Day 10 – Grand Canyon

Rick and Mary got up early and headed towards Scottsdale, AZ to visit with Mary’s cousin while we continued on towards the Grand Canyon.

Off in the distance we could see a mountain with a snow-covered top.  It turned out to be the highest peak in Arizona, somewhere over 12,000 feet.

Not too far out of Winslow we saw the sign for the Meteor Crater and jumped off the interstate for the six-mile drive.  Dorrie was not real excited about going, but was a good sport.  We arrived just as the walking tour was starting, which was our good luck.  Eduardo (not sure of spelling) is the head guide and he led our tour.  There were 8 kids on a school outing from Miami, Florida along with 2 adults, another couple from Kansas with their 2 boys, a couple from Canada, and us in the tour.

The crater was created by a meteor estimated to be 150 feet across traveling at an estimated 26,000 miles per hour at impact, with a force of a 20-megaton bomb.  At one time the crater was over 700 feet deep, but now is only over 500 feet and is about a mile across.  The guide said you could fit 20-football field in the floor being watched by more than two million spectators from the sloping sides.

We took the one-mile walking tour, watched a movie on the impact and then continued on our way.

In the center of the crater is a white spot with a square around it.  The square is a fence and on the right side of the fence is the outline of a astronaut and the American flag.  You can just see it if you looked real hard.  Also if you look hard you can see two dark objects on the left side of the white area - this is equipment from a drilling program and the front piece of equipment is a steam boiler about 15 feet long.

Here is a close up of the area.  The astronauts trained here for the moon program. 

Here we are on the rim of the crater

We are currently camped at Grand Canyon Camper Village for the next three nights.  Rick and Mary pulled into the campground around 6 this evening, so we are back together.