I don’t know about you, but I was extraordinarily excited to hear about plans to build a gondola tram that would take visitors 1.6 miles to the floor of the Grand Canyon in 10 minutes – way faster and less strenuous than scrambling for hours down dangerous trails in insufferable heat, and then dragging yourself back up.

I remember gazing from the South Rim of the enormous chasm years ago and thinking: “This is what 5 million people flock to every year? It’s a flippin’ hole in the ground! Where are the rides? The hot dog stands? The souvenir shops?”

Little did I know that the Navajo Nation, which owns a section of the Arizona canyon, felt the same way. The tribe is proposing a 420-acre tourist attraction featuring not only a gondola but also an RV park, food pavilion, IMAX theater, retail shops and hotels, as well as an elevated walkway along the Colorado River.

But short-sighted spoilsports from the nearby Hopi Tribe are trying to block the Navajo’s proposal, claiming it would desecrate what members have long considered a sacred site. I think they’re just jealous that they didn’t come up with the idea first.

A bunch of back-to-nature crackpots also are making a fuss, but guess what? They can yell all they want and it’s all hot air, because the Navajos own the land and can do what they darn please.

I read somewhere that the Grand Canyon is considered one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, so I checked the others on the list and realized I’ve seen a couple others, and it got me thinking about how they can be improved.

Take Niagara Falls.

First of all, we’ve already done a pretty good job of building plenty of hotels, restaurants and shops close to the falls, and those Maid of the Mist boats go right under them, but let’s face it, how long can you stare at tumbling water without getting bored out of your wits?

They need to figure out a way to cut off the water every so often, and then let it all go. You can make it a surprise as to when the next release will be, or have it scheduled regularly, just like Old Faithful in Yellowstone – which didn’t make the worldwide list of natural wonders but is on a compilation called “Notable Natural Wonders of the United States.”

I watched Old Faithful go off a couple years ago. Big whoop. Now the Fountains at Bellagio in Las Vegas – that's a real wonder.

Also on the worldwide list is the Great Barrier Reef off Australia, which must be somebody’s idea of a joke because regular people never get to see it. The damn thing is underwater! You’ve got to take a boat out for miles, put on scuba gear and dive down. Even then they won’t let you touch it or take away samples as souvenirs!

I say scoop up the whole thing, or at least a big chunk, and put it on a plaza somewhere where everybody can check it out. They can sell pieces of coral to help pay for the dredging.

I saw Mt. Everest a number of years ago while trekking in Nepal, and wished I could have gotten closer. I was miles away and only about 14,000 feet high– less than half the elevation to the summit.

Over the years I’ve met about a dozen people who actually made it to the top, and they all talked about what a great experience it was, which I have to admit makes me kind of envious. If we can land a man on the moon, why can’t we invent a vehicle that can bring people to the highest place on Earth? Come on, Nepal, get with it!

The aurora borealis is also on the list of Seven Natural Wonders of the World, and I missed my chance to see it the other day when a big solar flare set off northern lights that were visible over large sections of North America, including Connecticut.

I was too busy watching “The Voice” to get out of bed, but our son, Tom, who lives in northern Minnesota, called the next day, all breathless, because he saw the light show.

“It was amazing!” he gushed, describing how green and then pinkish plumes arched through the night sky.

“Yeah, well you missed Blake Shelton stealing one of Adam Levine’s top singers,” I replied.

Anyway, I can’t wait until they build that Grand Canyon tramway. I just hope the gondolas are air conditioned, and that there’s a Cinnabon at the station.