USA 2016: Grand Canyon

Arizona is the state of canyons. We saw this when we flew over it on our way to Las Vegas. Deep gorges carved into the landscape over many years by natural forces. Our first stop in Arizona was Horseshoe Bend near Page. A little while before that, we arrived at the Glen Canyon Dam. This dam and its associated hydroelectric power plant harness the power of the Colorado River. This river, with its many tributaries, has carved out numerous canyons in this area. A steel arch bridge also spanned Glen Canyon, which we crossed. We also walked on it briefly to admire the view. It was remarkable that you could actually feel the bridge moving when a car drove over it. A few kilometers further, we arrived at Horseshoe Bend. After a walk in the warm summer sun, we arrived at this famous hairpin bend on the Colorado River, a magnificent view. It seemed like a sport among tourists to get as close to or over the edge of the abyss as possible for a photo (selfie!). You'd think something like that would go wrong. Near Winslow, Arizona, we visited Meteor Crater. As the name suggests, this is a gigantic meteor crater. It's the best-preserved impact crater on Earth. This site was also used by NASA for training for the moon missions. The crater was also close to the old Route 66. We drove some sections of it, but it wasn't worth it for us. They were just short sections. After a few street signs and tourist shops, you returned to the highway. There are probably more beautiful sections towards Los Angeles, but the ones we visited were unfortunately disappointing. A road trip through the Wild West isn't complete without a visit to the Grand Canyon. First, we admired it from the various viewpoints. But later, we went back to do it again by helicopter! Once we arrived at the airline, luckily there was room for us on a flight later that afternoon. Once the flight was ready, we received a briefing and then received seat passes. We were taken outside to the helicopters. Just as we thought we were supposed to get in, we were suddenly ushered back inside. We had to hand in our passes, no one explained why, confusion reigned. Then we were put in a van and taken to an airstrip further along. Somewhere along the way, it turned out we'd spontaneously been upgraded to a better helicopter, okay, okay then! :-) During the flight, music played, along with narration. After takeoff, we first flew over the Kaibab National Forest. Finally, the forest suddenly ends, and you look into the abyss. Appropriate epic music from 2001 A Space Odyssey was played: "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss. It was a song I also recognized from the 24 Hours of Le Mans, from the moment the cars rolled in and were released for the start. This was a completely different spectacle. We were at a loss for words... Upon returning, Greenday sang something about the Time of Your Life; I couldn't have ended it more fittingly.