After a long but fun day of travels, we arrived at the La Posada Hotel in Winslow, Arizona ready to "take it easy". What a gem in the middle of the desert in a very small town of around 9,000 people. It is a museum and a hotel! ...AND the southwestern food wasn't bad either...it was awesome! They had a great coffee called "Late for the Train".
A little history of the place if interested, otherwise scroll down:
The La Posada is the masterpiece of Mary Coulter, the greatest of all Southwestern architects. The timing of the opening of this hotel in 1930 could not have been worse as it was the beginning of the Great Depression. It was closed to the public in 1957 and used as offices for the Santa Fe Railway. When in danger of being torn down, Allan Affeldt and Tina Mion purchased the La Posada in 1997 and continue restoring the hotel to this day. The property backs up to an active railway which adds charm as you sit on the back patio or in the dining room. In addition to the southwestern art, it is also a museum for Tina Mion whose art is like nothing we have ever seen before.
We were forced to leave Winslow in the morning because winds from the wildfires had brought smoke to Winslow. There was one last stop downtown before hitting the road again.
We had to make this stop so we could say we were "standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona" commemorating the Eagles - Jackson Browne song, "Take It Easy". Across the street, the owner of the Winslow Drug Store plays Eagles' music. A large video screen inside the store plays a concert by the Eagles and the music is piped outside so you can hear it as you stand on the corner. Jackson Browne is supposed to be the inspiration for the statute but on a visit to the store he told the owner he thought his head was too small. As he stood in the drug store viewing the video, he said, "we were good".
We are back on the road and headed for Las Vegas. Not far out of Winslow we took an exit and headed down a very barren road a few miles to view a meteor crater. On our way to the Visitor Center, we saw a road sign that said, "Drive Slow, Baby Calves on Road". Sure enough, cows were grazing very close on both sides of this 2-lane road. Once at the site, we hiked up many steps to view the crater which is claimed to be the best preserved meteorite impact site on earth. Scientists have determined that a piece of an asteroid hit this spot traveling at 26,000 miles per hour. At that speed, we could travel between the east and west coast in 5 minutes. The crater is nearly 1 mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference and 550 feet deep. Wow! As we headed back down our road to the highway, the cows with their calves were hovering even closer to the road except for one. This mama was standing in the road. I decided to stop and take a picture as we were going around her (while trying to drive) as Rita was urging, "Let's go...let's go...let's go!" Oh yeah, we were in Rita's car. Luckily Mama cow never budged as all the cars made their way slowly around her. Well, that was fun.
We made our way toward Flagstaff and knew we had made the right decision about the Grand Canyon. The smoke from the wildfires obscured our view of the mountains at that point. However, as we made our way more west the smoke cleared and we marveled at how vivid the blue sky and white clouds were. Rita kept rolling down the window to take a look. The terrain changed at that point and both sides of the road, as well as the mountains beyond, were covered in pine trees. We also saw crossing signs for bighorn sheep and pronghorn antelope! We decided to pass on stopping at the "Roadkill 66 Cafe". Wonder how much business they get??? We also decided against stopping to "Shoot a Machine Gun 10 Miles Ahead". The pine trees disappeared after awhile and the terrain and mountains became more barren but still beautiful. We began to see our first cactus abut 25 miles outside of Nevada. Rita commented that this land looked like the Ponderosa. She loves "Bonanza"!
As we entered Nevada, the mountains became more layered and beautiful. How many times have we said this? We saw the exit for Hoover Dam and so many power-related structures dotting the landscape that it was a little scary. We drove into Las Vegas Sunday evening at the peak of Memorial Day Weekend. That was by far the most stressful driving Angela has ever experienced as she was trying to make her way to the Palazzo hotel on the strip. It was just as stressful for Rita as the navigator. At one stop light, at least 200 people crossed the street in front of our car. We had to make an extra trip around the block but finally made it to our destination. We had considered going to Hoover Dam one day but we are not moving that car until we leave for Utah! A little stressed to say the least and as we were opening our hotel room door, Rita said, "THIS BETTER BE GOOD!" And it was. Whew!
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