Grand Canyon, Arizona and the El Tovar Hotel
Today is a very short drive, 136 miles, and we arrive in the Grand Canyon easily before noon, taking off to take the East Rim Drive to Desert View while waiting for our hotel room in the El Tovar Hotel.
We’ve heard of El Tovar for years. You’ll overhear the following conversation. There may be some variations, but it’s pretty much the same every time.
“Oh! Grand Canyon! Are you staying at El Tovar?”
(yes)
“Oh! It’s the most wonderful hotel! We loved staying there!”
Or:
“No, we tried, but we couldn’t get reservations at El Tovar, they were already booked.”
“Oh. That’s too bad.”
We didn’t want to be on the ‘that’s too bad’ list, so when we decided to make the trip, the first thing I did was to find out when rooms were available at El Tovar. We had planned the trip for October. We postponed the trip until April, to be able to stay at El Tovar. We had a great room, even had a view, but for grins, we asked how far in advance you have to reserve to get one of the rooms with a balcony view – 13 months in advance. Who even knows 13 months in advance that they will still be alive 13 months later?? I guess it’s worth the risk – and if we go again, we will reserve 13 months in advance.
My sister Sparkle has stayed at El Tovar and warned us that the rooms were not luxurious. “They’re sort of spartan for your tastes,” she warned us “Don’t expect too much. You’re paying to be staying in the Canyon and in this revered old lodge.”
The El Tovar Lobby:
We didn’t expect much, and our room was at the top of the stairs. We were concerned about noise, but it turned out to be a non-issue. There weren’t a lot of children traveling at this time of the year, and very few staying at El Tovar. Because we weren’t expecting much, we were delighted. Our room was sunny and bright, the beds were very comfortable, the linens were lovely, the old fashioned bathroom delighted my heart, and there was a funny room – a closet? That had a safe, windows that opened so we could see the view, and if we had had a baby with us, his little crib could have fit into the alcove. There was also a coffee machine, yes, it doesn’t take much to make me happy. Although we had been told that wi-fi was only available in public areas, our room must have been close enough, and the wi-fi strong enough, that we had access without leaving our room once we had settled in for the night.
“Be sure to make your dinner reservations six months out,” Sparkle warned, so I marked my calendar and on the day that was six months out, the earliest that the El Tovar restaurant accepts reservations, we called in a dinner reservation, and oh, we are so glad we did.
When we showed up, the first night, for our 6:30 reservation, there was a long line, and people were being turned away, so disappointed. We had a lovely table, with a view, and a waiter, Thomas, who was attentive without being intrusive, knowledgeable about the menu, and took great care of us. It was a lovely evening, and I had another of the best meals of the trip – a Mediterranean Salad with smoked salmon, and the salmon was the smoked chunky Alaskan kind, not the thin strips of Scottish salmon. Oh, YUMMM.
(This was not our table. We had a newlywed couple who came in as we were finishing. Isn’t this a lovely, romantic way to welcome a new bride and groom?)
AdventureMan had the Penne, which he said was also very very good:
We had planned to have dessert, but we couldn’t, we were just so full. The salmon in my salad was so rich and so tasty. We couldn’t eat another bite! And we also wanted to get to bed early, so we could get out by five to catch the sun rising over the Grand Canyon first thing in the morning. Before going up to our room, we tried to make reservations to eat dinner again in the El Tovar dining room, but they only had seatings at 5:15 and 9:30. Oh aargh.
Next morning, we are up and eager to get going, but we have to skirt around the lawn on the way to the car, as there is a herd of elk munching. We don’t want to disturb them and also . . . elk are very large animals. We really don’t want to disturb them.
We hurry to Desert View, at the end of the East Rim trail, only to find that the day has dawned with a heavy cloud cover, and there is no sunrise to speak of. LLOOOLLL! It is also 40 something degrees and windy, really, really cold!
La Posada Hotel: A Restored Gem and a Great Retreat in Winslow, AZ
AdventureMan was stunned. “Tell me again how you found this place?” he asked, incredulously. I’m embarrassed at how easy it was. When I was looking at places we wanted to go, AdventureMan had mentioned the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest, so I had Googled “really cool hotel near Petrified Forest” and LaPosada popped up in a TripAdvisor reference. I’m embarrassed at how easy it is to get information these days. 🙂
Do you see the camel at the entry? How could we not love this place?
Since we often wander, and don’t really know where we will be until a night or so in advance, I print out information and carry it in an old fashioned paper folder that has envelopes on both sides, so I can stick things in and they won’t fall out. In Albuquerque, I showed AdventureMan some photos from the La Posada website, and he was sold. We called, reserved a room for the next night, so we knew we could spend all the time we wanted in the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest and that a room would be waiting for us.
Every room in our wing has a name, named after famous people who have visited La Posada in its rich and famous past, and we are in the Turrell Room:
We had no idea how lovely that room would be. I am a total sucker for shiny wooden floors, and for textiles, and for space to breathe, and our room had all this – and more. It had a painted ceramic sink in the washroom area, and a glorious tiled wall in the whirlpool bath room. The whirlpool bath worked flawlessly.
Although we were tired, we were eager to explore this fascinating hotel. We couldn’t stay in the room, it was too exciting, too much to see! We went down a hallway to the gift shop, which also serves as reception:
The spaces are fabulous, each one defined and delineated from one another by changes in surface textures, lighting fixtures, beamed ceilings, windows . . . there are endless possibilities for discoveries. We watched a film about the history of the hotel – it was actually a very long film, but fascinating – about the architect, Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, and the building of the hotel in an amazingly short time for the amount of materials and techniques necessary. The hotel was built in 1929 by the Santa Fe Railway for the Fred Harvey Company. Mary Coulter seems to have had carte blanche in putting in just about anything her imagination could cook up.
Although the hotel went out of business and was remodeled in the sixties for the railroad company (a total desecration of the beautiful spaces), it has been lovingly and passionately restored, with near fanatic attention to detail. There are many spaces where people can gather to read books, play games, share a drink or a cup of coffee, big spaces and little spaces, and every space is beautiful.
Built before air conditioning, the original hotel incorporated a wind tower, something we saw often in old houses in Qatar and Kuwait, where any little breeze was captured, brought into the interior and circulated – La Posada had the same technology.
Now, for some of the public spaces, gathering spaces and places of peace and serenity.
La Posada was a destination hotel, with a train station just paces from the hotel lobby and reception. This is the arcade arriving guests would walk through to reach the hotel:
The hotel lobby, outside the Turquoise Room restaurant:
A beautiful, small, intimate space where we watched the film about the restoration of La Posada:
The upstairs gathering room, full of books, games, chess and checkers sets, tables, chairs, couches, all to make guests comfortable and give them a place to relax and get to know other guests:
That night, I had one of the best dinners of the entire trip, a vegetarian plate that knocked my socks off in the La Posada restaurant, the Turquoise Room:
We also had a Grand Marniere Chocolate Mousse, oh, to die for.
Breakfast the next morning was oatmeal, in the same restaurant, but oh, what exquisite oatmeal, and I don’t really even like oatmeal. I guess I like oatmeal at La Posada 🙂
Last – and least, but I can’t help it, I am a sucker for light fixtures, really lovely light fixtures, and I loved these, probably because they take me back to our times in the Middle East:
La Posada is close to the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert, Canyon de Chelly, many more amazing sights of north western Arizona. You can get out and explore, and spend your nights in luxury and ease in a beautiful surrounding.
“Have You Slept in a Wigwam Lately?”
As we were leaving Holbrook, AdventureMan made a sudden left turn and said “if I had a blog, I would want to blog this.” It’s a running joke; he gives me ideas, I say “Get your own blog, AdventureMan.” Truth is, sometimes he has really good ideas, and we both loved this one:
There is room next to ‘your’ teepee to park your own car, next to the old timey classic car already parked in front:
Mister Maesta’s Cafe in Holbrook, AZ
It is cold and rainy, rainy and windy as we leave the Petrified Forest, and on top of the time craziness, we are HUNGRY. We always have nibbles in the car, but a nibble is not a lunch. We are hungry. And we are in Mexican Food territory, so we are eager to maximize our good Mexican food eating.
Outside of Holbrook, we see a billboard for Mister Maester’s restaurant with ‘the BEST Mexican Food’ and that is just what we are looking for. When we find it, it is a hilarious place, full of Route 66 memorabilia.
Yes. I am so embarrassed. This is what is left of the sopapilla I ordered. It was SO delicious. I had never had a stuffed sopapilla before. I had heard some Mexican guys order sopapilla the day before, so I thought I would try one. When it got to the table, I forgot to photograph before eating. Oops. My bad.
This is what is left of AdventureMan’s combination plate. It was a total WOW.
By the time we left, the rain had lightened, the air was clear, the kind of clear after a heavy rain dampens down all the dust and the winds clear the haze and the world is brilliant and shiny, and we only have a very short drive to our stay in Winslow, AZ at the fabulous La Posada.
Arizona Crazy Time
As we left the Petrified Forest, I said “That is so weird. My phone says it’s 1:20 but the car clock says 2:20. What does your phone say?”
His phone also said 1:20.
“Did we cross another date line?” I wondered.
“No! Look at the map, the date line is over on the other side of Arizona!” AdventureMan explained.
“How can it be 1:20? It feels like 2:20, and we spent so much time at the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, how could it be 1:20?”
When we got to the hotel (next entry) and were checking in, we both THOUGHT we overheard the desk clerk telling someone that they were on “Arizona-Pacific Time” but that is just so whacko we both must have misunderstood.
It was only after four days in Arizona (entries follow) when we left Arizona and were in Colorado that we got our answer: Arizona doesn’t do Daylight Savings. So when all the states in Mountain Time go on Daylight Savings Time, they jump forward an hour. Arizona doesn’t. So that makes Arizona on Pacific time, one little island of Pacific Coast Time in the middle of all the Mountain Daylight Time States.
To make it all just a little crazier, there is a huge amount of land in Arizona that is the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation observes Daylight Savings Time.
Weird.
The Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest – Crossing into Arizona
Leaving Albuquerque, we are delighted to be taking I-40 going West; it’s like everyone else is on I-40 coming East. The drive is smooth, a little road work here and there, but nothing that holds us up in any major way. We cross the continental divide (where all the rivers on the east side flow to the Gulf of Mexico, and those on the West side flow into the Pacific) and we wonder what the divide is called, if anything, that divides rivers flowing into the Gulf of Mexico from rivers flowing into the Atlantic?
We are driving along the old Highway 66, too, which is fun, seeing the nostalgic old signs and relics from the 40’s and 50’s, when Route 66 was in its heyday and there weren’t big interstates fully functioning.
From Carlsbad, where we saw temperatures up to 99° F, we have dropped considerably, and hit the road with a temperature around 45°, which rises as we drive toward the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest. When we arrive, it is in the 80’s (F) and a bright, partly cloudy day. The colors and the scenery are unimaginable.
I included this one because it made me laugh. These signs are necessary; Americans are inclined to wander off the trail, it’s in our nature, and we need these signs to make us more careful where we are stepping 🙂
As we leave the Painted Desert trail and head into the Petrified Forest area, the weather starts getting seriously complicated and the temperatures start dropping:
I’ve never seen a toilet like this before. It’s amazing:
At the risk of giving you too much information, whatever goes into the toilet evaporates due to the constant wind action. Whoever sits on the toilet has the unusual experience of having a wind-dried bottom:
We start moving a little faster, not lingering as the weather changes:
Can you see how the light has changed? Just after taking this, huge raindrops started falling and we continued on to the end of the Petrified Forest. The temperature dropped to 45° (F)
The Magic of Back Roads – En Route to Albuquerque
I love interstate driving, it gets the job done. We love having all that room and zooming down a highway, especially if the highway is empty. We were born to drive.
I also love the backroads, and the USA has some great backroads. Today is almost all backroad, and oh, what a fun driving day it is.
Leaving Roswell, New Mexico, we take a route to Albuquerque through cattle country, and through Billy-the-Kid country, and Smokey-the-Bear country. We come across a giant lava flow, it goes on for miles, with vegetation finding a way to survive – even thrive – in the formerly molten rock:
We find a restaurant with old Homer Simpson in front:
When we were kids, everyone knew the song about Smokey the Bear:
And along this road, we went through Smokey the Bear’s home town!
We merge onto the interstate into Albuquerque, and this time, I successfully call a real Fairfield Inn and find a room for the night.
Now I rarely do this. If there is a place we eat and don’t like it, I just won’t say anything. This time I will say something, because this place, The Quarters, is listed in the Marriott recommended list of nearby restaurants. Hey, and it’s barbecue.
We found it, there aren’t a lot of restaurants around, and this sign was about 2 feet by 3 feet:
Less than a BBQ restaurant, it is very much a lounge, and as soon as you walk in you see men sitting alone at the bar, looking like they’ve been planted there for a century. There isn’t a lot of jolly conversation, just men silently drinking.
There is a separate area for dining, and I will say this, the servers are doing their best to make the best of a bad situation. The dining area has a mixture of bar mirrors and old quilts hanging. We ordered from the menu, and when my BBQ Turkey came, it was like Publix sliced turkey, the kind you buy in a package, on a normal hamburger bun. Their BBQ sauce was good, but this sandwich – it was like you would throw together with scraps you had left over in your own kitchen.
The Quarters has seen better days. It is dingy. The furniture is in bad repair. The carpets are in bad need of cleaning. And it’s Albuquerque – I am sure there are better places to eat. Don’t go there.
Riding Across the Wild West
We just figured this was going to be a rough boring stretch, driving I-10 across West Texas to New Mexico, but, as so often does, magic happened and the day changed totally.
AdventureMan had a little allergy, so I did the driving across the wilds of west Texas. It wasn’t anything like I had expected. I’ve read lots of books set in Texas, and seen movies. I expected No Country For Old Men. What I got was a long empty highway with hardly any fellow travelers, some spectacular scenery, hardly any speed limit at all, and lots of time to think and enjoy the ride. Wooo HOOOO on West Texas!
Turning north at Ft. Stockton, we entered Hackberry Holland country (James Lee Burke) with those long empty landscapes punctuated with endlessly pecking derricks, whirling dust, endless pick-ups and tankers, and not much else. The scenery went from those plateaus and arroyos to Qatar flat and white desert, from Texas wildflowers to succulents. Then, just around Pecos, Texas, as we are in the end stretch toward New Mexico, it turns more golden, like Kuwait, with some elevations. Across the border, I asked AdventureMan (now awake and feeling good again) “where is the red tint we see in all the ‘Visit New Mexico’ brochures?” Within half an hour, the iron-oxide tint shows up and we see the red glow start to appear.
We know we want to visit Carlsbad Caverns, so we spend the night in Carlsbad, and eat at Mi Casita. Here is what the desk clerk told us:
“I can’t eat at Mi Casita because the food is too spicy, but everyone who really loves Mexican food eats there.”
We loved it. I ordered things I don’t usually order, enchiladas and beans and rice, and it was so GOOD.
As we left, we went down to the city park and took pictures of the river, and AdventureMan fed the hissing geese some of his peanut-butter and crackers that we carry along in case we might starve or something ;-).
As soon as I can get these photos transferred from my iPad to my computer, I will put in the photos and this will be a much more interesting entry.
Late Afternoon in DeLuna Park
One of the great joys of living in Pensacola is seeing our grandson often. Yesterday, we were picking him up and keeping him until dinner, so we decided to take him to run in the fountains, only to discover that the fountains stop at 5 on Mondays – Wednesdays, and run until 8 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. No problem – there is always something going on to thrill a two years old’s heart.
Yesterday, it was a tug-boat bringing in a huge dredger, with CRANES! Our two year old is all-boy. He loves car words, and truck words, and words like bulldozer, and pick-up, and CRANES. Watching the tugboat bring in the dredger thrilled his heart.
The crane lowers a cage onto the deck:
The pelicans are enthralled; the churning engines stir up fish and make finding supper easy pickings:
And then, chasing the pigeons! Where do they get the energy? A two-year-old can chase pigeons endlessly!
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