Our next leg of 249 miles took us from Needles (elevation 495′) on a slow climb across west central Arizona to Flagstaff (elevation 6,909′) and onto the Colorado Plateau. We stopped at the Meteor Crater RV Park about 20 miles west of Winslow and 5 miles north of the Meteor Crater Natural Landmark. We had visited the landmark as a family about 35 years ago, and while we had no intention of visiting again, the crater was the subject of this eye-catching feature photo (uncopyrighted download from the internet).

I googled coffee shops in Winslow (population 9,005). Using the star-ratings provided, I picked Mojo Coffee Co. and hit the jackpot. A local family named Jue, established Mojo’s in 2007 and still owned and operated it. On our first visit, we met Jack and his wife (she was our barrista) and came back the following two mornings. They roasted their own blend of beans from South and Central American growers to ensure customers recieved the freshest and highest quality gourmet coffees. We opted for their dark roast and were immensely satisfied. Do stop if you’re passing through. They’re located just south of I-40 at the N Park Dr. exit.

During our stay in Northridge, we had contacted our friends Lou and Ilsa Persichina hoping for a visit. But unfortunately, they were traveling and didn’t return home until after we’d left. However, Ilsa sent us an article about the La Posada Hotel once she learned we’d be visiting Winslow and highly recommended we go see it. It was definitely worth the visit.

Legendary hotelier, Fred Harvey, controlled a hospitality consortium, which in its heyday spanned the U.S. As part of the business empire, he developed and operated all the hotels and restaurants of the Santa Fe Railway. In 1920, and with the vision of renowned southwest architect, Elizabeth Jane Colter, he purchased the grounds, and over the next decade built and furnished La Posada (The Resting Place) for $40 million in today’s dollars. The hotel closed in 1957, its contents were auctioned, and the Santa Fe Railway HQ subsequently used it for office space. When the railway announced in 1994 they were vacating the property, the building was added to the endangered property list of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Philanthropist Allan Affeldt visited the property that year and decided to support Winslow preservationists and save the hotel. He purchased it after three years of daunting negotiations, which required resolution of numerous legal, financial, and environmental issues. He and his artist wife Tina Mion moved in on April 1, 1997 and were subsequently joined by a third partner, sculptor Daniel Lutzick. They began a $12 million renovation immediately, choosing to only do one room at a time, and reopened the hotel in late 1997 with just five rooms completed. What they ultimatrely created was not only a beautiful 54-room hotel, but an historic museum, art studio and gallery, restaurant and bar, gift store, gardens, and train depot.

We wandered for an hour through the lobby, hallways, and various lounges and private dining areas. We felt as if we were inside an art gallery or museum. The Colter architectural features were Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival; and the interior design styles for walls, doors, lights, and furniture pieces included southwestern, native, traditional, contemporary, and others.

We had lunch at the hotel’s Turquoise Room and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere, meal, and service.

We didn’t spend much time in the gift store; however, these colorful ceramic pieces really caught our eyes.

A day in Winslow wouldn’t be complete without visiting the street corner popularized by the Eagles 1972 hit song, Take It Easy. Their second-verse lyrics were:

Winslow had for years been a thriving town along iconic US Route 66 but fell on 20 years of hard times after it was bypassed with the completion of Interstate 40. The song renewed interest in Winslow during the 1970’s. But it wasn’t until the 1990’s that the city capitalized on this fame with construction of “The Standin’ on the Corner Park” by a committee of volunteers and artists. The park was dedicated on 10 and 11 September 1999 and included a mural on a name-inscribed brick wall, a red Ford flatbed truck, and a bronze statue titled “Easy” by artist Ron Adamson. We didn’t see many visitors given the time of year, but the quartet of women photographed below were extremely excited when I agreed to photograph them with their cameras. We wouldn’t describe Winslows downtown as booming again, but it was clean and appeared commercially sound. (By contrast, Williams was booming!)

I took advantage of our scenic remoteness to hike twice from our campsite. One was along an old, overgrown road bed shown on maps as Old Sixty-six, and the other was unnamed but headed toward the Meteor Crater. The prominent feature of Old Sixty-six was a long-abandoned, dilapidated two-story stone structure that once was someone’s home. There were also old, rusting abandoned cars in groups along both trails. I was curious as to who owned them and how and why they were left so far from anywhere. Despite the Colorado Plateau appearing flat, the trails unexpectedly undulated and dislayed significant texture.

We had exhausted what could be seen in two days, and we needed to break camp and drive onward to our next stop in Albuquerque, NM. We interpreted the appearance of another rainbow before our departure as foreshadowing further good fortune.