Day 12, Tues, Oct 8, Route 66, Williams, Arizona...

Tuesday, October 8th, would yield a short drive this day. So a late start was in order. 

After filling the Buick with gasoline, we drove to Joseph City, Arizona. We found the location of the old fort where a monument has been erected to the Mormons who first settled this spot. They were sent by Brigham Young. The city was originally named after Allen, their leader. Over time it was also called St. Joseph and eventually Joseph City, after Joseph Smith. They lived the United Order. This is the oldest LDS community in Arizona. 

We got on old Route 66 to find our next stop. This picture of the pavement shows why we are driving I-40 instead of staying on old 66.

The Jack Rabbit Trading Post was a quick photo op. The owner put the big "Here It Is" sign to attract customers to his establishment. He sports an oversized concrete rabbit on which you may sit for your picture and a VW Rabbit.

Barringer Meteor Crater was next and it did not disappoint. We were grateful for the senior discount and a military discount. Score one for age and life.

They had a rim tour in a few minutes after our arrival. We hurried to get to it. The tour guide let us know there was also a self-guided option. We chose the self-guided option. Good choice for us.

When you exit the building for the self-guided tour, there are three levels of platform for you to view the Crater. We took the middle one first. It juts out from the wall of the Crater. These pictures were taken from this platform.

Next we walked to the platform to the right. Two bees were buzzing there. These pictures were taken from this platform.

The last platform was on top of a high outcropping. This gave us views of the surrounding land.

After our self-guided tour, it was time to walk thru their museum. Lots of information about this Crater and how it helped the understanding of meteor impacts throughout the world and eventually the moon and other planets.

We entered a pretend rocket and set out to save the earth from a meteor strike. The seats moved and the wind blew.

Then we found the theater and watched a video about the Barringer Crater and the meteor strike that caused it.

Our final stop was at the gift shop. Outside the gift shop was a plaza with a NASA test capsule and an astronaut.

As we left to find our car, we passed this really cool bench.

Claude pointed the car toward Williams. We would spend the night at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel.

We walked Route 66 in Williams to find dinner. The Red Raven was our choice. It was a good choice. I had tempura shrimp and shared two with Claude. He pronounced them good. He had chicken parmesan. We rolled out of the restaurant and walked thru a couple of gift shops. Then sat on a bench and watched people enjoying their time on Route 66.