As I continued east on I-40 I saw signs for the "Meteor Crater." Of course, I changed plans again and decided to go see this too. :) Apparently, many years ago a meteor hit in the middle of the Arizona desert so there is a vast area of completely flat desert land and then a huge crater in the middle of it all. There has been a lot of research on the crater and they have actually found pieces of the meteor that hit. It was really neat, and super huge!
The next day I continued on to the Petrified Forest National Park. I have never seen anything like this. At one time there was a forest in this area of Arizona and the forest was covered quickly by flood waters which knocked all the trees down and buried them in mud which was full of sediments. As the sediments settled in and seeped into the wood it "petrified" the wood. Which, in my limited understanding, seemed to be like crystallizing the wood. All of the tree trunks were cracked, and some, like glass, had shattered into small pieces and the inside was all different colors depending on the mineral.
On Saturday, I went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival in New Mexico. This was my one and only planned stop; considering I needed tickets. When I first arrived at the air field at 5am it was so cold I thought I was going to die of hypothermia. (I wasn't really prepared for that temperature.) I ended up having to buy a hat and long socks. But it was all worth it when I got to see hundreds of hot air balloons being inflated and then taking off as the sun was rising. There were tons of different colors and designs and some were even shaped like funny cartoon characters. It was really fun to stand there and see 600 different balloons all inflating around you and watching them as they took off randomly around the air field. I thought there would be some kind of order or someone telling them when to go, but that was not the case. They would just go whenever they were ready. One interesting thing I learned there was that this festival is a pretty big deal. It is broadcast in 50 different countries and it is one of the most photographed events in the world. Now I can see why. I took over 150 pictures in the 3 hours that the balloons were taking off! When I decided to leave and I got back on the roads around town I saw some balloons still floating around and a ton of chase crews that were following their respective balloons around waiting for them to land. There are some great time lapse videos at http://www.balloonfiesta.com/event-info/balloon-fiesta-cam. (I was there Oct 8th if you want to watch those videos.)
The following day I drove into Oklahoma (listening to the "Oklahoma" movie soundtrack along the way.) There was a huge storm passing over so I was driving in the rain the whole day, but I broke up the monotony by stopping at the National Cowboy Museum (it seems it was the only attraction in the whole state.) I enjoyed it, though, especially after spending all this time out west. Some of you know that if I had to go back and live in another time in history it would be the pioneer days in the mid 1800's, and this museum had a lot of art work and reconstructions of life from that period so I was thrilled.
In Arkansas, on Monday, I went spelunking! I took a tour of Blanchard Springs Caverns which is in the Ozark National Forest. When I first took the elevator down into the cave and got out with the group and the tour guide it took me a second or two to will myself to step further in and follow them. Before your eyes could fully adjust to the dim lights it is really dark and there are all sorts of oddly shaped things around you. It looked like something out of The Hobbit when Bilbo is wandering around in the dragons cave. After my eyes adjusted and the tour guide started talking about the history of the cave and all its cool features I got control of my overactive imagination and was able to really enjoy the tour. It was amazing to me how quickly the features of the cave can grow. There was a man made tunnel in the cave dug out about 40 years ago to allow for handicapped access to a second room in the cave where you could see the layers of earth. When the water seeps into the limestone layer it causes the lime to seep out and as that lime solidifies again it forms the stalagmites and stalactites. Well, in this 40 year old tunnel there were thin lime formations about 3 feet long. The power of water is pretty impressive even underground.
After Arkansas I visited friends in Atlanta. (Actually, the same friend that I visited on my way to Maine. A fitting way to complete my circle.) Then, I continued into Gainesville for a couple days where I saw my old roommate and a classmate who just had a baby. After that, I visited my Aunt Karen and cousin Kathy near Tampa for a couple days and finished off my family visits in Orlando with Jimmy and Jess. I don't think I stopped talking the whole time. Ever since I left Maine, and excluding the visits from family and friends, I really didn't have anyone to talk to about anything deeper then the weather, so I guess I had a lot to say. :) Coralie, my roommate, and I calculated it one day and we had talked for a total of 15 hours. Ridiculous, right? But I loved every minute of it. I, also, loved the one on one time I had with my Aunt. You can learn so much from, and about, a person by just spending time with them. I have long known that my Love Language is Quality Time and the last 5 or so days of my trip home were definitely satisfying.
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