September 18 (cont.) and 19 – When Last We Spoke

I was standing on a corner…okay enough of that.

Let me give you the two other major highlights from yesterday.

First, after leaving Winslow we ran for the most part down I-40 to Meteor City, home of the Meteor Crater.  This site is spot where some 50,000 years ago a meteorite 150 feet across and weighing several hundred thousand tons struck the earth.  The resulting upheaval was cataclysmic for this part of the world and changed the eco-structure for eons to come.  The site is important because it is the first one on earth where it was scientifically proven that an object from outer space had struck the earth.  It is the template for testing all other sites on earth for suspected cosmic hits.  To see the crater is to get the impression that you are walking on the face of the moon.  The floor is 550 from the rim and the circumference is large enough to allow 20 football games to played simultaneously across the floor while 2 million spectators watch around the walls and rim.  It is all the adjectives I used up before and then some.

From Meteor City we proceeded on to down a combination of 66 and 40 to Williams and then 50 miles north to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  Now, having been twice to the north rim and having heard about the commercial atmosphere of the south rim, I was somewhat skeptical about this visit.  Indeed, there is a lot more business of all nature here as compared to the north; more rooms, places to eat, helicopter and airplane trips in to the canyon.  None of this, however, distracts from the magnificence of this natural wonder.  The Grand Canyon is just that and, in my opinion, it is the number one natural wonder of this country.  Neither words nor photographs do it justice.  One little perk offered on the south rim you don’t get on the north is the opportunity to ride a bus to the various overlooks.  You can get off, stay as long as you like and catch another bus that goes to different viewing area.  The buses come along every 10 minutes or so and it is in a part of the canyon where cars are not allowed.  We did this and it was a lot more efficient than wandering around on your own.

After that it was back Williams, AZ and the end to another day.

Highlights: The Grand Canyon wins hands down although the Wigwam was a distant second.

Today we left Williams after my Internet cafe interlude (need to talk to the folks at the Midnight Rooster about this) and headed down I-40 for about 25 miles.  We left 40 at Ash Fork, AZ for the start of 156 uninterrupted driving on the Mother Road.  Now this was in itself a slice of heaven.  There was no sign of the super-slab and for more miles than I can count the only sign of civilization was the passing of a train.

A Sidebar:  I had no idea that so much freight in this country still traveled by rail.  We have seen more train traffic in the least 10 days than I probably have seen in a lifetime, and I mean huge trains, many taking four engines to pull the cars.  I believe we read that one town in Arizona has a train coming through there on an average of every ten minutes.

Most of the towns listed on this route are just memories; a broken down old building or two and no sign of human habitation, a comment on the effect of the interstate highway system.

Just out of Cool Springs you begin a 4-5 mile treacherous climb to the top of Sitgreaves Pass.  There is one hairpin turn after another and no sign of guardrails as the canyon floor gets lower and lower.  Around one of the turns we happened upon a family of wild burros whose ancestors had carried miners equipment through the gold fields and who were left, over time to fend for themselves, which they have apparently quite well.

From the pass you descend an equal distance to the town Oatman once a mine town but now tourist attraction compete with fake shootouts and burros you can feed carrots.  We kept driving.  This exhilarating road runs out just before you reach the California state line.

We climbed back on I-40, crossed the Colorado River and were in California.  Now. I have been to California several times over the years and it has some beautiful places to see.  This stretch through the Mojave Desert ain’t one of them.  The Road goes ever on and on.  You can literally see a good five mile ahead and behind, and on all sides around you is brown.  Brown everywhere.  No towns, no plants, no animals, just brown.  The rest of our day amounted to just racking up miles.

Tonight we are in Barstow, CA and tomorrow we will reach the end of this journey.  I face it, as you can imagine, with emotions mixed.  It has been a grueling trip but one in which everyday has been fresh and new with something to whet a curious appetite.

Highlight of the Day: The 156 mile trail through the wilderness.

Talk to you tomorrow from Santa Monica.