Let us begin with a correction, last night we reported the wildfire near Sedona was contained. However, we were misinformed. All night I kept smelling the smoke from the still-burning canyon, which, oddly, reminded me of the incense the monks burned during mass at the monastery I attended as a kid. Upon our departure the fire had expanded to 25 acres, smoke had engulfed the entire city of Sedona and firefighters were working to get it under control.
Imagine our surprise to learn that interstate 40 is co-signed as US Route 66 ,and the majority of our route today would be spent on that interstate. Immediate googling ensued. Sadly, there wasn't much on our route that interested us and given our proclivity to green giants and such, that says a great deal. We did pass this giant dream catcher and made a bee line for the parking lot to document it.
We headed next to what was clearly the highlight of our day. Yep, Lester was "standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ" and there was in fact a flatbed ford parked on the corner.
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| The feathers are about as tall as I am, note the dead end sign in the distance. |
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| Note, Lester is hanging out with Jackson Browne on a corner in Winslow, AZ. |
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| Lester saw the Eagles on this tour in Philly, likely within a day or two of the date shown on this poster. It was one of the worst shows he's ever seen . |
It seems the Winslow, AZ founding fathers knew a good thing when they heard it. In order to spur the economy they built a"park" on a corner in honor of the song. As we were standing around at this photo opportunity we observed a steady stream of similarly minded individuals seeking a rock-n-roll fantasy. Perhaps the most humorous part of the stop was the what had to be an at least 80 year old lady with a walker that happened by as I was taking the picture. She was clearly a local and wanted to know if I was familiar with the song! Uhhhh, yeah, I am.
Photo op accomplished, we set out eastward towards Santa Fe. As we were nearing Albuquerque we found some giant arrows embedded in a parking lot. Photo documentation is below.
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| At an Indian casino in the desert. Kinda cliche, no? |
We stopped at the Sandia Tramway and rode the tram to the summit. The tramway bordered a reservation that was markedly different than the Navajo reservation we drove through in AZ. This reservation had a casino and the difference was striking. The people living on this reservation were living at an entirely different standard than the Navajos.
The Sandia Peak Tramway claims to be the world's longest. It was a fourteen minute trip to the peak at 14 mph. Rising over 4000 vertical feet from the base, the summit was just over 10,000 feet. A variation on our ongoing theme of twisty, turning, guardrail-less roads. Note the dwindling size of our shadow as we ascended the mountain.
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| Cloud of the day. |
We are settled in Santa Fe for two nights - quite a treat. But even better was Jambo Cafe, an African restaurant in a strip mall. And, it might take the cake as the best dinner on the trip thusfar. So, if you are in Santa Fe, be sure to stop in for dinner. You will not be sorry.
FUN Link:
Submitted by alert reader Brian K... An explanation of the formation of stone arches. The picture used in the article...we took the same picture a few days ago and it was in our entry of July 17.
http://www.businessinsider.com/mystery-of-natural-stone-arches-solved-2014-7
Since we spent the day in the car we listened to a book on tape and decided it was time to update you on our "summer reading" list. Rather than overwhelm you with book reviews we will add a review every now and again over the next several days, a few of which have very long drives and thus little that's blog worthy.
This is the story of Jesse Owens and his performance in the 1936 Berlin summer Olympics and the significance of that performance given the context of what was going on in Germany at that time.
The book provides a brief biography of Jesse Owens' upbringing in the deep south before his family's decision to move north to Cleveland to pursue better opportunities. It also recounts his relationship with his grade school track coach who is the man responsible for picking out Owens' talent from among a sea of 12 year olds. It likewise spends a great deal of time on Owens relationship with his college coach - who also coached him through the games. It follows him through high school and college and the preparation for the games. The book also recounts quite well the expectations that the entire country, indeed the world, had for Owens in advance of the Olympics.
If you're a history buff or a sports fan this book will provide fodder for you and you will enjoy the story. The machinations the Germans went through to exclude German Jews from the games were laid bare as were the efforts by the Americans to do the same with their own Jewish athletes.
The biggest disappointment with the book was the incomplete picture it gives of Owens, especially in the period following his triumph in Berlin. He went through a long period of malaise after returning home, as the lack of opportunities in a country still in the grips of overt racism left him with few options to provide for his family. The book is not a biography though and to expect such a full treatment of the period after the Olympics is probably not in order.
Fun fact: Owens' given name was James Cleveland Owens. He was called JC. A grammar school teacher misunderstood him saying he should be called JC and called him Jesse instead. He was too shy to correct her.
A&L
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