27th Day - day 27

The highlight of the day was a helicopter flight through the Grand Canyon. Early in the morning (as always :-)), we headed to the airport. I had booked the flight from Switzerland, but the front seats could only be booked on-site for an additional fee. Everyone wanted the front seats, so everyone was weighed to balance the helicopter. Based on that, it was decided where each person would sit. To try our luck, I mentioned that it was Zoë's birthday (which was almost true). Whatever it was, shortly after, I was $100 lighter and we were sitting in the front seats next to the pilot. I was almost in tears from joy! We could communicate well with the headsets, and the pilot played cool music. We took the long tour - 50 minutes. First, we flew over forests towards the north, and then the pilot asked if we wanted Indiana Jones or Star Wars music. We chose Indiana Jones and flew over the plateau into the nothingness and down to the canyon. The feeling was extremely intense, a scream of fear escaped my throat, but everything was fine - it was simply breathtaking! We didn't say a word. Quiet as a mouse, we sat there and absorbed the almost spiritual experience. We took some photos in between because we just couldn't resist, like when we saw a herd of buffalos.... In a trance-like state, we landed, and my heart almost burst with happiness! Then we made our way to the visitor center where we learned from an impressive film how the canyon was formed. Then we started to feel hungry, so we bought a small picnic at a store, walked to the rim, enjoyed the view from a vertical perspective, and were simply satisfied. But soon, the sun became more and more intense, and the heat made it difficult to relax. Therefore, we went to the hotel for a siesta. Around 4 o'clock, we headed west of the rim - where the sunset is the most beautiful and the sun no longer burned. We took a shuttle bus to the end and walked a long way back, with the sun at our back, the beautiful nature around us, the birds above us, and deeply engaged in conversations about the future. Magnificent. Back at the hotel, we sat on the veranda, ordered Zoë her first chili, had cocktails, and watched the sun disappear on the horizon. Oh, how lucky we are....

The highlight of the day was a helicopter flight through the Grand Canyon. Early in the morning (again...) we headed to the airport. I had already booked the flight from Switzerland, but I couldn't book the front seats. The front seats are very popular. Therefore, the people get weighed to balance the helicopter, and then it is decided who sits where. To push our luck a little, I mentioned that it was Zoë's birthday (which was almost true). I don't know what it was, but a few minutes later, I was allowed to pay a $100 surcharge and got the front seats. I had tears in my eyes, I was so happy! With the headsets, we could communicate well with each other, and the pilot put on some cool music. We booked the long tour - 50 minutes. First, we flew over forests towards the north, and then he asked us which music we wanted. Indiana Jones or Star Wars. We opted for Indiana Jones, and in that moment, we flew over the plateau down into the canyon. The feeling was extreme, and a little scream of fear came out of my throat. But I was fine - it was just so breathtaking! We didn't speak. We were quiet as a mouse, just sat there and absorbed the almost spiritual experience. In between, we had to take some pictures because we just couldn't resist, like when we saw a horde of buffalos! Like in a trance, we landed, and my heart nearly burst with joy. From there, we went to the visitor center where we learned how the canyon emerged through a very informative film. Thereafter, we felt a little hungry, so we got a picnic from the grocery shop, took it to the rim, and enjoyed the view from a vertical perspective - totally content. But soon, the sun became so strong, and the heat became unbearable so that relaxing was impossible. Therefore, we went to the hotel to take a little siesta. At 4 pm, we headed towards the west side of the rim where the sunset was beautiful and the sun no longer shone so hot. We took the shuttle bus to the very end of the rim and walked back a fair bit, with the sun at our back, surrounded by beautiful nature, with birds above us, and we immersed ourselves in conversations about the future. Brilliant. Back at the hotel, we sat on the veranda, where Zoë ordered her first chili, had cocktails, and watched the sun setting in the horizon. God, how blessed we are....