"What do you think was going on with the police and the fire department around that tractor last night?", Bucky asked our neighboring campers. We had been parked beside each other at Walmart for 48 hours, waiting out the snow that hit Amarillo.
"Well.....I'm not totally sure, but I think the driver was dead inside."
It was said with a soft matter of factness that accompanies age. My eyes were caught by the gentleman's tan rugged face. He had told us they were snowbirds returning to their home in MN after wintering in AZ. There was no need to ask if their winter had been sunny. Shortly after returning to our RV there was a knock at the door. There stood the male snowbird. In his quiet voice he said that his wife wanted him to make sure we stopped in Winslow, on historic Route 66, the town about which Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey of the Eagles sang in "Take it Easy". While in Winslow, he encouraged us to visit La Posada Hotel. No sooner had the snowbird mentioned "Take it Easy", then "standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona......" became stuck in my head refusing to leave for several days. This Eagles tune had always been a favorite of mine, but was soon to become even more so.
While riding to Winslow, I schemed of posing Fisher, our husky, on the famous corner, snapping her picture and then using it along with some of the song lyrics for her 12th birthday ecard on May 5th. Probably putting her in a Mexican hat would be more appropriate for this date. The way I had it planned, I would sit her on the corner, take her leash off and quickly stand off to the side while Bucky snapped the shot. May 5th will mark her twelfth year as the ultimate escape artist. Recently, she has slowed down quite a bit. I had no doubt that during the picture taking process, if she should decide to sight see on her own, I would be able to catch her. I think it all would have worked out if not for a chihuahua. Fisher noticed the little dog before I did. Once their eyes locked, Fisher's thoughts became more about having Mexican take-out than her glamour pose.
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| Jackson Brown....girl in the flatbed Ford....... real truck, fake girl, |
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| Glenn Frey |
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back on the leash
We had the corner to ourselves, accompanied by the lyrics stuck in my head. For some reason in our drive from NM to Arizona, we lost/gained two hours. While we were up and ready to see the town at "our" 9 am, it evidently was 7 in Winslow..
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Following the advice of the Walmart snowbirds, we headed directly down the street to La Posada. In this desert town surrounded by some of America's harshest land, La Posada appeared as an oasis. Built in 1930, La Posata (the resting place) was the last and most elegant of the great Fred Harvey Hotels built by the Santa Fe Railroad. It was designed and decorated by Mary Colter famous for her buildings at the Grand Canyon and chief architect for Fred Harvey. It was the finest hotel on Route 66 and all the passenger trains from Los Angeles to Chicago stopped here. Until the '50s,Winslow was a big town, bigger than Flagstaff and Sedona. Charles Lindbergh designed Winslow's airport for the first transcontinental airline. But, as air travel flourished, people stopped riding trains, Route 66 was no longer traveled and La Posada Hotel closed in 1957. She remained closed to the public for 40 years. During this time, the hotel was used as offices for the railroad. Her grand furnishings were auctioned off and the ornate gardens were paved for parking. She existed as an abandoned shell. In 1993, it was decided that La Posada would be torn down. Fortunately, one couple could not let this happen. Through great effort, Allan Affeldt and his wife Tina Mion, purchased La Posada in 1997. Slowly, room by room, garden by garden, La Posada is returning to her former grandeur. Tina Mion is an artist of great renown and has made every effort to authentically redecorate the hotel while introducing her artwork and that of fellow artists to the hotel walls. As I passed through the common rooms and glanced into the Turquoise Room dining room, I was super impressed. The hotel is not only a replica of the original Harvey hotel, but has taken on a character of its own. Other than the guest hallways, La Posada is open to the public. There was so much to look at. Antique furniture lines the hallways and Navajo rugs grace the tile floors. I walked through the heavy carved wooden doors at the rear of the hotel just as a train passed by. It was easy to imagine guests arriving by train and being greeted by well trained Harvey staff for which Harvey hotels were famous. The guests would then be escorted through the surrounding gardens to the hotel lobby. Nowadays it's possible to arrive at La Posada by Amtrak.
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| one of many iron sculptures surrounding the gardens and ponds |
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Personally, I love the modern artwork in combination with the past. It seems to add new life to La Posada, bringing the hotel into the present and hopefully the future.
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| upstairs sitting room |
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| by Tina Mion |
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Tina Mion Gallery.......Hilary Clinton trying to keep the sharks away from she and Bill. This fabulous exhibit consists of a painting, completed each week, for 52 weeks, combining the 52 cards found in a deck of cards and American first ladies.
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This shows a portion of a huge painting of celebrities celebrating in purgatory, of those shown, most had ended their lives by suicide or poor life choices, but not Liberace. Can you find Ernest Hemingway, Jimi Hendrix, Marilyn Monroe, Kurt Cobain?
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Our visit to La Posada left me thankful. Thankful for folks like Allan Affeldt and Tina Mion. Two people who saw the value in a forgotten gem and followed their hearts, using their own resources and recruiting others in preserving a significant piece of American history. My next stay in Winslow will be overnight in the room John Wayne slept in!
