Meteor Crater Park

The ground was still wet from last night’s rain. Unfortunately, so were my mats and chair. You’d think I’d learn by now. Got everything loaded and took off down the old Route 66. Lots of roadside distractions as I roll down the two lane highway dodging semis and bouncing over poorly repaired potholes and bridge seams.

Before I knew it, I was standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. The poor humble berg is trying to garner some tourism from the old Eagles tune. A billboard for the freshly opened Winslow Hotel claimed they were “the new kid in town”. I joined a few other tourists wandering the block at the Standing on a Corner park. The flatbed Ford reflected in the mural painted on the wall. I could only hang with Glen Frye so long before I had to get back on the road to more extraterrestrial adventures.

Not much further down the pike, I got parked up at the Meteor Crater RV park. Pretty empty which is always a good thing. Didn’t tarry long setting things up. Pulled Bluey off the rack and started turning the cranks down the long shoulderless cracked pavement towards the meteor crater.

Lots of wind and a few good inclines and I was chaining the bike at the ticket booth. Due to danger of lightning, the guided rim tours were postponed. But I walked out on the viewing platforms and got an amazing eyeful of outer space impact. Walked around checking it out from different angles. 50,000 years ago this chunk off an asteroid came barreling in at 26,000 miles an hour and blew this massive indentation in the Arizona desert. Or was it a desert back then? This is the best preserved example and most studied meteor crater in the world.

Spent a few hours and even made friends with a colorful lizard near the binocular thingies. Sat through a brief movie with a busload of Japanese tourists that pretty much said the stuff I just mentioned. The movie mentioned the facts, not the Japanese tourists. Thought I’d better clear that up. It was a cool, quirky little stop off on the road to somewhere else but once is enough for the bloated entry price.

Back into the sun and wind to beat my way back to the campground. At least I got fifty cents off on a fountain drink at the camp with my meteor crater receipt. Did a load of laundry, loafed in my rocking chair then moved it over to the far west side to take in the desert sunset. Rain in the clouds was getting backlit in orange. Nice end to another day on the road.