We haven’t been on that skywalk, looks pretty nerve-racking to me! But certainly fantastic views! Love, K
ReplyDeletePS. Forgot to comment on someone falling to his death. Wow that’s scary!
ReplyDelete