ARIZONA - PART 4 -

DAYS 3-4-5-6
Friday April 17
Finally - back on track.  Has been a busy, hectic, time-consuming period in my life.  Not going into all that now.  Would like to finish my Arizona trip.

I have lost track of which days we did what, but this is what we visited over the next period of time.

Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, Payson Arizona.  Created thousands of yers ago, this is believed to be the largest natural TRAVERTINE bridge in the world.

Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery

Zane grey Historical Museum in also in Payson.

Saturday April 18

Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch at Picacho Peak Arizona.  The darndest place you will ever visit!!!.

We fed the deer, donkeys, ostriches, boer goats, prairie dogs and rainbow Lorikeets, 

We also did great-granddaughters 4th birthday party.  Madison loves FROZEN and PRINCESS ELSA, so the theme of the party was frozen.

We finished out the day at the Cowboy Dinner Theater I Gilbert Arizona.  WE had a typical chuck wagon diner, beef and chicken, beans, biscuits, corn bread, baked potato all served on tin plates with tin cups for coffee.  The music was provided by the family, cowboy western type songs, ending with my favorite GHOSE RIDERS IN THE SKY, with the lightning, thunder, rain, and the ghost rider riding by on his horse.

Sunday April 19 stayed home, but did visit the Mormon Temple "SOWFLAKE" in Phoenix  A beautiful building.

Monday we visited the Butterfly Conservatory in Scottsdale, then Tuesday I had to fly home to the REAL WORLD.

It was a great vacation.  Ended all too soon.  But new adventures were awaiting just around the corner.

Enjoy and God Bless.

ARIZONA WEEK PART 2

ARIZONA WEEK DAY 3....

Up early and on the road.  You'll notice I am dressed the same, pretty much, every day because it was COLD, I was wearing a sweat shirt I borrowed from son-in-law Dave.  I go to Arizona, it gets cold, sometimes rain, sometimes sleet, sometimes snow.  Guess it follows me around.

Our first stop today was Meteor crater Monument.  Time for History 101.

50,000 years ago, give or take, a meteor broke from the core of an asteroid, traveling 26,000 miles per hour.  Bet you didn't know I was that smart, or that old!  This meteorite was estimated at 150 feet across weighing several tons and striking earth with an explosive force greater than 20 MILLION tons of TNT.

The shock wave generated swept across the land devastating all in its path for several miles.  What remained was a bowl-shaped  cavity 700 feet deep and over 4000 feet across.

From where we stood today the floor of the crater is 550 feet deep, equivalent to a 60 story building.  It is over 4000 feet across.  For a meteorite only 150 feet across to blast a hole three quarters of a mile wide and sixty stories deep the velocity had to be astronomical.

Our next stop was Walnut Canyon National Monument.  These cliff dwellings were built between 1125 and 1250 A.D.  The canyon dwellers took advantage of natural recesses in the limestone walls.  These were the SINAGUA, Spanish for "without water".  No one knows for sure why the Sinagua left their homes but by 1250 they had all moved to new villages.  It is thought they were eventually assimilated by the HOPI culture.  The HOPI today call their ancestors the "HISATSINOM" (people of long ago).

Stop No. 3 was the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff AZ.  This was very interesting, and we saw a movie revealing the construction of the giant telescope located in a nearby area.  An amazing story covering 8-10 years.

Last stop of the day was Black Bart's Dinner Theater in Flagstaff.
Locally owned and operated Black Bart's Steakhouse, Saloon and Musical Revue offer great food and each evening the wait staff performs on stage in a Musical revue, in addition to waiting tables.

We had BBQ ribs.  Great finish to another great day.

I hope you are enjoying this.  I know I did.  Won't be on the computer for the next week or so, as I have many other things going on, but will finish the Arizona saga asap.  In the meantime enjoy be safe, and God Bless.