Hurling over the Grand Canyon

No, that's not a typo in the title: I bet y'all thought I meant to title this post "Hurtling over the Grand Canyon." I didn't. For our first adventure at the Grand Canyon this morning (a beautiful, crystal clear day as you can see from my photos), Willis and I took a plane ride over the canyon on a small, 15 passenger plane. After about three dips of the small plane, I felt it coming on--reminiscent of my good old days of sea sickness when I worked as a Foreign Fishing Observer. Deep breaths, focus on the gorgeous canyon below, get some good shots...that worked until we approached the landing strip and Willis had to tear open the barf bag for me. With my knees jammed under my chin (remember, this was a tiny plane), I had to position the barf bag over my son's lap. I'll leave the rest to your imagination!

Once we got back on solid ground, I was fine. The park has a great non-polluting shuttle bus system (free use with purchase of your park pass) that takes you all over the south rim of the park, and we used this to get around. We hiked the south rim trail, taking in the magnifcent scenery. We spotted a tiny lizard and a California Condor soaring overhead. Condors were reintroduced to the park in 1996 and have done well. They are the largest birds in North America, and amazing to watch.

We ended the day by seeing the Imax Grand Canyon film, where we soared once again through the Grand Canyon. This time, I did just fine!