Homolovi Ruins

Every time I said Homolovi while we were planning our trip, my pronunciation was short O, long O, short O, short I (e). I would imagine we were in the movie The Mummy and would be in Egypt. Wrong place , the correct Hopi pdonunciation is Hoe Mole' ve, with emphasis on second syllable. Much more Native American.

The ruins are exatly that -ruins. They have excatated 4 different sites, I-IV, but only I & II are open to the public, and only II, has much to see. They are on State Trust Land, and were pretty much decimated by people looking for artifacts before the Park system got involved or there was any offical archeology performed. The ruins at II include a stabilized 5 room dwelling, a kiva and what would have been an underground common room. The rest of what would have been an 1100 room community that may have housed about 1200 people lies in rubble clustered around circular "artifact search" holes.  Some of the pieces of pottery recovered by the archeologists is on display in the park's visitor center.II is ADA accessible by a 1/2 mile paved trail (walk one of the day)  

The ruins at I afe barely visible and ne,t to the Little Colorado River. Interesting fact, even when that river bed seems dry, there is water 3 feet down. One of the reasons the ancestral Hopi people probably came down from Second Mesa to this area, both to live for generations amd then once they left, to return periodically.

We are on our way nofth from Flagstaff snd I want to post while I can so will stip now. May be awhile before I can post agian since have no idea of.connectivity in Grand Canyon.  Later..

Standin' on a Corner...

In Winslow Arizona, such a fine sight to see... part of the classic and still popular lyrics of the early 70's #1 song by The Eagles, Take It Easy. Surprisingly, the lyrics were not written by any of the band, but by Jackson Browne, a good friend of Glen Frey, who wrote the music. Apparently the line about Winslow is a true incident that happened to Browne a few years prior and he memorialized in the song. It has also been memoralized in Winslow on historic Route 66 in Standin' on the Corner Park.  Featured are a life-sized sculpted  bronze balladeer with a guitar, AKA Easy, created by Ron Adamson, a real flatbed ford, and a trompe l'oeil style mural by John Pugh painted on the brick wall behind Easy of store windows reflecting "Its a girl my lord in a flat bed Ford, Slowing down to take a look at me."  Fun, fun, fun...even took a campy picture to prove I was, wait, wait...it's coming... Standin' on a Corner in Winslow Arizona.

The other two places we visited (besides the Walmart of course) were the Hubbell Trading Post, now the Winslow Visitor's Center, and La Posada Hotel. Well you ask, what is so great about those two places.

The Visitor's Center is in what used to be one of John Hubbell's Trading Posts on Route 66. It has all the original floors, the tin roof, the old wooden elevator and two safes - one for pawn items and one for money.  John Lorenzo Hubbell was one of the most respected and well known Navajo traders of his day. He was considered a true friend by the Navajo because of his honesty in business dealings and his wise counsel to them. He acted as both their merchant and their liaison to the rest of the world. The original Hubbell Trading Post located in the Navajo Nation near Ganado, AZ still operates and is now a National Historic Site.

La Posada Hotel is the last and most elegant of the Fred Harvey Hotels built by the Santa Fe Railroad. It was designed by Mary Colter, the same Mary Colter of Grand Canyon fame, when she worked for Fred Harvey. Fred Harvey hired her as chief designer and architect for his company in 1910. That was an amazing accomplishment since women couldn't even vote for President until 1920.  For La Posada, she designed the buildings, decorated the interiors, planned the gardens and oversaw construction.

Fred Harvey brought civilization to the west via the Santa Fe Railway. He developed and ran all their hotels and restaurants. He introduced linens, silverware, china, crystal and impeccable service to railroad travel. He is very famous for his Harvey Girls.

La Posada was the last great railroad hotel. It opened in 1930 and was rumored to have cost $2 million (about $40 million in today's $.)  All the passenger trains from LA to Chicago stopped there and everybody who was anybody stayed there. Until about 1950, Winslow was the big town, even Charles Lindberg designed their airport. But then rail travel dropped off, people were in too much of a hurry for that type of travel. It became planes and automobiles. For a while La Posada was the finest hotel on Route 66.  By 1957 though, Route 66 had been bypassed and shut down and La Posada was closed and nearly torn down. But it wasn't. For a time in the 60s it was gutted and made into offices by the Santa Fe Railroad. Then they abandonded it. In 1997 it was purchased by 4 people, using grant money and private investments. They have been restoring it little by little and there is a treasure trove of history available in the rooms open to the public. It is again open as a hotel and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It still fronts the railroad and you can still sit in the shade and watch the trains.

More tomorrow on our early morning at Homolovi Ruins.  Later....