The Long and Winding Road from California to Washington, Part 3: Winslow and Meteor Crater

October 11-12, 2021

    Having decided the cold, snowy weather that was projected to the north was not our cup of tea, we headed south from the Grand Canyon. Over the next 6 days, we did our blog proud by meandering 1,100 miles around central Arizona. 

Arizona Meander: Day 1: Hoover Dam; Williams. Days 2-3: Grand Canyon. Day 4: Meteor Crater; Winslow. 

    Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments southeast of the Grand Canyon looked interesting on paper but they turned out to be along a 35-mile loop road. The road is reportedly paved, yet signs stated it required high clearance and possible 4WD, so we passed.
    Then Doug said he'd always wanted to see Meteor Crater, so we headed toward Winslow AZ on Route 66. 

Changing tires and cajoling overheated radiators were common on Route 66.

    For any child of the 1960s and '70s, Winslow immediately brings to mind "Take It Easy," a song written by Jackson Browne and made famous by the 
Eagles.

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Statue in the foreground of great late musician Glenn Frey of the Eagles. Other statue may be composer Jackson Browne.

We cannot help but sing, or at least hum the tune:

Well, I'm a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona,
and such a fine sight to see.
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford,
slown' down to take a look at me.

Take it easy.
Take it easy.
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
Drive you crazy.
Lighten up while you still can.
Don't even try to understand.
Just find a place to make your stand
And take it easy.


Standin' on the Corner Park, Winslow AZ.

Marilyn performed with her college glee club at Winslow High School in February 1972. "Take It Easy" came out in May, so they unfortunately hadn't stood on the corner.


    We'd hoped to camp at the state park close to town, but it was full, so we camped instead at the city's McHood Park on Clear Creek Reservoir, several miles out of town.

Winslow's wonderful McHood Park on Clear Creek Reservoir.

After claiming a site at the park, we returned to town for dinner at Relic Road Brewery. We often stopped for coffee on our trip, getting it to go, but rarely ate out, due to the ongoing pandemic, and then only when staff were masked and we could be away from other people.


Winslow brew pub where we had dinner.

    Back at Clear Creek Reservoir, we found a truck and trailer parked on our site—they apparently had not seen our red gingham table cloth. The young man immediately said he'd made a mistake, we found another site also on the water, and all was well. Winds slammed into the van all night, rocking Doug to sleep and making Marilyn worry about rolling into the water. Though we had brought  our inflatable kayaks, it looked a bit too cold and windy for water play.

McHood Park Campground, Clear Creek Reservoir, Winslow AZ

    The next day was Meteor Crater Natural Landmark. Doug wanted to see it as he remembered flying over—well just below the rim—in a helo in the '70s. It is just a few miles off  I-40 west of Winslow.  Amusing Brill Cream-like signs along the road build anticipation.




    About 50,000 years ago, a meteor plummeted through space,  traveling 11 miles per second, and impacted the earth with the force of 10 million tons of TNT. The result was a crater 4,100 feet in diameter and 700 feet deep and destruction for miles around due to the shock waves. 

4,100-foot-wide Meteor Crater's depth has shrunk from 700 to 550 feet, due to erosion of its walls and rim.

Daniel Moreau Barringer staked a claim to the crater in 1902, believing it was caused by a meteor. A geologist by trade, he drilled deep into the crater, hoping to find nickel-iron. Unfortunately, none was found.  
 

Still at the bottom of Meteor Crater are rusty remains of an engine the Barringer Company used to drill deep into the earth looking for nickel-iron. Also on the bottom is a statue of an astronaut holding a US flag.

    From 1963-'70, Meteor Crater was used for Apollo Astronaut training, conducted by experts from the US Geologic Survey. The astronaut training led to a safer spacesuit, after an astronaut ripped his suit on a rock in the crater. Recently there was testing 
at the crater on a suit for missions to Mars. 

Astronaut statue, Barringer Crater Visitor Center.

    Due to the hard, cold wind—and recalling how such a wind nearly blew Doug off the rim of Amboy Crater—we didn't stay outside for long marveling at the amazing hole in the ground. The wind canceled rim tours for the day as well. 

Meteor Crater from upper viewing deck. Note people on lower deck on right to get an idea of the crater's size.

    While driving to the crater we'd noticed remnants of a stone building off to the east on a dirt road. It turned out to be the American Meteor Museum on what was the original Route 66, now a dirt path. 

1950s American Meteor Museum 6 miles north of Meteor Crater on Route 66 contained over 5,000 meteorites from all over the world. The Barringer family-owned Meteor Crater Visitor Center opened in 1961. 

    We wanted to eventually see London Bridge in Lake Havasu City AZ on the Colorado River, but as you can see from the map at the top, we weren't done with Arizona yet.

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