One of our must dos while in Vegas was a helicopter trip to the Grand Canyon. I was super excited to find that the pilot had no concerns about me using Glass to take pictures in flight.
I drew the backseat straw, but that meant that as well as having great views out my side window, I was able to enjoy watching the kids loving their front seat view!
Shortly after taking off we passed over the Hoover Dam and could clearly see the impact that drought combined with increased water demand has had on the level of Lake Mead.
Then it was time to fly into the Canyon itself, which is just an amazing experience.
A 30 minute touch down at the base gave us time for a quick picnic and walk around, including a visit from a friendly local chipmunk, much to the kids’ delight! He was way too small and moving too fast to be caught by Glass though.
There were plenty of others on similar trips and the helicopters buzzing in and out provided some great photos.
All too soon it was time to board our helicopter and head back to the bright lights of Vegas.
I’d highly recommend this as a great way to see the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and surrounding countryside. But with one word of warning; with no shortage of companies offering virtually the identical flight experience, don’t make the same mistake we did.
Our agent booked us on a flight that left from Boulder City (which eagle-eyed readers may have already spotted via the vignette in the first picture) instead of McCarran. This added an extra 30 minutes transit time each way (at least) and also meant we missed the opportunity to see the Strip by air on the flight back in from the Canyon. So make sure you check the departure location carefully before you confirm.
It was still a great day and I loved that I got a nice unexpected bonus courtesy of Google a couple of days later when this autoawesome panorama made from my Glass pics popped up in my account!