eurocopter ec130 b4 ecureuil For New Year's, my wife and I decided to take a trip up North to visit the Grand Canyon, Williams, and Sedona.  It had been a few years since I had been up there, and my wife had never been.  I had two main goals for this trip; the first one was to catch some helicopters in the snow, and the second was to build my nature and landscape portfolio.  I'm happy to say that I accomplished both.

After leaving Phoenix, our first stop would be the Grand Canyon National Park Airport situated just south of the park in a town called Tusayan.  We stopped at Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters to accomplish my first goal.  They have always been really nice to me there when I have asked to take photos of their helicopters, this time they even warned me about all the snow they would be kicking up.  I spent an hour at Papillon and was able to get a few helicopters, packed with tourists, departing on flights over the Canyon.  It was great to see them operating in the snow, not something we see all the time in Arizona.

Then it was off to the Grand Canyon for sunset, it's only a few miles north of the airport.  We drove through the gate and stopped at the first viewing area, Yavapai Point.  We walked along the Rim Trail to Mather Point, and then waited for the sun to set back at Yavapai Point.  It was cold, the high at the South Rim was only 28°F that day, but we managed to stay warm enough to get the photographs I wanted.

grand canyon national park

We spent the night in Williams, one of the old Route 66 towns.  After checking into our hotel, we decided to head out for a walk down Route 66 and check out the Historic District.  We ended up at the Station 66 Italian Bistro, where we were seated near their state-of-the-art wood-fired pizza oven burning imported pecan wood.  The food and service were amazing and the pizza oven kept us toasty warm until it was time for our walk back.

The next morning we awoke to -1°F and decided to head down and check out the Grand Canyon Railway.  We watched as they moved the train into position at the station and also watched as it departed for the Canyon.  After it left the station, we decided to head back to Phoenix through Sedona.  It was a beautiful drive down Highway 89A through Oak Creek Canyon, the snow really added to the scenery.  We made stops at the airport, Tlaquepaque, and the Chapel of the Holy Cross.

chapel of the holy cross

We made one final stop at Montezuma Castle National Monument.  Neither of us had ever been here, and it was very interesting learning about the enduring legacy of the Sinagua culture.  Looking up at Montezuma Castle it was as if we were able to look through the windows of the past into one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in North America. This 20 room high-rise apartment, nestled into a towering limestone cliff, tells a story of ingenuity, survival and ultimately, prosperity in an unforgiving desert landscape.

montezuma castle national monument

The trip was quick but it was fun and it's always good to get away with the wife, we always have a lot of fun exploring and checking out new places together.  She is quickly turning into a photographer herself.  She currently uses her Galaxy S III, but she is really developing an eye for taking photos and she is already asking when she will get her first camera.