More Travels 4--Heading Backwards

Heading Backwards

Kurt, Carol, Kari, Andy and Sue hug goodbye.

Lots of hugs and Carol's gourmet breakfast of green chili omelets, bacon and homemade raspberry muffins sent us on our way from Los Alamos by 9:45 a.m.
Two hours and about a hundred miles later, we passed through Albuquerque on our way back to Flagstaff. There wasn't a single balloon. "The Festival goes a few more days," said Andy. "With such a big sky view from the freeway, I would have thought we would see at least a few balloons dotting the sky."
"Maybe the wind?" I half-suggested.
"No," he answered. "It's actually pretty calm, and with predictions for snow moving in above 7,000 feet, they won't have good weather much after today. I'm surprised not to see anything today since the Festival goes through Sunday."

At the Arizona Welcome Center we stop for noon snacks.

Heading back through Albuquerque to Flagstaff had not been part of our plan. But with the government shutdown that caused the closing of all the national parks, our four days at Mesa Verde were cancelled, even before we called to change our plans. We hedged about alternatives until Drew warned of blizzards--snow and strong winds--farther north. "It's early for big snow," I told Andy.
"But that would really curtail our outdoor activity," he answered.
That settled it. He booked Las Vegas.

Route 66 is famous as a Chicago to
Los Angeles byway of the past. 

Behind the bronze statue
is the mural with a girl in
her flatbed Ford truck. 

Wind whipped the car as we headed west along I-40. Andy gripped the steering wheel tighter as the car rocked with the gusts. By 2:30 p.m. we had crossed back into Arizona. But it wasn't a cold wind at all. In fact, at 79 degrees we were comfortable in shorts and shirt sleeves.We got off the highway in Winslow, Arizona, to "stand on the corner," as the 1970's Eagles' song, "Take It Easy," goes.  A mural of a girl in a truck, a plaque and a bronze statue marked the place.... the particular corner.


Andy makes friends with the traveling
guitarist who memorialized Winslow,
Arizona, in the 1970's song.

"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."

A group of middle schoolers dressed in wool hats and scarves leaned on the street lamp. We ignored them and took pictures anyway. The car thermometer read 81 degrees. "This part of Arizona does get cold," said Andy, "but I don't think it's that cold." We were 58 miles from Flagstaff.
In the distance loomed the San Francisco peaks. The closer we got, the more trees popped up and the higher we climbed, the more the temperature dropped. By the time we reached the city, it was 61 degrees, a 20-degree drop!
"Can you believe the difference!" said Andy. "No wonder people flock to Flagstaff.  It's desolation for miles around in every direction, and then you come upon tree-covered peaks that rise 5,000 feet above everything else."This must be Mecca.