Yesterday was a very long, but uneventful drive from San Diego to Flagstaff- about 500 miles. We didn't do any other stopping besides for gas and food. This morning we left Flagstaff after getting another audio book at Barnes and Noble (Magyk by Angie Sage- already one of Chloe's favs, but I haven't read it) and some packed-to-go sandwiches at Main Street Cafe in the historic downtown and right on Route 66. Flagstaff is a great little town, by the way, and I wish we could have spent more time there. It's another one of the many towns my dad grew up in.
Anyway, we went on down I-40 to the Meteor Crater to have a look. It's pretty expensive to get in, but I've driven past it many times and this time curiousity got the better of me. Plus, it's just 6 miles off the freeway and the kids wanted to go. The crater itself is very impressive, but the museum made it almost worth the money. We had a very nice time. We ate our picnic there and then went around to see everything.
The crater is 4000 feet across and 550 feet deep.
Chloe and Ryan had the most fun with an interactive exhibit where you can change parameters such as type of body, velocity, diameter, density, and angle to create your own crater.
When we were done we headed down I-40 again to Winslow, Arizona where we took historic Route 66 to see the corner in the song, Take it Easy, made famous by the Eagles. There is a nice little park there but it was fenced in for some reason. We took a photo with the generic 70's man with the guitar and the flat-bed Ford, which was conveniently red, making it a favorite of Ryan's.
It was a long day of driving even though it was 200 miles less than the day before. We drove through miles of incredibly heavy rainfall. I've never seen northern AZ so green and the wildflowers along the roads were stunning. We also saw a couple of other things by the side of the road.
Huge dust storms and fierce dinosaurs!
We couldn't wait to get to Albuquerque after that! We are going to be sightseeing over the next few days so stay tuned!