5 Apr 2019 - Arrived at Flagstaff, Meteor Crater Visit

5 Apr 2019

We departed Needles CA this morning at 0857 hrs.  The drive from Needles this morning was very scenic, with varying landscapes as we passed through desert, mountains and high plains.  We started out at 495 ft at Needles CA (our GPS showed 559 ft) and we climbed as we headed east.  The summit was at the Arizona Divide at 7335 ft down to 6909 ft at Flagstaff.  Here are some pictures of the trip:

Flat and desert east of Needles

Entering Arizona, and climbing!

Desert with interesting rock formations in the background

We continue to follow Route 66 into Arizona

Approaching Kingman

Totally different landscape 

Snowcapped mountains north of Flagstaff come into view.  I believe it is Humphries Peak

Snow along side the Interstate here.

Passing the Arizona Divide at 7306 ft

 We arrived at Black Bart's RV Park at Flagstaff AZ at 1302 hrs, driving 216 miles.  Like Needles, we will be here just two nights, then on to Albuquerque NM.

 The RV Park is fairly spacious, with nice scenery in the distance.

After getting set up we had a late lunch and then headed east on I-40 to the Meteor Crater.  It is about 5 miles south of the Interstate, and the red landscape like Sedona AZ is prevalent here.

About 50,000 years ago an iron-nickel meteorite travelling about 26,000 mph passed through our atmosphere and impacted earth.  It created a crater 700 ft deep, 4000 ft across and 2.4 miles in circumference.  They built a visitor center adjacent to the crater which has a movie, and discovery center, viewing areas, guided tours, a gift shop, etc. Here are some pictures:

The Visitor Center

 We were just in time for the movie so we watched it first, and then headed outside to view the crater.  There are multiple level of viewing but they involved a lot of walking and stairs, so I stayed on top.  It was a great view. It is massive!!

The bottom of the crater

Doreen walked down to one viewing point.

Various layers of rock exposed.

We then went inside and walked through the Discovery Center.  There were many displays to help you understand meteors, craters etc.

Inside the Discovery Center

Original exploration of the crater

An aerial view

Outside there is an Apollo Test Capsule, used to train astronauts.

Petrified wood

More petrified wood

The barracks used by the employees.  We are so far from anything here they stay right on site.

Doreen bought me a souvenir from the gift shop.  A Route 66 bottle beer koozie!

I am really glad we were able to visit it, but I was toast by the time we finished.  There was quite a bit of walking involved and the shooting pains in my back continues. 

While we are here, I have an appointment for the truck to get some routine maintenance done as well as a recall and a re-attack on the squealing noise which is still very intermittent.

Stats Update:

Campsite#:  23 of 27

# States Traveled Through This Trip: 12

Baseball Parks Visited So Far This Trip:  6 (Houston, Corpus Christi, Arizona X 3, San Diego)

Point to point travel miles:  4803 miles

  - Avg point to point travel miles:  209 miles

Vicinity miles:  4173 miles 

  - Avg vicinity miles:  190 miles

Total miles driven:  8976 miles

Total point to point driving time:   94 hrs 29 minutes

Total fuel purchased: 787.288 gals

Total fuel cost:  $2261.54

Average fuel cost:  $2.954

Max fuel cost:  $3.999 (Seal Beach CA)

Min fuel cost:  $2.279 (Wharton TX)

Average MPG:  11.49 miles/gal

# Nights at end of this stay:  128

Lodging cost:  $4365.00

 - Average lodging cost/night:  $34.10/night