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!

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

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

June 23, 2020

Temperature 100 Degrees

Travel Day

All I can say is that if this is what hell is like in terms of the heat, well I promise to be a real good boy for the rest of my life!

Per our plan we took our time getting out this morning.  Since we had only a short drive of about two hours we were in no rush.

Just a little before 10 am we rolled.  Barbara went one way since she had some errands to run.  I took Elvira up to the Love’s station for fuel.  This was the first time we have had a chance to use our discount fuel card and I’m hooked.  The process is so very easy and you end up saving between thirty to sixty cents per gallon for diesel.  When you think of that in terms of cross country travel the savings become quite significant.

Around ten thirty am we came together again.  Barbara had nice cold drinks form McDonald’s’ and sandwiches from Subway for lunch later in the day.  Getting those sandwiches, thought, turned out to be a real experience.  Bless her heart, though, she hung in there and so we’ll have lunch later.

I hooked the car to the tow bar, plugged in the lights, and held my breath – would the left side lights work?  The answer is yes and no.

 Yes, I do indeed have a turn signal and a stop light on the left but it’s thru the small red lenses in the upper left in the above picture. While the right on the other hand is using the larger red lenses with the clear lenses below it in the above picture.  Something is still wrong with the wiring.  But for now we’re good.  We at least have lights on both sides.

The trip overall was uneventful.  The road was rather smooth and the traffic was light.  We did have a couple of minor hold up’s for construction but that was it.  Once again we ran with the generator on so we could use the A/C and also keep the refrigerator running without having to use the inverter.

In due time we reached our exit and shortly thereafter we were at the entrance to our new home for the next three days.  Homolovi State Park was established in 1986 in reaction to the destruction being caused by people illegally collecting artifacts and wrecking structures. According to the park’s website, someone used a backhoe to dig up burials and kivas (underground ceremonial rooms) in the 1960s. Today, the pueblos are covered with dirt.  Along the paved path that loops up and over the larger of the two pueblos that can be visited, just a few rooms and a kiva are excavated. Yet, doing a bit of research on the internet reveals the fact that at one time  1,200 to 2,000 rooms are believed to be buried beneath the ground. Signs aslo indicate the areas that were expansive terraces where many activities of daily life would have taken place.

This is our new home until Thursday morning.  Remember we had run the generator the whole trip to keep Elvira cool upon our arrival?  Well, all that was for naught because when we arrived we discovered that the 50 amp service we were supposed to have was dead.  We do have 30 amp service. However that means that we can only run one A/C  in this 100 degree heat unless we want to run our generator all day and night.  A call to the park office and we were told they would give us a discount for today and fix the 50 amp service early tomorrow.  We decided to tough it out and wait until the receptacle is fixed.  As of now we’re sort of getting by.

One more little oddity.  Look closely at the above picture, notice anything missing?  Yup, no electric nor water.  It’s on the other side!  Yes, we came in the right way.  We discovered all the pull thru spots are this way.  Thus you have to snake the electric cord and the water hose underneath and to the other side.  On the positive side the site is paved, easy to get in and out of, and perfectly level.  It’s also as you can see plenty long enough for Elvira and the car.

A couple of pictures of our new neighborhood.  We are literally in the middle of nowhere and our neighbors are way over there.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Life may not be perfect but it is still good.  Tomorrow we’ll head out for some sightseeing.  Tomorrow, hopefully the 50 amp receptacle will also be fixed so that we can run both A/C’s during the heat of the day.  That’s about it.  We continue to travel along, hand in hand, singing our song.  We also continue to count our blessings and give thanks for each and every one.

Thanks for joining us today as we traveled down the highway. 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!

 

 

 

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Grand Canyon Railway RV Park, Williams, Arizona 

June 22, 2020

Temperature 87 Degrees

Packing Up and Getting Ready To Roll

Short, sweet and to the point.

We’re packing up and getting ready to roll tomorrow.

This will be another short hop, only about two hours so there will no need to leave early.  We’ll probably leave around 10 am, drive up the road for fuel for Elvira and sandwiches for ourselves.

I just thought I’d share this with you.  It was first written by a dear friend of ours, I’ve adapted it to refer to us:

We’ll never divorce the highway
It’s been so special to us
It’s taken us over mountains
Across deserts and down to the sea
We’ve seen wonders of nature amazing
Large fields where cattle were grazing
Little towns where people are content
Large cities made mostly of cement
We know someday we’ll settle down
Living in our RV in some little town
We’ve always tried to do things our way
As long as it kept us on the highway.

That’s it for our day on The Road of Retirement.  Time to pick up and pack up.  Tomorrow another new home.  Till then, have a great night.

Thanks for sticking with us as we travel along. 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!

 

Places We Have Called Home In 2020

Home Is Where We Park It:  Grand Canyon Railway RV Park, Williams, Arizona 

June 21, 2020

Temperature 86 Degrees

The Grand Canyon Railroad

The first thing this morning we attended worship at our home church in Colts Neck, NJ.  Sorry, forgot to take pictures.

Ok, if we couldn’t take the The Grand Canyon Train at least we could go get a glimpse of it.

 

  The Grand Canyon Train departs each day from the historic

Williams Depot, located at the south end of the rail line. Built in 1908 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, the depot was an oasis for travelers heading to and from California along the main line running from Los Angeles to Chicago.  The oldest poured-concrete structure in the state of Arizona, the Williams Depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It was once home to one of the Harvey House Hotels, which had 43 rooms, as well as a formal dining room, cafe, bar and a news room.

Today, the depot is where passengers of Grand Canyon Railway pick up their tickets.

There is also an expansive gift shop in the depot full of Grand Canyon Railway and Grand Canyon mementos.

Right on time.  The train returns from the Grand Canyon at 5:45 pm sharp.

The price of a ticket varies by the type of car you select.  This is the least expensive which is the pullman car.  There are plain wooden bench seats and no A/C.

Then comes coach class.  There you get a more comfortable cushioned seat but still no A/C.

Here we have first class.  A comfortable seat and A/C.

This is the top of the line – the luxury dome class.  They say that the view from the dome is absolutely breathtaking.  We hope to find out for ourselves next year.

That concludes our time here in Williams.  We found more than a few things to do and see while we were here.

At the top of the list remains our visit to The Grand Canyon.  Our first view of the Grand Canyon will remain forever etched in our minds.  Words and pictures cannot adequately describe it.  It is absolutely breathtaking.  We consider ourselves so fortunate to have had the opportunity to see it firsthand for ourselves this year.

So our day and our week here has come to an end on The Road of Retirement.  It is time to pack up and come Tuesday get back on the road.  Slowly, ever so slowly we are working our way back to Florida.  This will be the last time we spend the winter months there.  When we return to Arizona at the end of 2021 it will be our new winter home.  Yet, no matter where we call home only one thing really matters and that is that we continue to travel along, hand in hand, singing our song.

Thanks for stopping by today. 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!