Day Ten

Today we left Vegas and headed out to the Grand Canyon. It was a two hour trip mostly off road. We saw a couple of cows on our way just hanging out. Once we got there they made us park. We asked them if we could drive to the canyon but they said no. That we would have to take the bus to the canyon. So we got out and headed over to get our ticket. Apparently the West side of the canyon is owned and operated by the Indians there. We went to the front desk and the clerk told us we had to purchase one of two packages. Either the silver package which was the bus ride, and a meal.($57 per person) Or the Gold package which was the same but included the sky walk.($84 per person) I was in shock! We had looked up the sky walk (its a walk area with a glass bottom that hands over the edge of the canyon) and they said it was only $30. But apparently you have to pay for a meal, bus ride, gas and pay to be on the Indian's land. Talk about a rip off!! So, we asked is there any other place we could go to just see the canyon. We didn't need a meal. They said no (with an attitude). So feeling very upset on not being able to see the canyon (a once in a lifetime thing) and after coming all that way, I went to talk to the helicopter people. I had seen a sign in Vegas for helicopter rides for $30. I asked the lady about how much it would be. She said $220 per person. Great... We asked her if she knew any place we could go to see it. She said the only public place was about 200 miles away. She told us that there should have been a bronze package where you only pay for the bus ride. It was a lot cheaper $44 per person. So I asked to take the brochure and we showed the clerk. She said it was an old brochure and they don't do that package anymore but we could talk to the manager about it. So we did and he said that it would be fine. So yay for talking to people again!! It pays to get to know someone. So we got to take the bus and get to the grand canyon. It was definately worth seeing. It was HUGE! It was very scary though. The wind would gust and John would get on the edge to look down. Talk about having a heart attack. We did take a picture on the edge. I was so scared. You can't even imagine how deep that canyon is. I felt like crying I was so scared when I got to the edge. I kept imagining me falling to my death. What an awful way to die. After the grand canyon we headed to California. We got to Orange CA at about 1am. Welcome to the OC!!!