ARIZONA IN AUGUST 2018 - #2

Monday, AUGUST 6:

Today we headed for our favorite retreat in Arizona, The La Posada Hotel located in Winslow, AZ.  The hotel was designed and built by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter for Fred Harvey (Harvey Girls). It is located in Winslow, Arizona, at one time headquarters for the Santa Fe Railway.

 We took a scenic route North out of Tucson via Globe, and Payson. The drive was scenic and varied with very little traffic. We had all day to enjoy the drive by Roosevelt Lake and in the Tonto National Forest. Then onto Payson, and finally Winslow. 

We stopped at Tonto National Monument and enjoyed a short light picnic and a visit to their Visitor Center. 

It was too hot to hike to the lower Ruins which are about a half mile up hill. I did get a photograph of the Upper Ruins, but it is only a record shot. It was a long way away, and I was hand holding a zoom lens. 

Then it was back on the road to Payson. I was going to inquire about the Mogollon Rim Road, but could not easily find the Forest Service office. 

Along the way to Winslow there were a number of turn offs from the highway into the forest. I randomly picked one, and we parked and went for a pleasant walk in the Ponderosa Forest, as we used to do when driving to and from the North Rim. Here we were walking at about 7000 foot elevation. It was most pleasant. After we crested the Rim we started a easy descent down to Winslow where the terrain changed from forest to open range land. We entered Winslow from the South on SR 87. 

GARDEN SCULPTURE

OLD RR CART

Tonight we enjoyed a delicious meal in the Turquoise Room within the La Posada Hotel. One of their specialty appetizers is stuffed squash blossoms, delicious. We finished with the four of us splitting a single order of Double Chocolate, Grand Marnier Soufflé for Two. It was quite the feast.

TUESDAY, 7 AUGUST:

The heat has been taking it’s toll on us, but we did get out for a short walk before breakfast. After breakfast Janeane and Pat were off to Gallup, N.M. to have some of their jewelry repaired. We opted to visit Meteor Crater which is  only 20 miles to the West. 

METEOR SITE, 1 mile across

Meteor Crater is the best-preserved meteor impact site on earth, with topographical terrain that closely resembles the surface of the moon. 

METEOR SITE

TRAINING SITE, see spaceman and flag

In fact, NASA designated the crater as the training site for astronauts going to the moon a number of years ago. To commemorate the NASA training site and to give you a sense of scale the astronaut figure is 6 feet tall and the American Flag is 3 feet x 5 feet, located in the lower right corner of the enclosure. The object that excavated the crater was a nickel-iron meteorite about 50 meters (160 feet) across. Meteor Crater is nearly one mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference and more than 550 feet deep.

It was quite hot by the time we viewed the Crater though there was a little bit of a breeze.  Afterwards we headed back to La  Posada for a relaxing read within the cool walls of the hotel.

SUNSET SKY, 7 August

Dinner was another winner at the Turquoise Room. Tonight we started a little later with our dinner so the noise in the Dinning Room was more subdued. We also had requested a table near the entrance and away from the center of the dining room so we were not in the grand room of the dining area.

A FELLOW GUEST

WEDNESDAY, 8 AUGUST:

After breakfast we all packed up and headed to Flagstaff. The original plan was to drive to Grand Canyon, take in some of the views, and have a light repast on the porch of the El Tovar. After some research on my part we decided to not do this as the summer crowds are stifling.

We decided to drive to Cameron and into the Park via the East Rim. This we did, but on the way we drove around SP Crater which is on Babbitt Ranch land. It was written up as a scenic drive in a recent issue of Arizona Highways. The drive is off of Hwy 89, on an unsigned road, and only 20 miles long. 

THUNDERHEAD AND CRATER

It was interesting to drive through this crater field and see some unique geology. The crater got its name from C. J. Babbitt who thought it looked like a spilled chamber pot. The name he gave it is not printable either in Arizona Higways or by the mapmakers. 

SP CRATER

I enjoyed the opportunity to do some landscape photography and the rest of the group just enjoyed strolling around enjoying the many views.

SP CRATER IN BACKGROUND

LAVA FIELD

Finally we got to Desert View Tower in the Grand Canyon. It was quite crowded and a bit smoky. 

LOOKING NORTH ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER

A SMOKEY & HAZY VIEW TO THE WEST

DESERT TOWER

We did a quick reconnaissance and then headed back to Cameron where we had an early dinner of Navajo Tacos. These are made with frybread and topped with taco fixings. It is quite filling and delicious. The drive back to Flagstaff went smoothly.