It's a wrap

Hours on the road are good for contemplation. I cannot say enough as a caregiver how good the break is. “Take care of yourself” was the advice I heard at the hospital in the beginning and have heard since. You’re no good to the person you care for if you’re worn out and bitter.

I walked the Pat Tillman Bridge that spans the Colorado in front of the Hoover Dam and now links Nevada with Arizona. This route used to go over the Hoover Dam. The roadway atop the dam would seem very tight by today’s standards. I did side track and drive over it. Neat. The Bridge is the current rage. Both good and bad. Sorely needed it is a modern four lane crossing distinctive for the length of span of poured concrete. Truly a sight. Even better to walk across though the inevitable feeling of sorrow for a life cut short – Pat Tillman – and the circumstances of his end do come to mind. I tried to stick to the cool engineering and incredible grace of the design. The bad is complaints about cost. Gotta have roads…

The morning was cool and crisp, the tourist buses were just starting to show up and a seemingly endless line of helicopters circled past. I grinned thinking the pilots were probably chatting away with each other about maintaining spacing with the seats full of people going “wow”. By the way, the tour bus trade is run by eastern Europeans. I asked several of them questions and was amused by their accents. A country of immigrants. On to my primary target – The Meteor Impact Crater outside Winslow.

The red rock deserts of Arizona never get tiresome. So beautiful. So empty. It was Veterans Day and the radio full of stories. The balance between the hero’s of WWII and the despair of the Vietnam Vets made for good listening. Lots of guys in fatigues. Old guys (looked a bit like me) with various campaign hats on the back shelf of their Buicks. “Praise God but pass the ammunition”.

The crater rises up out of a dead flat plain. Because there is so much remnant volcanic activity in the area it was assumed the crater was volcanic for a long time. Once it was realized it was impact (quite some time ago) it was like “duh”. As you come up on it the impact is clear – no pun intended. What a sight. Worth the deviation to Highway 40. I’ve always wanted to see it. We flew over it several times on trips to California and the Grand Canyon. But standing on the edge is what it’s all about.

I was completely satisfied by the experience. My trip complete, I headed for home cheerful, rejuvenated and ready to get back to work – on all fronts.