Day 31. Meteor Crater RV Park. Winslow, AZ.

When we were breaking camp this morning I was talking to one of the campground workers. I've learned that there is a whole culture of people who are called work-campers. They are full-time RVers who do long term (or not) stays at various campgrounds where they are employed as camp hosts, or maintenance staff,  etc.  They get their campsite free and get paid for working.  This guy was one of those, staying on here until the balloon festival ends and then wintering in Mesa, AZ. Anyway, he told me a fascinating story. He has work-camped for 5 years or so in North  Dakota at a sugar beet processor. Yep! This company has the entire sugar beet harvest done by work campers. By design. They built a big campground and they hire all the work campers to stay for 3 - 4 weeks in October. They work 12 hours on/12 hours off, 7 days a week until harvest is done. Straight pay the first 8 hours. Overtime to 12 hours. Time and a half Saturday. Double time Sunday. Fascinating to hear these lifestyle stories!

Back on I40 today and again driving with some serious crosswinds. I can't remember if it was yesterday or today that I got hit by a blast of wind that sent us halfway into the shoulder and then clear back through my lane and into the second lane.  There were no other cars around at the time but the copilot wasn't happy. When we arrived at the RV park tonight, the first thing they said was "did you get beat up by the wind today?" I guess everyone had the same experience.

Today seemed to be all about the railroad. Man, we saw so many trains. We ran alongside this train for miles. That thing was going around 70 miles an hour. Probably takes 20 minutes to stop it.

Other than that the road goes on forever...and the party never ends.

The scenery was gorgeous today, lots of rocky buttes, red rock and big sky! We saw a handful of wild horses not far off the road. They were in the middle of nowhere and you could sure see in their demeanor that they were wild.

We crossed the continental divide around noon. It's weird - we're so far west- yet all the water east of here drains to the east.

We jumped off the freeway at Winslow, AZ...and well, it is the weekend of the "standing on a corner" celebration!  No kidding! We were going there for the requisite photo op anyway. So good timing. Now, if you don't relate to "standing on a corner...in Winslow Arizona, I can't help you.
But for the record...

We're now set up at our camp. The Meteor Crater RV Park.

Which brings me to the 2nd famous attraction in Winslow. The Meteor Crater. Probably not going to spend  the time or money to look at that hole in the ground, but it's reportedly the best preserved site of a meteor impact in the country. I guess a big hunk of space junk hit the ground here 50,000 years ago and left a mark. It really is a pretty fascinating hole in the ground. It's big. And looks lunar. But really,  we're a drive by.

So, we're in for the night. Gonna fire up a steak tonight and get up in the morning to go see Jared (McNephew) in the Phoenix area.