LinkExchange Member
| Thursday, November 28, 1996 Flagstaff, Arizona | |
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We drove to Winslow to see the Barringer Meteor Crater. This is the site where an
asteroid, estimated at 150 feet across and several hundred thousand tons,
crashed into the earth about 50,000 years ago. It's also the site of a
pivotal scene in one of my favorite movies, John Carpenter's Starman.
I learned that the Apollo astronauts all trained here at Barringer, because the meteor crater surface was similar to structures on the moon. I don't think the kids enjoyed this visit, but I did. The crater is immense. It's 550 feet deep, 4,000 feet across, 2.5 miles in circumference. There were numerous chunks of meteorite to touch in the adjoining museum. |
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Next we drove to Walnut Canyon National Monument just east of Flagstaff. This is the site of more Sinagua ruins. To reach them, Judy and I bravely hiked the .9 mile round-trip to an "island" inside the canyon. .9 miles is not much, but it's actually 240 steps down and up (185 feet) which was a bit strenuous in the altitude. But the ruins were worth it. Ruins surround the entire "island" of rock inside the canyon, and they are accessible to the visitors. Judy and Amber stand inside one of the rooms. |
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Amber is looking for arrowheads in the room floors. I actually think she found one, or at least a starting point for one. We left it there for whoever might come next, of course! |
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Joey and Judy are standing inside yet another room. You can actually see some fingerprints in the 'mortar' from the original builders, built between 1125 and 1250. |
 
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More views of the kids playing in the ruins. |
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So, this is Thanksgiving Day... and after careful study, checking with folks,
and looking into guidebooks, we had made reservations at Kelly's Christmas
Tree in Flagstaff. The place had signs advertising it as the best place
to eat in Flagstaff, local awards that it had earned.
Not to diss Flagstaff, but maybe they just don't have much to compare with this. We weren't terribly impressed. Passable turkey dinner, but for $14.95 you'd expect a really good meal with a bit more variety. | |
