I headed out with plans to get through New Mexico quickly. Just across the Arizona border, I stopped off at a roadside store in the Navajo Reservation. It had some beautiful stuff, but what really caught my eye was the small food stand selling "Navajo Tacos." They make frybread, which is basically a funnel cake that isn't sweet, although they do sell it with cinnamon if you so desire. But a Navajo Taco is when this piece of frybread (the size of a plate) is covered with pintos, beef, chili sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cheese.
Let me tell you... good stuff.
I enjoyed this Southwestern delight while talking to a couple from Arizona who had the same thoughts about lunch. Turns out, they were travelers as well. Only their journey was only lasting about three days. They had a small camper and said they got away whenever they could. The husband was looking forward to retirement so they could travel more extensively. He encouraged me to "enjoy it now," while I could.
After this, I cruised down the rest of the way to the meteor crater. I've always wanted to see this.
I ended up being a bit disappointed.
First off, the entry fee was $15. Is there anything that's still free in this country. I just want to look at your hole in the ground. For free. Please. The museum wasn't all that interesting and my leg was killing me (by now, my "broken" foot was feeling better and even my shin I split open felt fine, but my calf was, and still is, aching from too much dancing - and this whole place was stairs). And everything was spread out inside.
But I paid my fee and I walked the stairs (or limped around them, to be more specific). The crater itself was nice. But I think maybe the buildings were too close. Or maybe didn't have a choice but to be that close. Either way, the whole thing was difficult to put in perspective. It was monstrous but didn't end up looking all that big.
I walked part of the edge and tried to take it all in. It was really hard to get a good picture up this close, also.
My hope was to see the sunset here. It was getting later in the afternoon, so I figured it was worth sitting around waiting for it. I already had my fill of the crater, but this seemed like a great place to watch the sun settle for the night.
I had slept very little the night before because I sat on this computer updating the blog forever. Uploading pictures is a painful process. So, I settled down in the small theater there between showings of a film explaining how the crater got there. I drifted in and out of consciousness for 17 glorious minutes until the next show continued. I should have just kept sleeping through that too.
Off I hobbled back out to the lower edge so I could wait out the sunset. While there, two couples walked down. One woman was talking non-stop. It was quite a display. Anything and everything, she rambled about it. Finally, at one point, there was a break. She stopped, stood still, and turned her head slightly, like a dog that just heard something ding against the dinner bowl.
Then she started again.
"Omigod,canyoubelievehowsilentitisouthere?It'sjustsoquiet.Canyouimaginelivingouthere?I can'tevenimagine.Itmustbesoquietallthetime."
I was about to comment on the matter. "You know, I hadn't noticed the quiet over the sound of your meaningless gibberish."
Then I remembered that I'm trying to be less rude. So I stayed quiet. I chalked the bad mood up to my hobbling around and still feeling questionable about spending $15 to see a hole in the ground when the national parks only cost $25 for a week's fee.
I kept waiting for the sunset. The colors out here, especially in a section of Arizona this full of red, were going to be spectacular.
And that's when someone came along to kick us out.
"It's five o' clock and time to go. The site is closing."
"You've got to be kidding me."
I put up a bit of a fight, but then just gave up. This thing felt doomed from the get go.
I left with the best I could get.
Once on the road again, I headed out toward Las Vegas.
Note: If you haven't figured it out already, this all takes place prior to "A Fire In The Sky."
No comments:
Post a Comment