Tuesday, 14 April, 2015
DAY 8
BLOWN AWAY
A Holbrook breakfast seemed inadvisable so we drove to
Winslow to Dar's Route 66 Diner, which is just across the street from where a girl
(my lord) in a flatbed Ford slowed down to take a look at Glenn Frey or
possibly Jackson Browne. Rather dry omelet. Excellent hashbrowns though.
Winslow has embraced a more specific celebrity than the
other towns on Route 66, none of which have as particular a focus as the shrine at the corner
of Kinsley and West 2nd Street. Featured are the 'Standin' on the Corner'
Restaurant, a fine full-wall coup d'oeil mural with plaques, a brochure kiosk
and memorial brick walk. The brick I like best has two 8th notes.
Next stop is the Barringer Meteor Crater about 30k west of
Winslow. It's fifty thousand years old, more than a kilometer wide and a 120
meters deep. It's privately owned by the descendants of Daniel Barringer a
mining engineer who was first to suggest that the crater was the result of a
meteor impact, the size of which he estimated at 100 million tons. Based on the 1903 value of iron ore,
Barringer believed that there was about a billion dollars worth buried beneath
the crater floor, and he drilled and excavated for 27 years but no significant
deposit was ever found.
By 1960 it had been confirmed that Barringer's hypothetical
meteor strike was correct, if not the anticipated bonanza, and while the site is not a National or even a State
Park, it is owned by Barringer's descendants, it's a classy attraction
which includes an on site Mobil station and an RV park near Route 40. We paid
only $16 at the visitor centre for access to the observation areas which are
equipped with telescopes. There's a theatre and a museum, a terrific gift shop
and guided walking tours.
Adrian told the guard that he was going back out to the car for his camera equipment, and was told he could bring in anything he liked except 'one of those 'droids.' Inquiry revealed that 'droid was his term for drone, and I could readily see what a fine opportunities the crater offered.
Remember her?
We were cautioned about the high winds, although not quite
urgently enough. Forget your hat. Gusts of maybe 90k had me snatching out my
hearing aids before they sailed below. Holding the big panoramic camera steady
proved a challenge, and when Adrian stood up he was driven backward and had to
grab the railing to save a fall. Exciting times.
...Back on the road....
An ironic route 66 Corvette
Humphreys Peak just north of Flagstaff
Our affair with Route 66 ended at Flagstaff and the landscape became more typically southwestern as
we turned down Hwy 17 to our Carefree destination.
...and dinner at China Joy...
....and so goodnight...
Tomorrow, Taliesin West
No comments:
Post a Comment