Here's one tied down
The rest of these can speak for themselves ...
So I started off the morning heading not north to the canyon, but south, to the airport. When I got there, first order of business was to pay, and the second was to get weighed. They don't tell anyone their weights though, so no embarrassment for those who would be embarrassed. Somehow based on my weight I was assigned to seat 1-C.
1-C means 1st row, center. One reason why I picked this helicopter outfit (out of the three or four there) was because the people at the campground told me it's the best, because everyone sits facing forwards, and because their helicopters have three blades on the rotor instead of two, so the ride is smoother. Never having ridden in any other helicopter I can't say for certain whether or not that is true, but it was pretty smooth. Anyway: there are two rows, total capacity of 6. The pilot sits in the right front, so I was right next to him.
You wear headsets so you can clearly hear both the pilot, and a recorded audio track that really is the tour. The pilot interjects little comments here and there, but basically it's the recording that tells you what you are looking at. That's actually a lot like the way the buses at the Kennedy Space Center work (though most of that was not on the bus.)
After everyone got a picture taken in front of the helicopter as a free souvenir, we got strapped in and took off. We headed straight towards the canyon, getting there just a bit west of the village. We crossed directly over. The view from there is *way* better than the view from the rim. Sure, you don't get the feeling that a wrong step could send you falling thousands of feet down (did I mention that those afraid of heights probably shouldn't consider the canyon a must-see?) but the view is spectacular. The morning sun gave much better colors and better photo-ops. We flew over to the north rim, and then back basically the way we came.
It was a short ride. It was actually about 40 minutes but I wish I'd taken a longer tour (this was the shortest one they offer). We spent almost the whole tour at about 7,500 feet (remember, the south rim is at about 7,000, and the north rim is at about 8,000). We dipped down to 6,500 once, and got over 8,500 once. I wonder if there's a tour that drops way down into the canyon.
I still think the best way to see the canyon would be from the bottom. Some other time, I guess.
Anyway, after the tour I headed back to the campground and got everything packed up and ready to go. I got on the road and headed towards home. It got pretty hot heading across the desert, the temps were in the 80s.
Did anyone else notice how early it got dark today? It was absolutely, completely dark by 6pm. And that's Pacific Time, since I gained yet another hour when I crossed the state line. The sunset was nice though, I was in Barstow at the time.
Starting shortly before Bakersfield, I kept on changing my mind about how far to go tonight. I probably could have gotten home at about midnight, maybe a little sooner. But that would have been later body time, and I was already tired. And it sure was dark. Once I started to think about it I almost stopped in Bakersfield. But then I changed my mind again and passed through ... but then I changed my mind yet again and stopped in Lost Hills.
So, I'm only 207 miles from home. But I'm glad I stopped, since now that I am, I'm absolutely exhausted! I'll finish the trip tomorrow. If I'd gone home tonight, I would have been dead, and would have had to start unpacking and everything tomorrow anyway. And I think maybe I wanted just one more night of this trip!