A Squared: Grand Canyon

AR and I had the experience of a lifetime this past Monday. We got to visit the Grand Canyon and we got to see it by helicopter! It was a check off both of our bucket lists and one that we'll never forget. When we first decided to take our summer vacation to Phoenix, I knew I wanted to visit the Grand Canyon. It was about three hours away but I figured when would we ever be close enough again so we had to make the trip. I researched and researched and researched some more trying to find the most affordable yet best way to view the Canyon. After hours of research, I decided on a Detours of the West tour and it was the best decision! Everything from booking to pick up to the tour and dropoff was easy peasy. This was definitely the BEST option!

First stop was at the Red Rocks in Sedona. We stopped to get a scenic view of the red mountains first.

We had a great group of people on our tour, mainly all couples, one guy from New Zealand visiting the States for the first time (luckily he was wearing a bright orange shirt so we always kept in in view!), two sets of parents with their adult kids then AR and me. I'll be honest, I was worried that AR would be bored but she was an all-star! She loved looking out the window, I let her take pictures and we didn't even get the tablet out until the last three hours of the trip (we started at 6AM and didn't get back until 8PM!). Two of the couples complimented her on how well behaved she was as the exited the tour bus and I was so proud of her and couldn't agree more.

We stopped at some stores in Sedona for about 30 minutes. We took in some more views then AR and I were off to find some postcards, it was the ultimate scavenger hunt but we found them!!! Here's AR posing with the Snoopy Rock in the background.

I snapped this picture on a whim and it might be one of my all time favorite pictures of her now, doesn't she look so grown up?

Waiting on the last few people to get back to the bus, I couldn't resist snapping this... love those bright colors!

She was "freezing" on the bus so she hijacked my jacket!

About two hours later, we got to our next stop. I hadn't told her what we were doing so she was super surprised when she saw the helicopters and found out we got to ride in one! She was also excited because a girl on our helicopter looked like a mermaid from Mako Mermaids...

This is us right after takeoff!

OMG! This girl LOVED the headset and monopolized the air space. Our pilot, Sean, would tell us some facts about the Grand Canyon. When he finished, she'd say, "Thanks, Sean, that was interesting!" She even complimented him on his music selection. I was also very proud of her for asking questions like how deep the river was and where the other helicopters went. I love to see her being confident and not worrying about what other people think.

Holding her Mama's hand as we takeover, I'll forever cherish little moments like these.

And now the wonder and awe that is the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River!

Even from above, it is impossible to capture the massiveness of this place!

All smiles from both of us!

AR and I shared photography duty and we both captured some stunning shots.

After the chopper ride, we got to see the Grand Canyon by land.

Looking to see how far down it is... it's amazing to me that there weren't more guardrails or safety precautions but I guess everyone knows to respect the Canyon and it's greatness.

AR with the Duck Rock behind her... it took me awhile to figure this one out but I finally saw it!

I love being able to share experiences like these with my girl. She's an amazing travel companion and we both learn so much from each other.

Oh, we also loved that the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler than Phoenix although the altitude and dryness really messed with our sinuses.

So don't quote me on all this but I think this is the Little Colorado River. It has calcium in the water so the reflection from the sun makes it this pretty blue color.

We even got to walk below the South Rim! I think our guide said maybe like 20% of people that visit the Grand Canyon do this so we're in the minority here.

This was our guide Mr. Mark. AR asked him to be in this picture with her. To me, it looks like they are photoshopped in the picture but they're not, that's nature's real beauty right there! Shoutout to Mark for showing us some amazing sights! With our tour, we also got a delicious lunch which for AR and I was enough for both lunch and dinner.