From Springdale, our next MAJOR stop was supposed to be Taos, New Mexico, but that drive was too brutal, even for Jenn to inflict on Chris, so she thought it would be fun for us to stay in one of the motels in Holbrook, Arizona, which is a small town that has preserved itself as a kind of living museum to the old Route 66.
Please indulge us if we go out of order here and tell you first about where we spent the night and end with how we got there. The Globetrotter Lodge is frozen in amber. There are 60s era romance novels IN GERMAN. There is some of the cleanest but absolutely god-awful, visiting-Grandma-in-1965 bedding you will ever see. There are electrified oil lamps on the bedside tables. It is not to be believed. And yet, the next morning, we were disappointed to learn that we could have spent the night in a teepee instead. Go figure. Now back to what happened before we got to Holbrook.
The drive from Utah to Holbrook was long and mostly flat, so, for the first time in days, Jenn drove most of it. All was quiet while she watched the road and Chris studied the map until Chris yelled, “Oh my God, Meteor Crater! Can we go?????”
Turns out, this Meteor Crater place is well known by geeky guys the world over and is their Mecca, of sorts. Since it was only 10 miles off the highway we were already on, of course we went.
Chris’s Take:
METEOR CRATER. And some other stuff.
Then there was the hotel with 1950s decorations and a movie poster for Scarface. Only they picked the wrong movie. They picked the 1980s version with Al Pacino. And they hung it in the bathroom.
Oh yes, I got a t-shirt. It says, “METEOR CRATER.”
Jenn’s Take:
Meteor Crater is a very big, very deep hole in the ground. The phenomenon I most enjoyed was watching the gray-haired IT guy I’m in love with transform into a 10- year-old kid before my very eyes. To be fair, I should point out that ALL the guys who were there appeared to be experiencing the same youthful renaissance.
We got there at 4:30 and they closed at 5:00. We had to walk up a fairly long slope to buy the tickets, so I sent Chris ahead to buy them while I caught up. Usually, he would decline such an offer and stay by my side, but chivalry took a back seat to Meteor Crater and off he went, dodging people right and left as he sought to ensure that he would GET TO SEE IT!!!
On the elevator leading to the outdoor observation decks, he jumped for joy, literally. When we got outside, a fierce wind was blowing, and I hung back to avoid getting blown over, while my usually fully attentive mate ran down the path leading to the Crater’s edge.
Let me be clear, I tell you this not to make him sound like a jerk, for he is not. He is always solicitous of me, bends over backwards to see to my welfare. That is the Chris I see every day, and I love him very much. Still, I was never so in love with him as I was to see him tear off to realize his childhood dream of standing in a very big, very deep hole.
Meteor Crater let me get a glimpse of my man before he was a man. I will be forever grateful to that hole.
