Day 20  2001.12.15

We wake up in Flagstaff to more snow. Of course. Unfortunately the sky is cloudy so I can't gat a photo of the two large peaks visible from downtown, one of which is nearly triangular. Yesterday morning it was beautiful as we went to get our breakfast (without the camera. Boo hoo)

As we crossed the parking lot, a raven on the Comfort Inn sign said to me "Never...." err, ... actually it said "Look .... look!"  I told it, quite reasonably I thought, that it was cloudy and I couldn't see the mountains. He just continued to say "look".  I thought he looked rather cold up there, so I offered him a ride. As soon as I did, he came flying down straight towards me.  It turns out he didn't want the ride, though. He just kept going.

After breakfast, we scrape off the car, and lend our scraper to the couple next to us. (Strange, they didn't expect snow in Arizona?) Off we go to Meteor Crater!

We arrive in Meteor Crater, AZ (just down the road from Two Guns -- and also Winslow, AZ for fans of the Eagles). There are just two other cars in the visitors' parking lot. We park next to the one belonging to the couple from the next room.

Inside is a chunk of the meteor. It took them many years to find this piece, seemingly because no one thought that it might not have come straight down. Dwyn & I next to the chunk. (Taken by a slightly tilted ranger.)
One of the visitors was surprised that it wasn't behind glass or at least chained down. The ranger explained that it was mostly nickel and iron, so fingers really aren't going to do it any harm, and that if he managed to pick it up, she'd hold the door open for him. It weighs over a ton. That table is solid steel.

There is a large and informative "interpretive center" there. Lots of info on the crater and meteors in general. There is also quite a bit of info on the Apollo space missions as the astronauts trained in the meteor.

We go outside to see the big hole in the ground.
It's so big, it won't fit in my camera.

Back inside to warm up. Brr. another chilly day in northern AZ.
Most of the meteorite vaporized when it hit. The owners excavated (mined, really) under the crater floor to try to find "it", but there is no more "it" to find.

The impact blew material all over the place. You can see from the rim of the crater how the ground ripples from the whack. On the drive south from the interstate, you pass many boulders that are larger than a semi-cab. They start appearing when you're still about a mile away.
The crater is to the left; ahead you see the roof of the interpretive center, and to the right the research center. Beyond those are the parking lot and the ripples (and boulders for those with good eyes).

Saguaro Bob was trying to get us to believe he was originally slated for Apollo 13, but I don't buy it.

Back on the highway, I'm zipping along to make up for lost time (craters are so darn interesting) when suddenly a speed trap!!
Man, those cops around here are real dinosaurs.

As we reach New Mexico, I try for another shot at that big hole.
He certainly is swift.  Grr.

That night we sleep in a giant space station visiting our solar system.

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