Stop press the La Posada hotel is the most relaxing place on earth.
I’m writing this post whilst sat in he garden of the famous La Posda hotel whilst listening to some acoustic guitar being played by a very talented musician, the sound of gently flowing water and a coyote howling at the moon, I think its safe to say this is a pretty magical place, so much so its warranted break from the chronological order of my blog!
Back on the road towards Winslow the drive was nothing short of spectacular, with roads carving their way through red rock Canyons and winding towards Arizona this has been the most scenic drive of the trip so far, with the possible exception of the drive through the Ozarks. The scenery was reminiscent of many westerns and as I corssed the continental divide I definitely feel like I’m truly in the West, even if its not that wild any more!
The drive to Arizona had some gorgeous views
My first sightseeing destination was the Petrified Forrest and Painted Desert National Park which was a recommended as a must see stop by one of my fellow chasers. The Painted Desert looks like no where else on earth and its easy to see where it gets its name, the colours of the rock are amazing and if it weren’t for the scale you would think they had be hand painted. The colours are a product of the composition of the stratified layers of various sedimentary rocks that are easily eroded allowing the minerals within to escape and lend their pigment to the landscape. Geology most definitely rocks!
Bendy Dave enjoys views of the Painted Desert
The 2nd element of the Park consists of swathes of Triassic trees that have been fossilised and preserved, you can still see the rings and the texture of the bark Bendy Dave was insistent on a photo and assured me that readers of my blog would not be at all bored by the geology lesson!
Bendy Dave on a fossilized log
Leaving the Petrified Forrest it was back on to I40 tracking the course of route 66 towards Meteor Crater one of the parts of my trip I’ve been most excited about seeing, I remember looking at a picture of the crater in my Collins Children’s Encyclopaedia when I was 8 (Yes I must have had a genetic predisposition for nerdyness and geekyness!) and wondering if I’d ever get a chance to see it in person.
When I arrived the views did not disappoint and the scale of the place was awe inspiring and really makes you realise the tremendous power of Nature to destroy. Formed 50,000 years ago by a Nickel Iron meteorite 50 meters across impacting the ground at 28,000 miles an hour the crater took less than 10 second to form. Vaporising on impact there are only fragments of the meteor left (which of course you can purchase in the gift shop, an of course I purchased!).
A Panorama of the crater.
Its a pretty big hole
After spending 3 hours taking in the views and exploring the museum it was back on the road to the Hotel which is by far the nicest place I have stayed on the whole trip. Its no wonder Einstein, Truman, Lindbergh, Sinatra and Howard Hughes among other famous celebrities of yore. There’s a handy wall of fame with pictures of the hotels notable guests, maybe one day Sean Sales will be added to the list!
You can read about the history and see some photos of this fantastic hotel here http://www.laposada.org/
I ate some very traditional Hopi Indian food for starter and a traditional Mexican dish for main which was delicious.
A genuine Hopi Indian Recipe, the bread is made from blue corn and rolled by hand until its paper thin, and tasty.
A traditional Mexican pork dish with beans and chipotle
After dinner it was pampering with a couple of ice cold beers and spa bath whilst watching episodes of Futurama on US Netflix, happy place doesn’t quite cut it!
You can’t beet a few cold beers and a Jacuzzi!
Its going to be an early night for me as I have a long drive to Death Valley tomorrow and If I leave early enough I’ll be able to fit in a trip to the Hoover Dam on the way before I go exploring the Salt flats.
A 2nd coyote has joined in the evenings conversation, until next time.