The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, July 21, 2004, Page 6, Image 6
6 theysaidit
CONTACT US n p IVFT A ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: “You’re luggage.”
E-mailusatgamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu 1 AAJ_J iTlliV after shooting an all,gator ,n the mouth w eraser’
GOIN’ TO CALIFORNIA
THIRD IN A FOUR-PART SERIES
Today was the day: I was
going to reach Corona, Calif.,
or die trying. My eventual
destination was (cue the
warped trumpets) the
Fender Guitar Museum.
As I left Albuquerque be
fore sunrise, I knew the day
was going
to involve
: at least 10
j hours of
| driving,
j Luckily, a
] natural
wonder in
the middle
of Arizona
kept my
sanity
stewing in
between New Mexico and
California. No, I’m not talk
ing about the Grand Canyon,
which I wound up seeing on
my return trip. I’m talking
about Meteor Crater.
Yes, that’s the official
• name. It’s a big damn hole in
the ground from a meteor
strike about 50,000 years ago.
This was not the one that
killed the dinosaurs or their
oppressive caveman rivals.
By the middle of the after
noon, after taking an easy
five-mile detour from
Interstate 40 and hocking
$12,1 stood on the lip of a gi
gantic crater in the middle of
the desert and experienced
true silence. Once the chil
dren on a field trip piped
down, I Heard no motors, no
humming transformers and
no people. My ears were but
tressed only by the wind as I
tried to grasp the immensity |
of the crater.
Quick traveling tip: If you
have to choose between
Meteor Crater and the Grand
Canyon, choose the former.
It’s cheaper, less crowded
and easier to get to, and it
has all the natural wonder of
the canyon. Plus, there’s a
Subway.
After leaving, I blacked
out again, cognizant only of
various Route 66 tourist ad
vertisements. Once I crossed
into California, however, my
trip turned into a veritable
nightmare.
I consider myself a typical
20-year-old male behind the
♦ GOIN\ SEE PAGE 7
STEVEN
VAN HAREN
Second-year
mechanical
engineering
student
—— i .i ii1— _*** -
PHOTO BY STEVEN VAN HAREN/THE GAMECOCK
Arizona's Meteor Crater formed 50,000 years ago.
Rainer Maria is
right): Kyle Fischer,
William Kuehn and
Caithlin De Marrais