Shir and Orr had a better night and the balagan started only at 4am. Shir still had a fever this morning and Orr seemed to be having stomach pains again. We woke up at 7am to a very windy day. After getting organized we drove from the campground to Meteor Crater.
The whole area is privately owned and the entrance fee to see the crater and museum is $15 per person. It is very large (2 km diameter, 160m deep). NASA sent Neil Armstrong and other astronauts to train here in the 60s as part of the Apollo space project. They practiced excavating rocks from craters, just like they would later do on the moon. Although it was impressive, we stayed for a short time because it was too windy outside and Orr was getting antsy.
We drove to Sedona, a beautiful town that is only 50 years old. It used to be a bohemian / new age type of town with lots of spirituality and people with a few screws loose. Now it’s a major tourist town that most of the above mentioned people can’t afford to live in anymore. Nonetheless, it is surrounded by beautiful red rock mesas and buttes, and the drive in through Oak Creek Canyon (from Flagstaff) is very scenic.
When we got into town we could not find where to park (normally you don’t RV in cities). Shir was crying and so we parked in a regular parking lot to prepare lunch and get the kids out of their seats for a bit before looking for a real parking spot. Shir threw up and felt really bad. 5 minutes later a local official parked next to us and asked us to leave. He saw Shir and gave us a few more minutes and a good parking tip.
We drove to the new parking space and took the kids for a stroll along main street. Over the shop roofs you could see the towering red rocks on all sides. The shops themselves were all the usual touristy stuff, but Ron and Orr had fun exploring the street. Shir was basking quietly in her misery in the stroller. Paola bought a small bottle of Coca Cola as a medicine and administered to Shir and Orr, each with a different straw. It was funny to see their initial reaction. They took a sip, experienced the carbonation for the first time in their life, and then, relishing the sweetness, took more sips. Ron commented that he is also sick and needs to get coca cola medicine too.
Tomorrow we have a long drive back to Las Vegas, so from Sedona we started to make headway and are now in a campground on route 40, in a town called Williams. It is part of a chain called KOA (Kampgrounds of America), and they have pretty good facilities. We discovered in the last 2 weeks that what we need is a playground for the kids, and for the summer, a swimming pool. An hour in either after arriving at the campground in the afternoon is a good way to make sure the kids go to sleep at a reasonable hour and sleep soundly at night.
Tomorrow is a long boring driving day. We hope that Shir and Orr feel better so we can make it in decent time.
Good night.
Hemi