Grand Canyon

Here at last to see a big hole in the ground called the Grand Canyon. Seriously, nothing you read or hear about it from others can quite prepare you for the first time you clap your eyes on one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
Aaaaaawesome sums it up - 277 miles long, some 10 miles wide on average and reaching depths of up to 8,000ft at some points, and the Colorado River, which has some of the greatest rapids of any river in the world, just a snaking greeny-brown speck below.
One of Chris's lifelong ambitions has been to see the sun rise and set over GC (who am I to deny her?). Never mind being up at tbe crack of dawn, she gets herself and a bleary-eyed moi semi-awake at 4.15am to see not only the sun rise, but dawn break - and even I (not one of the world's greatest early-risers, as many who know me would agree) admit to being knocked out by the incredible canvas laid out in front of me.
Some 12 hours later we are back at the same spot - Yavapi Point - for a breathtaking view of the sun going down and the ever-shifting patterns and colours of the canyon - from brilliant white to green and orange, crimson red and deep purple.
We stay on the South Rim in timber lodge for a couple of days and do a fair bit of walking, trying to do justice to this remarkable landscape - one of the Southwest's - and the world's -most instantly recognisable and iconic places. This is beauty on the grandest scale imaginable - standing you feel at the very edge of the world, particulary so as you gaze down on eagles and condors flying below, as well as above, you. Truly magical and life-enriching.