Winslow, Arizona to Gallup, New Mexico

133 miles, direct from Winslow to Gallup.  Not counting the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert and the Hubbell Trading Post detours.

Turquoise Room Breakfast at La Posada Hotel, Winslow, Arizona

Fabulous breakfast at the Turquoise Room of La Posada Hotel in Winslow, then a short walking tour of town, including the old Santa Fe Railroad Station, which is connected to La Posada.  It is currently closed and La Posada plans to renovate it as a museum.

Visited the corner in Winslow made famous by the Eagles tune-there's even a red flatbed Ford truck parked on the corner! 


Standing on the Corner in Winslow, Arizona

We continued to drive west on I-40 to the Petrified Forest National Park, where we saw more huge pieces--full trees!--of petrified wood, than we could ever imagine.


Dane standing by a piece of petrified wood to give you some idea of its size.

Painted Desert Inn, Arizona

Also saw Newspaper Rock, with over 650 prehistoric petroglyphs, and the Painted Desert-beautiful naturally-colored badlands.  A stop at the vintage Painted Desert Inn, restored by the National Park Service, was charming, but we were so disappointed there is no longer any food service.  The Inn was operated by the Fred Harvey Company in the 1940s.


Restored soda fountain at Painted Desert Inn

At the Hubbell Trading Post, Ganado, Arizona
Joan treated herself to a Navajo silver hair clip made of 1930s and 1940s dimes at the jewellery shop at the Trading Post.  We had a great private tour by a National Park Ranger of the Hubbell home.








Overnight Gallup El Rancho Motel in Gallup right on historic Route 66. 


El Rancho Hotel, Gallup, New Mexico.  Glowed pink in the dark!

We're in the Doris Day room-seems fair since earlier in the trip we were in the Elvis Presley Room.  Once again, the rooms here are named after famous guests!


Interior of the Eagle Café, Gallup, New Mexico



Dinner at the Eagle Cafe, a Route 66 icon, where we had their famous lamb stew and a Mexican combination plate. So excited to be asked the New Mexico State Question (Red or Green?) as the young woman took our order!


"Red" was the answer to The NM State Question for the chile sauce.

Now to watch Do No Harm, a new NBC television show, which is premiering tonight.  It was (still is being)  filmed in our Philadelphia neighborhood!

Flagstaff to Winslow, Arizona

Flagstaff to Winslow, Arizona,  58 miles.

Great visit over breakfast with Richard & Laurel Dunn, innkeepers of England House Bed & Breakfast in Flagstaff.

They recommended we visit the Lowell Observatory, just up the hill from the inn, but darn, it didn't open until noon.  Laurel highly recommended the historic Riordan Mansion Museum, as it was designed by the architect of El Tovar and furnished with Arts & Crafts furniture, but darn, it was closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Arizona

We enjoyed a visit to the well-known Museum of Northern Arizona, then had lunch at Miz Zip's Route 66 roadside restaurant in Flagstaff



Miz Zip's Route 66 roadside restaurant in Flagstaff, Arizona

before we drove to the Walnut Canyon National Monument on the western outskirts of Flagstaff for a view of the cliff dwellings and pit houses of the Sinagua ancient peoples. 


Cliff Dwellings at Walnut Canyon National Monument near Flagstaff, Arizona

We stopped to see the dramatic Meteor Crater, about mid-way between Flagstaff and Winslow, and



Joan and Dane at Meteor Crater, Arizona

FDR Room 101 at La Posada

arrived in Winslow in late afternoon to check in to the historic La Posada.  This time we had the FDR Room., number 101. 


La Posada, a restored Fred Harvey Hotel in Winslow, Arizona.

Here's some info on La Posada:

Winslow - On May 15, 1930 the famous La Posada Harvey House Hotel opened its doors for business. The last one built in the famous Harvey hotel and restaurant chain, Winslow was chosen for the site, as it was the headquarters for the Santa Fe Railway. Designed by Mary Colter, the famed Grand Canyon architect, she paid careful detail to blending the aspects of both the Native American and Spanish cultures of the area into the hotel. In 1957, the beautiful La Posada Hotel was closed. Two years later, all of its museum-quality furnishings were auctioned off. In the early 1960s much of the building was gutted and transformed into offices for the Santa Fe Railroad.

When the railroad announced plans to move out of Winslow for good in 1994, and the La Posada was scheduled for demolition, the town gathered up and went to work. Today, the La Posada has been fully restored and stands as an oasis in the desert, catering to a new generation of Route 66 adventurers. It is the only original Harvey Hotel on Route 66 that continues to operate as it was first intended.

A Los Angeles couple, Allen Affeldt and Tina Mion, saved La Posada. They have reclaimed and revived most of the original public spaces and rooms (named for famous guests, including Charles Lindbergh, Harry Truman, and Albert Einstein)

Dinner Reservations:  Turquoise Room, La Posada

Fabulous corn/black bean soup and elk pate to start, then pork carnitos and lamb three ways for entrees, and a wonderful chocolate Grand Mariner souffle for two.  Oh, some delicious margaritas, including the house specialty, the Turquoise Margarita made with Blue Curacao!




Turquoise Margarita at La Posada Hotel, Winslow, Arizona

Grand Canyon to Flagstaff

Grand Canyon Village to Flagstaff, Arizona.  79 miles

                                   

The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River looking west from the Desert Watchtower.

                                              We woke up this morning, our last day at El Tovar Hotel on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, to bright sun.  Our enthusiasm was tempered by the chilly and windy temperature.   After a hearty breakfast, we pushed off to explore more of the eastern half of the Grand Canyon South Rim on our way to Flagstaff.   We enjoyed seeing some new vantage points.  

The real treat was Mary Jane Coulter’s Desert View Watchtower.  Designed to look like a structure typical to the Native American culture of the area, like the Hermit’s Rest, its function was to provide an outpost for tourists.  As much as the exterior blends into the scenery, the interior pays honest tribute to Indian art and ceremony. Coulter had unparalleled access to Native American artists and shaman.  We wonder how much of a role Coulter played in getting Americans to accept and understand our First People’s culture.  She certainly tried to make tourism teach through her designs.

The famous Desert Watchtower.  Sure it looks old, but there is a steel skeleton keeping the walls trim and strong - making more space to show the Native American merchandise.

An interior view of Coulter's Watchtower, showing more of her design skills and use of Native American art.

We then drove out of the park and went to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.  To be expected, the National Park Service does an excellent job of explaining volcanoes, and we saw an amazing lava field about 1,000 years old. You could still sense the brute force of the lava flow, and through the NPS interpretation could see how it evolved (or didn’t) back into earth forms. 


A view of the lava flow with Sunset Crater in the background

From there it was on to our next lodgings, the England House Bed & Breakfast, in Flagstaff.  We arrived in the late afternoon, and after a wonderful welcome from our hosts Richard and Laurel Dunn, we took a stroll around the historic district.  Flagstaff is a college town, which adds to its vibrancy.  Many of the fine old commercial buildings have been restored, and restaurants and shops abound.   We ate at the Beaver Street Brewery, a brew pub (one of several) that our innkeepers recommended.



The England House B&B, Flagstaff, AZ, is just blocks from the vibrant historic downtown area. 

Grand Canyon National Park

Grand Canyon National Park



Morning Sunrise and Snow from our balcony at El Tovar

We woke up this morning to snow. Haven't seen serious quantities of that stuff for a while, and though our jaunt to the Southwest was to avoid the frigid Philly weather, we knew at the Grand Canyon we were pushing our luck.  Well, it did allow for some more interesting photographs than the previous' days rains did. 

As some of you may know, the Canyon is a mile deep, and it is actually about 40 degrees warmer at river level that at the rim where we are, you can see that in the photos below, the snow is only on the upper levels.  The snow came and went all day, but in between, there were snippets of sun, or something like that, which made for better viewing.

A view from the south rim of Grand Canyon of Bright Angel Creek, framed by snowy trees.

We spent some time at the Yavapai Point Geology Museum in the morning.  The numbers, years, scale of this geology always leaves us feel humble.  Of the 5 billion years geologists have been tracking, the Grand Canyon is a newcomer on the block; it started a paltry 6 million years ago.  Mankind, of course, is just a blink of an eye at the recent end of that scale.

We also learned more about some of the pioneers who settled and developed what is now the National Park.  The Kolb brothers - just looking at old photographs of them standing places not meant to hold a person - not to even think about OSHA standards - made us a little weak in the knees.  We also saw a very famous silent film they made in 1915 about going down the Colorado River, that made us realize what guts and bravado these fellows had (and one of them lived to 95!).



Yawn, another shot of the Grand Canyon.  Snow is bad weather for everybody but photographers and skiers.

Williams to Grand Canyon National Park

Williams to Grand Canyon National Park

A canyon view from the porch of Hermit's Rest

59 miles, an easy day.  We arrived at the Grand Canyon National Park in the late morning and visited some of the rim road sites before checking into the hotel.  We had a picnic lunch of cheese (from DiBruno's in Philadelphia, our fabulous neighborhood cheese and everything else store) at Hermit's Rest at the end of the rim road. Hermit's Rest, a rustic way station for visitors who travelled up on the railroad was designed by Mary Jane Coulter for Fred Harvey.




We are staying at the  El Tovar Hotel, the fancy hotel that the Santa Fe Railroad and Fred Harvey opened in 1905 for their customers at Grand Canyon.  Here we decided to splurge and stay in the El Tovar Suite - pricey but worth it.

Fabulous view from the balcony of our suite at El Tovar

The bedroom of the El Tovar Suite

Sitting Room of the El Tovar Suite. We had most comfortable seats to watch the latest episode of Season 3 of Downton Abbey.  The entrance to the big balcony is on the right.

KIngman to Williams, Arizona via old Roue 66

Mr D'z Route 66 Diner, Andy Devine Avenue, Kingman, Arizona

Breakfast in Kingman at Mr D'z Route 66 Diner, Andy Devine Avenue, Kingman
Huevos Rancheros with Elvis!


Drove to Oatman, west on Route 66.  Famous for the wild burros.  One of them wanted to go shopping?



Some of the famous burros at Oatman, Arizona

Old Route 66 loop from Kingman to Seligman.

Lunch at Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-In, Seligman.

Whoops, Snow Cap closed for the season.  Road Kill Restaurant instead!

Overnight Red Garter Bed & Bakery, Williams.  

Great stay, hospitality from Deborah in the evening and owner John in the morning.



At the Red Garter Bed & Bakery in Williams, Arizona

Dinner:  Panchito's right next door, since it was cold and rainy.  Great Chile Relleno. 

Route 66 Road Trip: Las Vegas, Nevada to Kingman, Arizona

Road Trip!  Route 66 from Las Vegas, Nevada to Las Vegas, New Mexico!

We had such a good time on our "Grand Circle" driving/hiking trip to the National Parks of Southern Utah last Spring that we decided to escape the grey days of winter in Philadelphia for the sunny (we hope) clime of Northern Arizona and New Mexico.  Several guidebooks to the historic Route 66 route and its dining and lodging options gave us some great ideas for an itinerary.  We will poke along on the way east from Las Vegas, never driving more than 200 miles in one day-some days only 50 or 60 miles.  Only on our two-day return to Nevada will we "book it", doing 300+ miles a day. 

Hoover Dam on the Colorado River

Day one:  Arrive in Las Vegas and pick up our rental car, then drive to Hoover Dam.  Being the daughter of a "dam builder" with the Bureau of Reclamation, as a child Joan toured many of the monumental dams of the west with her family, including Hoover Dam, so we enjoyed the view from the top of the dam before we toured the visitor center.  Amazing!  The water in Lake Mead is about 50 feet lower than full capacity-hello, global warming?

 

Lake Mead and the Nevada Intake towers from the top of Hoover Dam

Dane Wells at Hoover Dam

It's hard to get a picture of the dam, so here's a picture of the photographer who took the pictures of the dam:  Dane, aka Indiana Wells.

Next stop:  Kingman, Arizona, with a sound track prepared by Dane to accompany our drive, including The Eagles "Take It Easy" and Manhattan Transfer's cover of "Get Your Kicks on Route 66".

If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that is best.
Get your kicks on Route Sixty-Six.
(words & lyrics by Bobby Troup)






Elvis Presley Room at El Trovatore Motel, Kingman, Arizona

After a brief detour to Chloride, Arizona, an almost-ghost town/1860s mining town now a haven for artists and western craftsmen, we arrived in Kingman, Arizona.  On Andy Devine Drive (the character actor was born here) we found  El Trovatore Motel. Super-friendly proprietors Sam & Monica showed us around and we chose the Elvis Presley room!


Sam and Monica have owned the motel for just over a year, and have been busy repairing and restoring it.  One of their proudest accomplishments is the relighting of the huge neon sign.

 

El Trovatore Motel with its restored tower sign, Kingman, Arizona

We also visited the Powerhouse Route 66 Museum in Kingman, to get started right with the history of the historic route in Arizona. 

 

Powerhouse, Kingman, Arizona, home of the Arizona Route 66 Museum

We ended our long day with a typically Western meal:  Steak at the Dam Bar just down the highway from El Trovatore.  Of course Dane had to have a Fat Tire beer from Colorado, since it's not available in Philadelphia, and  in a cocktail mood, Joan enjoyed a house specialty, a margarita made with agave.

 

Of course it came with biscuits and beans!