Petrified Forest to Standin' on a Corner

We could have stayed much longer at Blue Water, but it was time to move on.

Into Arizona to the Petrified Forest National Park.

First stop is the beautiful Painted Desert

Even the flowers are quite beautiful.

Some of the nicest views are from the Painted Desert Inn.  A popular stop along Route 66 in the 1950's.

Three names kept coming up .  One was Fred Harvey, who was famous for a number of hotels and restaurants in the 40's and 50's.  Note the movie poster on the wall for the movie Harvey Girls--about the waitresses in his restaurants--starring Judy Garland
Mary Colter-architect--was another.  She was meticulous in designs and building here, in Winslow,Az, and in the Grand Canyon.

Third was Fred Kabotie

A Navajo artist, he painted a number of  murals here, at the famous La Posada hotel in Winslow, and also at the watch tower in Grand Canyon--where Mary Colter again was the architect in all three places.

 Yes folks, we used to call this set-up a soda fountain "back in the day"

Love the prices.

The skylight was an artistic highlight.  You could see why many stars from Hollywood would come here in the 40's and 50's.

You can imagine enjoying this view from the porch of the Inn.

Might want to stay a few days.

But----we must continue on the park road.  We are reminded that this park and further west were popular destination spots along Route 66.

They left the power poles up in the distance--no wires--to show exactly the path of the old Route 66.

And then, here we are in the Petrified Forest.

Some of the logs look exactly like the wooden trees they were millions of years ago.

And they were huge.

Remember the pictures from the painted desert, there are no trees to speak of here.

Turns out that this land was close to the equator back then.  It was a rainforest with 200 plus foot trees.   The trees fell in the river and were washed downstream into the silt.  They were covered with sand and volcanic ash which eliminated the oxygen and rot.  Then the silica and quartz particles began to replace all of the wood with stone.

WOW!

Now, we see the rock eroding and the petrified wood is exposed.

This is just part of one tree

The minerals reveal some wonderful colors, which is why so many tons of petrified rock were hauled out of here before it was made a protected national park.

You can see many of the colors here.  Remember, you can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them.

Just an idea of how large this is.

The tree!! not me.

And on again to stay at Homolovi Ruins State Park in Arizona.

And right in the same town is  "Standin' on a Corner".  The song that made Winslow, Arizona popular--- from the Eagles in 1972.

Written, however, by Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey.

Did you sing the whole song, or just that verse?

Jan was there!  In Winslow, not with the Eagles.



You know you're gonna hum that song for the rest of the day at least.

The wall behind the truck----is just a wall.  Like a Hollywood prop.  There are no windows or lights, or people.  Great mural.

And yes, the real truck is the same model as in the mural.





Just down the street is the famous La Posada hotel .

The same names of Mary Colter and Fred Kapotie are involved the artwork.  It was supposed to be Mary Colter's masterpiece, constructed in 1929.

A Fred Harvey masterpiece as well, costing 2 million dollars, 40 million in today's money.  The home of the Santa Fe railroad, it was a bustling stopover.

Like many other relics it was abandoned by the Santa Fe and then almost demolished until 1994.

Now , almost totally renovated, it is on the top ten lists of many travel magazines.

Follow this link for further info
http://laposada.org/

It is an amazing and interesting hotel with a well respected restaurant.  On most days, now, it is fully occupied.

Some famous guests from a long list, were, Albert Einstein, Bob Hope, President Franklin Roosevelt, Betty Grable, and Diane Keaton

 Many interesting art works and sculptures.

But also baskets of varied chard--looking very fresh and delicious.

A giant totem by Peter Toth.  We were told that he has totems in many major cities in the US.

The carving is quite amazing.

You notice in the above picture that the Santa Fe Railroad runs right through town.  This is still the headquarters for much of Santa Fe's organization.

While we were at Homolovi Park, we could watch all the trains in the distance.  Huge , long trains being pulled by three to four locomotives.  All kinds of containers on board from UPS trailers to Hyundai containers and many more.