by Kyle Yates
Back from the March 2007 Ski Tour
March 29, 2007 in Tours by Kyle Yates
The March trip is over and I’m back in Japan. We had a great time traveling around California, Nevada and Arizona snow skiing, sightseeing and visiting family. While Las Vegas was as it normally is, wild and outrageous, the Grand Canyon was a peaceful place that everyone in the world should visit at least once, if not often.
The mult-colored rock formations throughout the canyon were amazing to see in person. Photos don’t do the place justice. The Hualapai Indian reservation we went on to see the canyon is a really nice place, well maintained and organized for tours and history of the area. There’s a lot of history to the place and guides are more than happy to share the heritage of the place and the people who’ve lived there.
If you ever go there, I recommend taking a helicopter ride down into the canyon, something you can do only at Haulapai, not at the southern end of the Grand Canyon.
Unfortunately for us, we got there a week too early. The glass walkway deemed Sky Walk doesn’t open to this week. While we were unable to walk on it and see the valley below our feet, we can say that we got to see it before everyone else walked on it. Maybe we’ll get another chance next year or sometime later.
Skiing in Mammoth was great. The snow was really nice, not slushy. The first day was warm, but cool enough to keep the snow in good condition. Then the next day it snowed. Down at the base, we got about 5 inches of snow, while at the top, it snowed a lot more, probably about 10 inches up.
The only downfall from the trip is my butt hurts. I feel one too many times snowboarding. Next time I go, I think I’ll stick with skiing only. My ribs are also still hurting from another fall snowboarding. I either badly bruised or cracked a rib. No problem though. Bones heal.
The rest of the group that went, Chiemi, Eiko and May (Satsuki) all had a wonderful time too. They were a great group of ladies, all with different personalities and charm. Chiemi has been with me on several trips abroad. It was Eiko and May’s first time and they seemed to enjoy themselves. We stayed up – I often went to bed earlier than them because I had to drive – and talked and played games and May gave wine lessons on the many wines we drank throughout the trip.
It was a wonderful trip, one I hope to do again in the near future, God willing.
armandyates
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