"Remember the Alamo" - Southern States  DAY 13 - Thu., 21 March 2002

We awoke and were out the door by 6:30 a.m., in a nice, brisk New Mexico morning.  After feeding the Green Spam Can, we headed for our first (and only, really) destination before heading back to the Compound (home).  The Meteor Crater in the northeastern part of Arizona, nearest Holbrook, New Mexico was just such a destination.  It took us nearly two hours to get there, but the cold was playing tricks on us that were not wholly expected.  (For example, Tubby opted to squeegee the window in Gallup before leaving.  When the watery stuff came in contact with the windshield, it froze on contact.  Needless to say, we scraped the window and opted to continue with a dirty wind screen.)

The crater site is quite large, and as expected, has it's own official web site.  The chubby dude paid his $12 to get himself in, and I was totted along in a discreet backpack, generating no additional addition fees.  We wandered along the steep trail up to the middle and upper observation areas, and I must admit, the darn hole is large as seen here and here, in an attempt to show the whole thing from end to end.  (And more crater pictures here, here, and here.)  They do not allow people to the crater floor, but they set up a cheesy mock-up to have your picture taken.  Of course, the background is matte, so the flash reflects in the worst way, and there is no lighting there at all, so you have to guess what you're seeing through the viewer.  (I was not impressed, if it wasn't already apparent.)

Of course, since I can't fly more than a few feet off the ground, this picture (stolen from elsewhere on the web) shows the crater in its entirety.  As their crater tour flyer describes, imagine the desert plain flat and, well, flat.  Until the crater came along, which created the ring around the impact site to raise hundreds of feet above the desert floor.  All told, the crater is 700 feet from rim to the bottom, 4000 feet across, and a diameter around the crater of 2.4 miles (3.8 km).  The meteorite was estimated to only be 150 feet across, so I suppose you can begin to imagine the speed that the big hunk of rock had to be traveling to create such an impressive hole.  

They also used this site in the early days of the Apollo space program to train astronauts, as craters similar to this one are found on the moon.  While this never actually went into space, they had an Apollo capsule at the site, and being the touristy duck that I am, I'm seen here with it.  They've also build a wall of fame, of sorts, for all U.S. astronauts to date, with plenty of room for future growth.  As you'd expect, there was also a note for the crew of the Challenger, which was lost in 1986.

We imagined, photographed, and then we left.  As promised yesterday, yes, I got the boy to take a picture of the soda bottles he's saving to recycle once back at home.  While I am as big a supporter of recycling as the next duck, it can go too far, me thinks.  And of course, more pictures of trains.  And trains, and more trains.

The majority of the return trip was then uneventful until 1 p.m. (MST) turned noon (PST) as we crossed into California.  Sensing its imminent return home, the Green Spam Can's transmission then began to somewhat object to being pushed at 80+ MPH at high elevations in mountainous terrain in the warm, dry weather of the Mojave desert.  Needless to say, our return voyage progress was somewhat impaired.  On the flip side, while stopping in Needles, California to let the car rest, we happened across a stunning shift manager of the McDonald's there on "J" Street.  She would have been quite devastating, had she had the forethought to turn that frown upside down and smile now and then... isn't it McDonald's that loves to see me smile?  I guess the rule isn't transitory. 

We eventually arrived home around 9:45 p.m. local time.  It only took 11 minutes to unload the travel vehicle as well, which impressed me.   Fin.

Trip Stats

* Please note, I didn't actually drink much of the Pepsi; that was mostly the boy, of course... and I brought my own food (Saltines and such things), so again, food was to keep the other half of the driving team from mutiny.  Overall, it was done within budget (allocation was for $100 a day total costs of gas, food, trinkets, and bail), within schedule (plan was for a maximum of 16 calendar days, completed without missing any planned stops in 13 days) and under ticket budget (expectation was one ticket, got away with none).

Tour Summary - Remember the Alamo, March 2002

We laughed, we cried, we laughed at locals doing local things.  Overall, an unparalleled success.  FrankStuff was distributed (not in volume, but it was spread) across several states, sharing the story of me to those who dared to look curiously at me (and only me, because let's face it, the boy gets strange looks from everyone; friends, family, parole officers, mental health professionals, etc.)  Some of our observations of other places: Most bumper stickers on vehicles:  California, with Florida bringing up a close second. Fewest bumper stickers on vehicles:  Alabama and Louisiana; we drove for miles between seeing them.  Not sure why -- probably a greater respect for not making one's car look like a freaking billboard for the driver/owner's opinions. Most outrageous hotel fees paid: Naples, Florida.  There was no Motel 6 in the town, so we had to take what we could find, dang it. Nicest beaches:  Pensacola, Florida.  (Perhaps I have a bias, though, as it was the only sand that I had to feel up to my neck.) Worst beaches: Odessa, Texas Favorite State:  Tennessee, although North Carolina was in a close second (nearer the beaches, though; Tennessee was a universal) Funniest Accent:  Don't get me started.  Except for bits and pieces, we didn't hear any nice accents. Cutest Fast Food Employee: Needles, California (Laura) Best Place to Observe Native Behavior: Target followed closely by Wal-Mart Cutest Animal Seen: Me Universities Found in Unexpected Places:  Two.  Vanderbilt is in Nashville, and Baylor in Waco, Texas.  Who knew? Hooters restaurants visited: None.  Somebody, despite his obvious fascination with gawking, was too cheap to go, and to cowardly to go alone... apparently my voice is not heard, and my vote not counted.  I may as well be voting in Panama.  Or in that goofy county in Florida, butterfly ballots indeed. Nicest cop cars: So few to choose from. Arizona Highway Patrol had both a flasher, strobe and rotating light combo, which really is the biggest bang for the duck, er, buck, in my view. Illegal Driving on our Part: Too numerous to count.  Really.  I lost track after the third day.

Trip Map

Stay tuned.  Trip 2 - The Lewis & Clark Expedition is to follow soon...