TOUR AMERICA, 2020: WINSLOW, ARIZONA – THE GRAND CANYON STATE

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Homolovi State Park, Winslow, Arizona 

June 24, 2020

Temperature 103 Degrees

Standing On The Corner in Winslow, Arizona

Petrified Forest National Park

Painted Desert

So who goes sightseeing in the desert when the temperature is at 103 degrees?  We do!  I will confess I started out with great enthusiasm and unbridled energy.  However, three plus hours later I was like a wilted celery stalk.  Even though I consumed copious quantities of cold beverages the heat finally got to me.  Ah, but it was a fantastic day overall despite the heat; and despite almost running out of fuel in the car – but that’s a story for another day.

The original reason we came here in the first place was to go to Winslow, Arizona.  That plan quickly changed when we learned about the Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert.  We quickly decided to try and do all three in one day.  Which we did but tonight we’ll just cover our trip to Winslow, Arizona.  I have so many pictures from the other two I’ll need more time to sort them out.  Which I can’t do tonight since we are packing and getting ready to hit the road early tomorrow morning.

Well, I’m a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona, 
and such a fine sight to see. 
It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford
slowin’ down to take a look at me. 
Come on, baby, don’t say maybe. 
I gotta know if your sweet love is
gonna save me. 
We may lose and we may win
though we will never be here again. 
So open up, I’m climbin’ in,
so take it easy.

I’m sure we all know that this is the group that recorded the song.  When the Eagles first decided to Take it Easy in a song (co-written by Glenn Frey and Jackson Browne), the reference to “standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona was just a catchy almost-rhyme.  But the song has endured on classic rock radio, a sleepy time anthem for aimless wandering.

In 1998 the town of Winslow put the finishing touches on their “Standin’ on the Corner” Park.

The downtown corner was designed to include a life-size statue of a relaxed dude-with-guitar, and a two-story  mural laying out all the critical lyrics: a girl (upper window) and a flatbed Ford reflected in a storefront, along with an eagle perched on one painted window sill (upper left).  The funny thing is the wall that this mural is painted on is all that is left of the original building.  If you peek around the wall you find not the rest of the building but a ball field.

Yup, they also have an actual flatbed Ford parked curbside.

The town now estimates that 100,000 people stop by every year to stand on its corner.  I proudly took my turn standing on the corner.  Now how many people can say that?  Well, maybe you don’t really care one way or another.  I, however, felt strangely drawn to this corner and had a real need to plant myself there just once in my lifetime.  It’s experiences such as this that keep us wandering to and fro across this great land of ours.

While we were there standing on the corner this gentleman was singing that famous song over and over and over and over again.  I don’t believe he knew another song.  Sad to say he also wasn’t that good.  OK, I sure couldn’t sing it – or any other song for that matter -but he really was just a bit off in so many ways.  But, I’ll give him an A for effort.

Yes, I now have another T-Shirt.  The front says I stood on the corner in Winslow, Arizona.

As for the other trips we took today, I’ll have them posted by the end of the week.  Just let me say the Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert are just as beautiful and stunning as the Grand Canyon.  We’re delighted we were able to visit them before we left this area.

That was our day – in part – on The Road of Retirement.  Tomorrow we’re on the move again.  We’re heading toward New Mexico and another new home. This time we need to get as early a start as we can since the trip is a long one for us.  So, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to start putting things away and packing up as much as I can tonight.  Have a good night.

Hope you enjoyed your day traveling with us. We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!