Weekend Edition: Roadtrip to Winslow, AZ and Beyond

On Saturday afternoon I picked up my friend Elise and we drove to Winslow, AZ to stay at the Mary Colter designed La Posada Hotel.  I'd wanted to visit the La Posada since I listened to an NPR story about its near demolition and subsequent restoration back in 2000 (no longer available for online listening, which is too bad).  I loved it, the beds were comfortable, the restaurant is renown, and the history is fascinating.  The interior of the hotel is largely renovated, and they've made a lot of progress on the gardens.  We arrived just after sunset got settled, went down to the restaurant to eat, then explored the hotel via their handy self-guided tour.  Early the next morning we woke up so that Elise could catch the Amtrak back to Albuquerque, while I embarked on a nine hour drive to Southern California by myself.

Warm winter kale and lentil salad.  I think those disks are sunchoke... can't remember.

Braised bison short ribs in blackberry barbeque sauce.

As close to licking the plate clean as you can get in a restaurant.

One of La Posada's great appeals was the oasis in the desert that it provided travelers.  Since its winter, the gardens were just starting to green up, but this view of the sunken garden gives a sense of its shadiness and enclosure.

Looking back from the end of the sunken garden.  The ballroom looks over from the left, and guestrooms on the right.

The Ballroom.

This snippet of video was perhaps the highlight of the drive to California.  Still quiet on the road and early enough that I wasn't aching to get out of the car.

On the Road near Flagstaff, AZ from S@sha on Vimeo.

Why was I on the road to California, you may ask?  It looks likely that I'm moving here for awhile.  Tomorrow I start a job that was too good to pass up.  I really didn't want to leave the Albuquerque and the homestead, but now I should be able to earn enough money to actually get a lot of work done on the property.  I'll still blog about the same things (I brought my sourdough starter with me for example), though they'll have a slightly different regional focus.  More marmelade and less green chile.