We spent Tuesday in Payson for an off-day with friends.
We arrive back in Winslow at about 11:00 am from Payson. We troll slowly through “downtown” on Old Route 66 and find the splendid 1930 La Posada Hotel. It is gorgeous and we have lunch in the Turquoise Room. Delicious! We wander the hotel for a while, taking photos and enjoying the distinct atmosphere of an opulent, bygone era. The hallway containing the restrooms is lined with framed photos of notable guests of La Posada, including Albert Einstein. Winslow is and always was a railroad town and La Posada was constructed as a place for well-heeled travelers to pause on their rail journey through Arizona.
Next stop is Meteor Crater. It is NOT on Route 66, but is irresistible. This impact crater is 50,000 years old and is well worth the visit. See photo.
Back on I-40, we head for Winona (“…don’t forget Winona”) and Flagstaff. The Mother Road along this path is dirt or gravel, so we stick to the pavement of the interstate. Winona is just a few buildings and some nice trees. We see no gas stations, motels or curio shops.
Flagstaff is a classic Route 66 town: 10 miles long and 10 blocks wide. The old downtown section has several nice, old hotels and the narrow streets have been made one-way to accommodate modern traffic.
Pressing on into Williams, again mostly on I-40, we arrive at about 3:00 p.m. to see a giant pall of smoke wafting over the town from the south. It turns out to be a “controlled burn” by the Forest Service. Fortunately, the burn has been extinguished and the 10 mph wind drives the smoke away from town. After check-in at our hotel, we walk the main street of Williams and find several well-preserved and active hotels from the 1950s. Especially nice is the Route 66 Lodge. We hit a couple of nice souvenir shops and then have dinner at Pancho McGillicuddy’s (Mexican food). We get back to the hotel just in time to watch the third and final Presidential debate.
We arrive back in Winslow at about 11:00 am from Payson. We troll slowly through “downtown” on Old Route 66 and find the splendid 1930 La Posada Hotel. It is gorgeous and we have lunch in the Turquoise Room. Delicious! We wander the hotel for a while, taking photos and enjoying the distinct atmosphere of an opulent, bygone era. The hallway containing the restrooms is lined with framed photos of notable guests of La Posada, including Albert Einstein. Winslow is and always was a railroad town and La Posada was constructed as a place for well-heeled travelers to pause on their rail journey through Arizona.
Next stop is Meteor Crater. It is NOT on Route 66, but is irresistible. This impact crater is 50,000 years old and is well worth the visit. See photo.
Back on I-40, we head for Winona (“…don’t forget Winona”) and Flagstaff. The Mother Road along this path is dirt or gravel, so we stick to the pavement of the interstate. Winona is just a few buildings and some nice trees. We see no gas stations, motels or curio shops.
Flagstaff is a classic Route 66 town: 10 miles long and 10 blocks wide. The old downtown section has several nice, old hotels and the narrow streets have been made one-way to accommodate modern traffic.
Pressing on into Williams, again mostly on I-40, we arrive at about 3:00 p.m. to see a giant pall of smoke wafting over the town from the south. It turns out to be a “controlled burn” by the Forest Service. Fortunately, the burn has been extinguished and the 10 mph wind drives the smoke away from town. After check-in at our hotel, we walk the main street of Williams and find several well-preserved and active hotels from the 1950s. Especially nice is the Route 66 Lodge. We hit a couple of nice souvenir shops and then have dinner at Pancho McGillicuddy’s (Mexican food). We get back to the hotel just in time to watch the third and final Presidential debate.
Ann's Bit:
Natalie left a good alien joke a few days ago. Thanks, Natalie!
I complained to one of my CA friends about the lack of (fabric) shopping. Ok, folks, really really rural America is what we are in. Small towns cannot support fabric shops. And so many quilt stores are closing, fully half of the ones I call are gone or closing. Maybe we all need to BUY MORE FABRIC.
OK, back to the trip. I always wanted to see the Painted Desert and the Meteor Crater and they did not disappoint. We drive across 'washes' as we go through the high desert here. A 'wash' is a miniature Grand Canyon. It makes it hard to keep driving, you want to pull over and look. As you can tell by our progress, we do a lot of pulling over and looking as it is, so we choose our stops. We stay off the Interstate and drive on "The Mother Road" as much as we can. Here in AZ, they have mostly pulled it up.
We will be in LA Saturday and being in a CITY will seem so strange. I really like rural America...except for the lack of fabric shopping.
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