The Painted Desert Loop: Day 4 Holbrook to Flagstaff

 

        Holbrook must have been quite a town in the heyday of Route 66. Today, it looks like most businesses are closed up or struggling.                        

Click on images to enlarge


                The exception is the Wigwam Motel which was nearly full the night we stayed there.

The rooms were very small, individual cement teepees. There was no morning coffee and few options for supplies, but it was hard to pass up the opportunity to stay in this relic of the days of cross-country travel.

                                                                             



The grounds were littered with old cars, possibly ones that never made it to California. What look like boulders on the left in the second picture, are actually petrified wood, which is also scattered around.

   We had planned to be in Winslow for lunch but found ourselves ahead of schedule. It's sad when a town's defining moment is its appearance in a song by the Eagles, but that seems to be the case here.
Not only are there two sculptures, "standing on a corner", but the surrounding souvenir shops all pay homage to the song as well.

   To make things worse, there is a legitimate highlight in this town. It's La Posada, a southwest style hotel and train stop. A remnant of the days of luxury travel on the Santa Fe.



La Posada is quite a contrast to the Wigwam. We had breakfast at the Turquoise Room. It was the best food we had on the trip.

As we had plenty of time, we decided to visit Walnut Canyon NM. In our first flop of the trip, we couldn't find it. We got off the interstate at Winona but found ourselves in Flagstaff before we found a route to the canyon.

I hadn't mentioned it up to now, but we are traveling with our dogs. We were all starting to get road weary, so we found our motel and chilled out for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, we head north to Kanab.

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