Winslow, Arizona
Walking around Winslow, AZ - 10 April 2021
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| Peter Toth is a Hungarian-American sculptor who immigrated to Akron, Ohio. He created a series of sculptures called Trail of the Whispering Giants to honor Native Americans. Ranging in height from 20 to 40 feet, there is one in every state, as well as Ontario and Manitoba, Canada and one in Hungary. Sculpture: #33, dedicated 1979 or 1980. Ponderosa Pine. |
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| Walking from the Visitor's Center into downtown Winslow along the tracks and through the city park. |
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| Picture this. "Standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona" along Historic Highway 66. The building façade was built on donated property (see below for tribute). |
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| The official "Standing on the Corner in Winslow, Arizona" statue of Glen Frey, who along with Jackson Browne wrote the song most famously recorded by the Eagles. And My Lord, that is a flat bed Ford though we did not see any girl driving it. |
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| Taking a rest before heading out to La Posada Hotel. |
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| The last Harvey House, La Posada Hotel opened in 1930. The hotel closed in 1957 and the building was used by the Santa Fe Railway for offices. The railroad abandoned the La Posada in 1974 and announced plans to tear it down. It was bought and restored by Allan Affeldt and reopened as a hotel. Originally, designed by architect Mary Jane Colter, considered a masterpiece of Southwest design, La Posada means "the resting place". |
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| Several outdoor walking gardens within the walled area in front of the hotel. There are indoor art galleries, a gift shop which features authentic Native American jewelry, rugs, pottery and wall art, and halls are generously decorated with antique photos and décor. |
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| Original terra cotta tiles and wrought iron railing is one way to access the second floor rooms but an elevator is available if desired for those with luggage or needing assistance. The Turquoise Room is the hotel's award winning restaurant. A pretty silver tree. |
Meteor Crater RV Park near Winslow, AZ - 11 April 2021
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| Left: our Home. Right: view of San Francisco Peaks looking toward Flagstaff, AZ |
Walnut Canyon National Monument, AZ - 12 April 2021
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| More than 700 years ago there was a pueblo community of Native people called the Sinagua ("without water") who were the first permanent inhabitants. There were scattered families farming the canyon rims for centuries. |
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| Stairs provide access to the Island in the Canyon but along the way several cliff dwellings can be seen around the canyon walls. The 240 stairs going down are not nearly as difficult as the 240 going up. |
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| Few animals can be seen during the day but the Park Rangers assured us that squirrels, foxes, coyotes, elk, turkeys, owls, hawks, snakes, crows and even the occasional mountain lion have been documented in the canyon. After descending several hundred steps the easy walking path circles the island for close up views of the cliff dwellings. |
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| some dwellings are severely damaged while others have complete wall enclosures. |
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| The sides of the canyon provide plenty of cover and were used for farming small plots of crops. Plus nature provided additional foods such as this Claret Cup. The bottom of the canyon has water for people and animals. |
The Turquoise Room, Winslow, AZ - 12 April 2021
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| Returning to The Turquoise Room in La Posada Hotel, Winslow, Arizona for dinner. The name is derived from the 1935 private dining car for the Super Chief train that was to run from Chicago to Los Angeles and designed by Mary Jane Colter. The dining car was a favorite among studios chiefs and Hollywood stars of the day. The hotel's restaurant is accessible by railroad as it is an Amtrak stop. If you are interested, the pink beverage is a Prickly Pear Margarita, the two medallions are elk with a pomegranate sauce (recommended cooked rare unless you like shoe leather). Bob had Free Range Bison Short Ribs decorated with watermelon radish slices. |
Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, AZ - 13 April 2021
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| Self-portrait since he rarely gets in photos. |
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| Now this is an interesting desert created by volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods, and sunlight. |
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| The bad news; the visitor center was closed. The good news; the bathroom was open. There were a couple picnic tables at the back which allowed us to eat lunch out of the very strong winds. |
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| It was a very windy day. But we both left with our hats intact. |
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| Time for lunch. Here's our nice little table in the shade and protected from the wind. Originally made of petrified wood, Herbert David Lore registered the Stone Tree House with the land office in 1924 as required by the Homestead Act. It had six small rooms for rent at two to four dollars per night. The current Painted Desert Inn dates from the 1930s and has an adobe façade. |
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| Interiors through windows of the interior building. The Inn is currently closed for renovations, only serves as a museum with no accommodations or food service. |
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| Puerco Pueblo ruins had almost 100 rooms and was occupied between 1250 and 1380. The river floodplain provided farming opportunities for corn, beans and squash. The river also provided a travel corridor for outlying communities up and down the river. |
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| Historic Contact Station has details of research studies of interactions through a wide variety of artifacts and rock art found in or near the village. |
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| Petroglyphs show different styles of art. |
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| Petrified logs - trees that fall and is buried by sediment and protected from decay due to oxygen and organisms. Then, groundwater rich in dissolved solids flow through the sediment, replacing the plant material with silica, calcite, pyrite or another inorganic material like opal. The result is a fossil. |
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| Agate Bridge. The tree grew 217 million years ago and was buried by river sediment and slowly became petrified. In 1917 a concrete support was built. This will eventually be washed away with the bridge and is not stable enough now for crossing. |
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| Some of the giants behind the Visitor's Center. Fracturing is made by water freezing and thawing, the same as in any other stone. |
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| A Bob sized root and a close up of the bark. |
Our last day at Meteor Crater RV Park, AZ - 16 April 2021
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| We had several days of windy conditions which severely limited our view of the San Francisco mountains due to the amount of sand picked up. Spectacular view of the snow caps. |
