We visited the site of the Meteor Crater in Arizona. It is the site of a meteor impact that left a crater about 4000 feet across and occurred about 50,000 years ago.
Tom knew about this crater many years ago and had a book with a picture of the crater in it. Knowing that we were going to be travelling along I-40 he put a visit to the site in his plans.
The site now belongs to the Barringer family and is run privately.
The Holsinger meteorite is the largest discovered fragment of the meteorite that created Meteor Crater and it is exhibited in the crater visitor center.
We wanted to take a guided tour of the rim which started at 10:15 after a short film. The day was very clear and the temperature was a little crisp when we started.
The depth of the crater is about 500 feet. The meteor was thought to collide with the Earth at around 70 degrees from vertical
Daniel Barringer, who was the first to believe that this was an impact crater caused by a collision with a meteorite. He wanted to find the meteorite, and spent many years digging to find it. His efforts stopped in 1929. The actual meteorite was not found. The largest piece in existence was actually found outside of the crater and weighed 1409 pounds.
At one time, the public was allowed to hiked down to the crater floor but now is not allowed. The trail around the rim is paved but not all the way around.
A panoramic view of the crater.
The shiny object on the crater floor is an 8 foot section of a plane's wing.
For more about the story, visit the web site. Plane Crash in meteor crater.
When Barringer was trying to find the meteorite back in the late 20's, Dynamite was frequently used. Because there were common lightening strikes in the area, they decided to dig a tunnel to store the dynamite.
On the way out, we got Grammie in the open window. In the background are the San Francisco Mountains. They are not near SF but were along the route for pilots to fly there.
Grammie got to meet the leader of the band in Winslow, Arizona. Not really, but we were not going to miss a photo opportunity.
In the middle of the intersection is a big painted Route 66 sign which is also known as I-40
And on the opposite corner is the well known corner in Winslow Arizona made so by the song Take it Easy. Tom found the girl driving that Flatbed Ford.
This corner is a popular place to meet friends while taking a picture, or having your picture taken. Surprising how many of them have been to Maine.
The truck is a fixture on the corner.
Saturday evening, we had dinner at BoJo's just down the street. Our server was Mary who was a little spitfire that kind of reminded Tom of his mother. She was over 80 but very sharp. She wanted to know our names and where we from. When the next customers came in, she would introduce us as Alice and Tom from Maine...loud enough for all to hear.
Winslow is certainly a welcoming town.
The main street in town AKA 2nd street, Route 66 and I-40 is lined with older buildings and shops that rely on the tourists that go through town.
After seeing the Meteor Crater and Winslow, we headed South down Route 87 until we reached Phoenix. Tom was glad to have the 6 speed transmission in the van to be able to downshift to save on the brakes. Along the way we went from almost 7300 feet to about 1080 feet all the while going around curves. The day started out around freezing and ended up around 74 in Phoenix.
Thanks for keeping an eye out for Grammie. She was a good sport walking along the Crater rim tour while it was cold, and also trying to wear out the brakes in the Van while being on the passenger side going down Route 87.
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