It was time to hit the road again, so we hopped into our car with 6 day old pizza in the cooler to fortify us as we set out to our next destination. We needed to kill some time so we decided to take in some Route 66 sites in Arizona we haven’t seen before. After a spirited debate over our complimentary Best Western breakfast of powdered eggs and conference cantaloupe, we decided to stop at Meteor Crater in Arizona. The website presents a Disneyland like experience with a convergence of space, dinosaurs and the random alien that seemed to follow us from The Thing. All of this for a low price of $29 per person. Well, because I find myself now married to a senior citizen we received an extra $2 off.

For those curious souls traveling I-40 through Arizona on their way to see one of state’s spectacular natural wonders, you may be scratching your head asking “Why does it only cost $35 for my family of 4 to see the Grand Canyon, but $116 to see a meteor site?” Well, you can quit torturing your scalp, we are here to help answer that question, or maybe not.

As my geologist friends who had already been there said “To a non-geologist it’s a big hole in the ground”. That is basically it in a nutshell in terms of the actual site. I found the facts and stories surrounding it fascinating. But don’t ask me about the differences between a meteor, a comet, or an asteroid.

According to the scientists in the introduction movie, Meteor Crater is the best preserved impact crater on earth. They really drive this point home, by simulating the impact no less than 32 times during the 9-minute film. But since I don’t have that particular clip to share with you, here are some facts that may help create a picture: when the meteor hit the earth it was traveling 26,000 mph. This speed is equivalent to traveling from LA to NY in 5 minutes. Now, that is an airline ticket I would shell out big bucks to buy. The impact crater is the size of 20 football fields, lined by 2 million spectators. That event is something I would pay big money to avoid.

You may also be wondering, how powerful is an explosion like that? Even if you aren’t wondering, it is the equivalent of dropping 10 million tons of TNT or 150 times the force of an atomic bomb, in the middle of the Arizona desert.

After watching the movie which is guaranteed to give me nightmares, I tried to sooth myself by saying “yeah, but it doesn’t happen all that often. This impact was 50,000 years ago”. And then I walked through the museum. There are over 200 of these types of flying objects that scientists are tracking to make sure they don’t collide with earth.

Unfortunately, Peter was equally struck by the movie but in a different way. He is now imitating the deep voice of the movie narrator. As we continued driving along Route 66, he was commenting on what we saw in a deep voice with changing intonation for dramatic effect.

Throughout the entire building, we heard a dramatic Hollywood movie soundtrack with Disneyland polish. It almost felt as if we were waiting for a Disneyland ride everywhere we went. And just like Disneyland, there were movies playing throughout the space. In the gift shop Jurassic Park was playing. Peter pointed out that Deep Impact or Armageddon would have been a more appropriate choice.

Yes, it seems space, dinosaurs, and aliens, are a magic mix.