La Posada Hotel

Last night we stayed at La Posada Hotel. It's a former Harvey House Hotel, which was a popular railroad hotel and restaurant chain in the early part of the 20th century. We stayed in the "Tom FordRead more
"Standin' on a Corner"

This morning, we toured downtown Winslow and saw the corner made famous by the song "Take it Easy". The town has setup a public park to commemorate the song.
La Posada Walking Tour

We then returned to La Posada to do a walking tour through the hotel.
Meteor Crater

From Winslow, we backtracked a few miles to see the Meteor Crater. It's the most well-preserved meteor impact site in the world. The meteorite hit about 50,000 years ago. During the 1960s, astronautsRead more
Petrified Forest National Park

We finished the day with a visit to the Petrified Forest. We hiked on the long logs trail and visited the Agate House. The house is a reproduction of structures built by early pueblo cultures. TheRead more
Route 66 Highlights

A few highlights from today's drive on the route.
Petrified Forest National Park Fauna

A few of the flowers located in the park.
9-11 Remembrance Garden

Before leaving town we stopped at the 9-11 Remembrance Garden. New York entrusted two of the beams from the World Trade Towers to Winslow.
Zuni Indian Dancers

After we left the park we traveled to Gallup. Nightly, Indian dancers perform in the courthouse square.
Crystal Forest

We returned to the Petrified Forest National Park to continue our tour of the park. We stopped in Crystal Forest. It's named for the crystals that formed in the petrified wood on the site.
Agate Log

One of the petrified logs fell over a small river. Over the years the water has eroded that ground underneath causing the log to become a bridge.
Blue Mesa

We then hiked through a "forest" of blue mesas.
Newspaper Rock

Newspaper Rock holds petroglyphs from the puebloans, who lived in the area. Some are nearly 2,000 years old.
Puerco Pueblo

At Puerco Pueblo, we saw the remains of Puebloan homes that were occupied between 1250-1380.
Route 66

When Route 66 was still in its heyday it traveled through the park. An old Studebaker now marks the route's location.
Painted Desert Inn

At the north end of the park is the Painted Desert Inn. Murals inside the inn were painted as part of a WPA project in the 30s.
Painted Desert

Before leaving the park we traveled through the Painted Desert.
Four Corners Monument

In the morning we traveled to the Four Corners Monument and stood in four states at once.
Mesa Verde National Park

In the afternoon we traveled to Mesa Verde. There, we saw the remains of the Puebloans that lived in the area thousands of years ago.
Mesa Verde National Park

Before leaving the park a family of deer crossed our path.
McKinley County Courthouse Mural

We started the day with a visit to the McKinley County Courthouse. A WPA era mural adorns the courtroom.
Navajo Codetalkers' Room

Before leaving Gallup we visited a display on Navajo Codetalkers.
El Morro National Monument

From Gallup we continued on Route 66, before taking a sidetrip to El Morro National Monument. There we hiked inscription trail. Inscriptions from Spanish conquistadors and Anglo emigrants, as well asRead more
El Malpais National Monument

Before continuing on Route 66, we hiked the El Calderon trail at El Malpais National Monument. While on the trail we saw several caves that we formed by volcanic eruptions about 2,000-3,000 years ago.
Albuquerque: Downtown to Old Town

Today we were in Albuquerque. We took a walking tour from the plaza in the city's newer downtown area to Albuquerque's Old Town.