Day Sixteen

Today was Grand Canyon day. It was beautiful and grand, as expected. We hiked around a bit and took the requisite too many photos. Here are just a few. It's hard to fathom how such a small-appearing river carved out these crazy canyon walls.

As we left the canyon to head for Flagstaff, we saw several scenic overlooks run by the native tribes who were selling their wares at each stop. We chose this one and were rewarded after a short walk with a view of the little Colorado River and a beautiful gorge. The locals were rewarded with a few purchases from us.

On the way, Pete, navigator and fun-finder extraordinaire, found a colorful volcano called Sunset and an Indian ruin he thought I might like to see, called Wupatki National Monument. It took us off our path for a couple of hours, but as usual with these lesser-known places that are off the beaten path, it was completely worth it.

The most amazing thing about Wupatki is a naturally occurring "blow hole." From some subterranean cavity in the earth, air blows up, strong and cool enough to feel like air conditioning. We don't know why it works or why it sometimes blows warm and sometimes cool air, but we sure appreciated the cool air today. We didn't want to leave that hole! The pictures show me at the hole, the grate that's over it, and what the camera showed us when we put it right up to the grate and took a flash photo. Very cool!

The rest of the ruins were worth the drive as well. We learned that two park rangers actually lived there for a while once, to the tune of $10 per month. They had to carry their own ware and had a gas refrigerator, but no electricity, it must have been a really incredible experience.

As we left, more beautiful scenery, including The Painted Desert, so called because of its many colors.

After that side trip, we headed for Flagstaff again to find gas and food. We found the route 66 Museum Club, an old roadhouse that's been brought back to life with a bar and most of the original artifacts, including many stuffed animals (taxidermied, that is) and big old trees used for supports.

We had dinner at Beaver street Brewing Company, then drove like the dickens to see the world's largest, best preserved, proven crater site, Meteor Crater, otherwise known as Berringer Crater, outside of Flagstaff. We made it with an hour to spare, and watched the sun set over the crater's rim.

Mr. Berringer first bought the land, thinking he would make it big selling pieces of the meteor once it was dug from the hole. Countless efforts to bring up the meteor failed, and he died without realizing his dream. The government showed some interest in the sight and Berringer's family made a deal with them. They are now realizing the dream, but in a different way, with the help of curious folks like Peter and me.

Tomorrow, we wake in Winslow, Arizona, where we hope to visit a famous corner (you know, the one where "it's a girl my lord in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me..."