Day 7 - Winslow At Last

Before heading out from Sedona on Thursday morning I set up the tripod to get a picture of Carla, Andrew, and I. He then headed backto Tucson and we headed for Flagstaff, Walnut Canyon, and Winslow. Jake and Sally were also headed to Winslow so they could show us around. We took a quick stop in Flagstaff where we stopped at the depot (imagine that). While Carla went into the gift shop, I grabbed a couple of pictures of BNSF on the Transcon. I also grabbed a snap of the Grand Canyon cafe across Route 66 from the depot.

We headed out on old Route 66 to Winona, then doubled back on I-40 to Walnut Canyon to visit the ruins. The Sinagua people lived here in the cliffs long ago (you can look up the dates). Too bad Jake wasn't with us; after his days in education he worked for the National Park Service and knows all this stuff. I do know that Sinagua is Spanish for "without water". Theory has it that these people migrated from here and became the ancestors of the Hopi. Have I mentioned it has been hot? We passed on the opportunity to walk all through the canyon (we did when we were here back in 1989). Instead, we took the rim tour and grabbed a couple of so-so pictures.
There isn't much of the old Route 66 alignment left between Flagstaff and Winslow so we headed down I-40. We stopped (barely) at Twin Arrows. I think this is now private property; even though there is an exit from the freeway, there isn't a place to stop, much less park. But Carla found a little spot where I grabbed a couple of pictures. It sure has seen better days. I remember stopping there with my folks in the old days.

Then we checked in to La Posada and met up with Jake and Sally. He grew up in Winslow, taught for years and was the principal at Jefferson Elementary. We got a couple of pictures.

We had a lovely dinner with Jake and Sally at the Turquoise Room at the hotel. Our room had a private door with a patio on the back of the hotel looking on a garden and the train tracks. We sat for an hour or so and I got to listen to some great stories about Jake and the rest of my mom's family. It was a treasure. It was so much fun in fact, I didn't even take any train pictures!