A Crater, an Eagles Song & More...

Since we are retracing a path we look when our sons were young, it follows that our next stop would be Meteor Crater.

The story of the crater is the story of scientific discovery, and of the heated debates and complex personal histories that make discovery possible. It is a story about how we have come to understand our world, and it begins 50,000 years ago, high above the Arizona desert.
The meteor weighed 300,000 tons and traveled at a speed of 26,000 miles per hour. When it struck the earth in what is now northern Arizona, it exploded with the force of 2 ½ million tons of TNT, or about 150 times the force of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. Most of the meteor was melted by the force of the impact, and spread across the landscape in a very fine, nearly atomized mist of molten metal. Millions of tons of limestone and sandstone were blasted out of the crater, covering the ground for a mile in every direction with a blanket of shattered, pulverized and partially melted rock mixed with fragments of meteoritic iron.
Although meteorite falls had been observed for hundreds of years, until the twentieth century no one had ever identified a crater created by a meteorite. Most scientists rejected the possibility of such a crater, believing that all natural landforms had been created slowly, over thousands or even millions of years, rather than in a single catastrophic moment.

The Crater is named for Daniel Moreau Barringer, a Philadelphia mining engineer who became convinced that the crater was the result of a large meteorite striking the earth, contradicting the most eminent scientists of his time. A self-taught geologist, Barringer spent several years studying the crater and providing the initial proof of its origin. Though he never found the fortune in meteoritic iron he was convinced lay beneath the floor of the crater, Barringer’s theory of the crater’s origin was eventually vindicated and accepted by the scientific community.
Visiting here gave us an opportunity to learn more and to take in the view of the best-preserved meteor crater in America!


This is the mining operation Mr. Barringer ran in hopes of mining meteoritic iron. The white area is the opening to a shaft that travels 200 feet down. Without great success, a specialist was brought in who determined that the energy of the impact would have resulted in the total vaporization of the meteorite itself. All hopes of riches from this endeavor were quashed but a wonderful tourist attraction still exists!

We were mesmerized by the exciting, introduction film, ‘Impact: The Mystery of Meteor Crater', which covers the history and geology of this impact and describes how it was eventually proven to be a meteorite impact site through the work of Daniel M. Barringer. This same process is now used worldwide to assist in proving other impact sites. It explains how meteors are formed and what causes them to go off course and head toward the earth. What fun (and a little scary).

No one can say our trips aren't diverse. Meteorites, oh my!
Route 66 celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, marking a century since its establishment on November 11, 1926. What a treat to find ourselves on the Mother Lode. This historic 2,448-mile highway stretching from Chicago to Santa Monica traverses eight states—Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California and it features iconic neon signs, vintage motels, and diners. We've blogged this road before and will again, I'm certain.
A first, however, was to find ourselves, "a-standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona with such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me. Come on baby, don't say maybe..."
This corner is has immortalized the song "Take It Easy". Released in 1972 as the Eagles' debut single, it was written primarily by Jackson Browne with crucial help from Glenn Frey. While Browne was struggling with writer's block, neighbor Frey added the famous "flatbed Ford" verse, helping turn the song into an iconic country-rock anthem that launched the band's career. The song is inspired by a mix of experiences, including a time Browne's car broke down, and another incident involving a girl in a truck, potentially in Winslow or Flagstaff, Arizona.


We had been learning a lot about the native people, while on this trip. How fortunate to wander into an event for the grandchildren to experience it all firsthand.
There are 11 federally recognized tribes that have deep, historic, and spiritual ties to the land and resources within Grand Canyon National Park, many of whom still consider it their homeland.

After a delicious (and filling) dinner at Shorty's Olde Town Grill, we needed a stroll. Our destination was La Posada.
Built in 1929 by my new favorite, previously mentioned architect, Mary Jane Colter, the 11-acre grounds, hotel, and train station that make up La Posada Historic District are, in their own right, historic. But an additional layer of history is here, one invented in the imagination of the Ms Colter. In order to design the La Posada complex, she made up a century and a half of history for the site. She imagined La Posada as a Spanish rancho of the early 1800s. Here lived a wealthy Spanish don. When the don and his family fell on hard times, the hacienda was renovated into a hotel with furnishings and grounds intact. In such an inaccessible location, Colter reasoned, materials and labor would have been local. The complex would have been changed and added onto through generations.
With this story in mind, she designed Mission Revival buildings with adobe walls, complete with niches for saints, roofs of red terra cotta, and windows with wooden shutters and iron rejas (grilles). Floors were flagstone, and exposed ceiling beams were covered with branches to simulate indigenous adobe construction. There were period maids’ costumes and dinner china, vigas (protruding wooden beams) beneath the gables, wrought-iron railings on the stairways, clay tiles on the chimneys, sand-blasted planks on the doors, and a wishing well in the garden. Best of all in this elaborate history-within-a-history confection, Colter faked an archeological site--the supposed ruins of an old fort that had stood on the site before the don built his hacienda.

Her efforts were a great success. This place was truly amazing.




Planned just before the stock market crash of 1929, La Posada was the last of the great railroad hotels. Colter, who designed many Harvey hotels along with marvelously imaginative hotels in the Grand Canyon, always considered La Posada her best work. The hotel opened in May of 1930, at the beginning of the Great Depression. Sadly, it had a short run in the limelight. During the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, passengers abandoned trains and took to cars. Declining numbers of travelers arrived at the train station attached to the hotel, and, despite a 1940's boost due to railroad shipments of troops entering the Second World War, La Posada ultimately failed. It lasted longer than many of the grand railroad hotels, which went out of business during the Depression years, but closed by the end of the 1950s. The railroad converted La Posada into office space, installing new walls and lowering the ceilings, and La Posada’s future remained tenuous for the next 40 years.

We were there to witness the pure talent of the owners who purchased it in 1997 and restored it to all its glory. The work continues today. The gardens are back, guest rooms are open, and fireplaces, faux-adobe walls, arched ceilings, and period furnishings awaited our visit. I'd like to return to Winslow, not only sing Eagles' songs, but to stay here, too.
š¯… You know we got it easy. We oughta take it easy.š¯… 

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The Grand Canyon... WOWSERS

We have visited this indescribable place quite a few times during our married life and the vast vistas never cease to amaze.




As I marveled at the view, what kept impressing me was the fact that 17 years ago Steve and I DID the Grand Canyon. This was pre-blog yet Steve made a cool short video capturing it all if you'd like to experience it, too (link here). We hiked from the South Rim down the South Kaibab Trail and up the Bright Angel Trail after a two night stay at the hospitable Phantom Ranch. This particular hiking plan is a premier, strenuous 15–18 mile Grand Canyon day hike (or multi-day trip) typically completed in 8–12 hours. This route offers the best of both worlds: the panoramic, ridge-line views of the South Kaibab for the descent and the shaded, water-supplied, less steep ascent of the Bright Angel. I still feel a great sense of accomplishment for this one and done.



A first for us was a visit to the Yavapai Geology Museum, perched right on the very edge of the canyon rim. This historic building offered one of the best vantage points for an overview of Grand Canyon geology. Annotated displays at the base of the panoramic windows showed us where to look to see each group of rocks. We were able to walk between rock column models of the North and South Rims to try to learn the names of the various rock layers, while we discovered information about the geologic history recorded in the rocks, and visualized the carving of the modern landscape. The mini geologists in our group loved it.



This was the first time meeting Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the chief architectural designer and interior decorator for the Fred Harvey Company from 1902 to 1948. Her creative free-form buildings at the Grand Canyon took direct inspiration from the landscape and served as part of the basis of the developing artistic aesthetic for appropriate development in areas that became national parks.

She designed eight unique Grand Canyon Buildings. (All are still in use today). Hopi House, Hermit's Rest, Lookout Studio, Phantom Ranch, Desert View Watchtower, Bright Angel Lodge, and the two Fred Harvey employee dormitories, Colter Hall and Victor Hall. How did I not know of this prolific talented woman?
We ended our Canyon explore at Mary's Hermit's Rest (1914). The building, originally constructed as a rest stop for the short stage line that ran from El Tovar Lodge to this location, is a stone building placed several feet back from the rim edge, and is tucked into a small man-made earthen mound, built around and atop the building to blend it in with its setting.
Hermit's Rest was designed to resemble a dwelling constructed by an untrained mountain man using the natural timber and boulders of the area. From the entrance path a haphazard looking structure of stone and wood greets the visitor, and the approach to Hermit's Rest is marked by a small stone arch set in a stone wall along the original pathway from the parking area to the building. The exposed portions of the building that are not banked into the earth are of rubble masonry bonded with cement mortar, structural logs, and a few expanses of glass. The chimneys are gently battered rubble masonry. The stone arch is topped with a broken bell that Colter acquired from a Spanish mission in New Mexico.

On the south end of the room is an enormous alcove, shaped like a semi-dome. The stone alcove contains an arched fireplace decorated with ornate andirons, a brass tea kettle, and various antique kitchen and fireplace tools. Wrought-iron wall sconces holding candles flank the far edges of the alcove. The alcove's flagstone floor is stepped up above that of the remainder of the room, giving added architectural emphasis to the space. I so could have stayed here for hours. What a wonderful place.
We covered 10,544 steps which is pretty impressive with a 4 and 6 year old! We promised to return to the place John Muir called "the grandest of all special temples".

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Bryce and Beyond...

Red Rocks, Pink Cliffs, and Endless Vistas... That's Bryce's tagline. The photos can't do it justice.

This was a repeat visit for Steve and me, a first for the kiddos. Over two million visitors come to experience the otherworldly magic of Bryce Canyon National Park each year. We only had one day so we made the most of it.
Bryce is not a single canyon, but a series of natural amphitheaters or bowls, carved into the edge of a high plateau. Walking the Rim Trail allowed us to spend time marveling at its viewpoints.
Hoodoos (irregular columns of rock) exist on every continent, but here is the largest concentration found anywhere on Earth. Situated along a high plateau at the top of the Grand Staircase, the park's high elevations include numerous life communities, fantastic dark skies, and geological wonders that defy description.



A coffee pause was had at the iconic Bryce Canyon Lodge, a historic, National Historic Landmark-designated hotel located within Bryce Canyon National Park. Built between 1924 and 1925, it was designed by renowned architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood to serve as a central visitor hub for the Grand Circle Tour, initiated by the Union Pacific Railroad's Utah Parks Company.
The Union Pacific Railroad’s "Grand Circle" is a historic tourist route, developed in the 1920s to promote rail travel to the natural wonders of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona, specifically connecting Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks National Monument, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Mr. Underwood helped pioneer the National Park Service rustic style. Here at Bryce and at many other western national parks, his artistry, vision, and utilization of local timber and stone created structures that nestled harmoniously into the natural landscape. The lodge’s roof is notable. Its green color was chosen to blend in with the Ponderosa pines, and the shingle pattern creates a wave-like movement, mimicking pine boughs blowing in the wind. This is the last remaining original “Grand Circle Tour” lodge.
The two-story lodge features a massive stone fireplace in the lobby, a dining room, and an auditorium. It was originally surrounded by 67 standard cabins and 15 deluxe cabins. It is absolutely gorgeous, especially in its setting.

What makes this Lodge extra special to me is that 60 years ago, my dear friend Suzanne, fresh out of college, was a Harvey Girl here. These special women will discussed in a future post.
Because we wanted to actually be IN the spectacular red sandstone spires and formations we stopped at the Red Canyon Visitor Center. This area has been called the "most photographed place in Utah". It is easy to see why, with the brilliant red soil contrasting with the green pines, blue skies and white clouds. Spectacular indeed



Our home for the night was along the very vast Lake Powell shoreline.


Sunrise was spectacular from our campsite.
Our day started off here at Horseshoe Bend, a breathtaking, 1,000-foot-deep horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River located near Page, Arizona. Accessible via a 1.5-mile round-trip walk, it offered us a stunning view of red-hued sandstone cliffs.


Before checking into our campsite, we headed to Tusayan for a visually stunning introduction to the Grand Canyon via the Rivers of Time. "In just 34 minutes of air-conditioned comfort at the National Geographic Visitor Center, you will discover a Grand Canyon that would normally take a lifetime to experience. The Grand Canyon IMAX movie opens with the beginning of man’s fragile kinship with the twisting 277-mile Grand Canyon. It then takes you through time, showing you glimpses of human history."
The next two nights will be spent in the Grand Canyon. Tomorrow will be a full day of seeing all we can possibly see.
Our home is Mather Campground, the largest campground in the National Park Service system, with 327 campsites, including seven large group sites and two equine sites.
"The Grand Canyon is carven deep by the master hand;
it is the gulf of silence, widened in the desert;
it is all time inscribing the naked rock;
it is the book of earth."
~Donald Culross Peatti

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