Awesome Like a Hotdog

The Grand Canyon gives Americans the opportunity to use the word awesome in it's proper sense. I have seen countless TV programs, seen countless photographs, and yet it still took my breath away. Our guide made us do something that we all thought a bit silly. He got us to cover our eyes with one hand and only look down at the feet of the person in front as we shuffled up to the canyon. Once we were all lined up along the rim we did a simultaneous reveal. He got it just right. As you lift your hand, you just can't believe that the canyon just keeps going and going in every direction. As usual I have scores of photos that will just not convey the sheer scale of it. We went to various different points and had a couple of hours trekking down into the canyon, but it all pales in comparison to that first impression.
On the way back in the van, when we were discussing the day, I said that it was one of the few occasions where the word awesome was appropriate, and our guide Micheal told the story of another british guy who had picked him up on his use of the word. He said that every time he had used the word during the day, the guy had said "awesome, like a hotdog or like the universe"