The Awesome Grand Canyon

'Awesome' is a word that Americans like to say a lot. I think I heard the word 300 times in two weeks when I was in the USA. They use it to describe anything, even those that are not-so-awesome.

But there's one place in the US that deserves to be called awesome and that is the Grand Canyon. And the best way to see it is through the air. So husband and I booked a flight through Grand Canyon Airlines and Scenic Airlines. They picked us up at our Las Vegas hotel well before sunrise and saw the canyon during dawn.

There were only 18 of us on the plane. It's a small propeller jet with big windows so you can see the views. I took a picture of it once the sun was up.

A big white bus picked us up when we landed.

And took us to the Holiday Inn for a yummy buffet breakfast.

Then it's off to visit the Grand Canyon National Park.

Located in Arizona, the Grand Canyon National Park is one of the oldest parks in the US and also a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are two vantage points that tourists can visit -- the South Rim and the North Rim. The South Rim is open the whole year and is more frequented by tourists. It's about 4,600 feet from the Colorado River below and 7,050 feet above sea level. The North Rim is open only from mid-May to mid-October but supposed to have the best views ever. Since we went there during autumn, we only saw the South Rim which had some tourists but not a lot.

As for the Canyon, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

I wonder how Mother Nature was able to stack up these rocks?

Found this really cute squirrel and an eagle in flight. The park is full of wildlife.

The best part of the tour is flying back to Las Vegas where we saw almost the rest of the Canyon through the air. It was AWESOME!

Here's a picture of the Colorado River. Without it, the Grand Canyon would not exist. The river's raging waters shaped the Canyon thousands of years ago.

We also flew over the West Rim of the Canyon which is not really part of the National Park but boasts a Skywalk and Hualapai Indian Reservation. A lot of tour operators in Vegas promotes the West Rim because it's closer but it only has an elevation of about 4,000 feet above sea level which is not as breathtaking as the South Rim.

And lastly, we flew over Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US and provides water to the rest of Nevada.

Our tour costs us US$388, for two people. This includes the plane ride, buffet breakfast, bus tour around the park, guide fee, fuel surcharge and hotel pick-up and drop-off. The duration was around 8 hours so you still have time to explore Vegas after that.

I recommend everyone to see the Grand Canyon from the sky. It's really one of the world's wonders.