Florida Spring Training 2018 - Day 74

The plan for today was to tour the Meteor Crater then head into nearby Winslow.

We got an early start and arrived at the crater visitors center about 10:00 am.  It is only 5 miles south of the RV park but by the time we got there, the high winds expected with the forecasted frontal passage had arrived.  The winds on the rim of crater where the visitors center is located were blowing at least 40-50 mph with gusts much higher than that.  The area surrounding the crater is barren - nothing to be seen in any direction and the wind had no resistance as it blew across the plains.  One of the staff at center said they had recorded a 95 mph wind gust.  Based on our experience while outside at the crater viewing area where we actually had trouble standing up, I don't doubt it.

Inside the visitors center they had a number of interesting displays, explaining the history of the crater as well as other exhibits about meteors, meteorites, asteroids and other meteor strikes around the world.  As best as anyone can tell, the meteor strike here occurred about 50,000 years ago, was about 150 feet in length and impacted the earth at 26,000 mph.  In case you wondered, an asteroid is a non-planetary object orbiting the sun, a meteor is an object that enters the earths' atmosphere and burns up before it lands, and a meteorite is an object that actually impacts the earth.

The bottom of the crater is closed to the public due to ongoing scientific studies, although there are guided tours around the rim, but not today due to the high winds.

When we left the visitors center it seemed like the winds had increased and dust was being blown into the air and decreasing visibility, so we returned to the RV, brought in the sliders and hunkered down.  The forecast is for the wind to settle down into the evening as the front passes so we are unsure about going into Winslow at this point.

The high winds are from the south are causing major problems for travelers on I-40 which runs east and west.  Right now the RV park is filling up early as people cannot fight the dangerous cross winds.  It is good we were not planning to travel today.

The forecast for tomorrow looks better as the front moves east and the winds shift from out of the south to the west  and reduce in velocity.  Our destination for tomorrow is Las Vegas, NV.  We will be staying at Nellis AFB and the weather there looks like warm and sunny. We are ready for that.

Pictures -  Meteor Crater

The winds didn't die down very much so we decided to forget about Winslow this trip.  We stayed in the RV watched a DVD movie and went to bed early.  We didn't want to "push the envelope" so maybe next time for Winslow.