August 2020, Don't Stop Adventuring

0 In Road Trips/ Travel

Strawberry, Arizona

12 hours in Strawberry

7 pm: Arrive in desperate need of accommodations…it was a long day.

9 pm: Decide to visit the “Dirty Cowboy”

11 pm: Regret visiting the Dirty Cowboy & ~~drunkenly pass out~~ sleep like a baby

5 am: Wake up to ~~vomit~~ admire the sunrise… and go running

6 am: Run away from elk

7 am: Back on the road to Winslow

Okay, it doesn’t sound like the nicest time but I swear it was wonderful. Read more!

Yes, it is as cute as it sounds

Seriously, how cute is the name Strawberry? Not only does it have a super sweet name but the town is adorable. The main drag is about a mile long and has nothing more than one or two hotels and a handful of restaurants. But the highlight of this town, in my opinion, is an absolutely darling hotel called the Strawberry Inn.

As luck would have it, I had just enough cell service as I pulled into town to check their website and they happened to have availability for that night. Room. Booked. Just like that. However, this Inn operates more like a vacation rental in that they don’t have someone on-site at all times to check people in and everything is done online. So it took me a hot minute to get checked in but once I did it was such a welcome relief.

There was a family on the front lawn playing cornhole and talking away while I stood in the parking lot trying to check in. After getting settled into my room a bit, I went out to chat with my neighbors for the evening. They were a lovely couple with their parents, three teenage boys and two dogs. We said hello and sat around together enjoying the cool weather and the relative peace of a small town. Even with the boys rambunctious game for ambiance, the quiet of such a small town was relaxing. I felt like I could breathe again.

Dirty Cowboy, Dare I?

While swinging peacefully on the front porch of my hotel as the last of the day’s light faded into blackness, I observed the glow from the sign just down the road. It read “Dirty Cowboy Saloon.” Dare I ask? I was tired and not really interested in drinking but with a name like that I was intrigued. Plus, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to meet some locals… so I said goodnight to my neighbors and wandered next door.

I sat at the bar and ordered a drink as a sweet little dog ran over to say hello. His owner immediately apologized but I wasn’t bothered at all so we started chatting. He was wearing a Moab t-shirt and I mentioned that’s where I was headed next so it was easy to find common ground. Turns out he and his wife are doing exactly what I want to do; traveling the country and writing about their adventures!

They recommended a number of nearby places that I had never heard about and we spent the next few hours swapping stories and suggestions of various places to visit in the Southwest. I stayed up much later (and drank much more) than I meant to but it was completely worth my time. If I hadn’t opened myself up to the possibility of trying new things and meeting new people I would never have discovered so many interesting places to visit right in my backyard!

Hangovers make for the best workouts

That’s a lie. But the next morning I did wake up at dawn and go for a run. Never mind the fact that I woke up to puke and couldn’t go back to sleep. One look out the window convinced me to go outside and wander. It was so idyllic that it hardly seemed real. The clouds formed a golden ocean in the sky and there was wildlife throughout the whole town. Many of the homes had animal statues in their yards-bears, mountain lions, deer and the like. So when I rounded a corner to see a life-size female elk, I thought it was so odd that they would have chosen a statue without antlers.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

That’s a real elk. I was still groggy from the night before so it took a beat longer than it should have for me to figure that one out. Don’t worry, I promptly turned myself around and walked the other way–well, after I took a picture, obviously. I may love adventure but I didn’t need to try to outrun an elk that morning. And let’s be honest, that would never happen. So back to the hotel I went to get on my way to Winslow.

August 21, 2020 By Markleigh

1 In Road Trips/ Travel

Winslow, Arizona

Standing on the Corner

Yep, you guessed it… in Winslow, Arizona.

On a recent road trip through Northern Arizona I couldn’t help but stop in the infamous town of Winslow. If you don’t know why Winslow, Arizona is famous let me introduce you to the Eagles song “Take It Easy.” Seriously, go look it up right now.

“Now I’m a-standin’ on the corner in Winslow, Arizona…”

Go with the flow

It wasn’t my original intention to visit this map dot along I-40 but my plans changed at the last minute and suddenly it was within reach. I was driving from Southern Arizona to Moab, Utah to meet some friends for a whirlwind rafting trip through Cataract Canyon. My time was rather limited so I was planning to go the fast (and generally boring) way and take the interstate. Personally, I prefer to travel on smaller roads but speed limits make a difference when time is not on your side.

However, at the very last minute another friend decided to join us and I had to pick her up in Gallup, New Mexico. This isn’t too far out of the way, mileage wise, but it doesn’t lend itself well to interstate travel. I needed to change course so I looked at the map and found there were options!

Arizona is my home state so I’ve traveled through it extensively but I’ve always managed to skirt around the middle of I-40. Namely, I had never been to Winslow, Arizona. Generally, I’ve driven north along I-17 through Flagstaff. Occasionally, I’ve taken the smaller highway 77 through the White Mountains to Holbrook. And once I took Highway 191 all the way which is an absolutely beautiful drive but it is excruciatingly slow.

Take the road less traveled

The most direct route for me on this trip would have been Highway 77 but in the spirit of adventure I decided to take the road less traveled (at least for me.) And boy, was I glad I did!

I packed up a day early and left the afternoon before I needed to pick up my friend. This gave me half a day to drive up into the mountains where I intended to camp. The whole area is National Forest so you can pretty much camp anywhere and there are loads of back roads leading to all sorts of amazing places. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be. As I arrived in Payson, I noticed a number of signs along the highway that read “Forest Closed.” I thought, “That can’t mean what I think it means. Can it? They can’t close an entire forest. Can they?”

Strawberry to the Rescue

They can. And they did. And I thought I was totally out of luck. It was very nearly dark at this point so I decided to scarf down some fast food and keep going to see how far the forest closure really went. I tried to Google it to see if I could find more information but the forest service website left some things to be desired and I could not, for the life of me, tell where the closure ended and what restrictions applied where.

As I drove out of town, I continued seeing “Forest Closed” signs for the next 20 minutes. All of the side roads were blocked off, I was high in the mountains, it was mostly dark, I had no cell phone signal, and I was losing hope.

And then what to my wondering eyes should appear? No, it wasn’t Santa Clause but it was just as magical. Wondering where I was going to sleep that night and hoping against hope that I would be able to stop soon, I came to the Strawberry Inn. Absolutely. Adorable.

Second star on the left and straight on to…Winlsow?

Stay on Highway 87 going north out of Strawberry and it only takes about an hour more to get to Winslow. You drive through lush green forest for a long while before dropping down into juniper bushes and finally high sage desert. I pulled into Winslow just in time because I can’t go long in the mornings without coffee and nothing in Strawberry was open. Visiting a cafe called the Sipp Shoppe right on the corner to get the full effect from my short time there, I was not disappointed.

Winslow, Arizona is so full of color and nostalgia. While the entire town is built around a single corner, a slightly deeper delve reveals intricate murals and quaint window dressings. Flowers adorn the lampposts on the main street and there are several small parks and historic buildings to explore.

After breakfast, I took my coffee over to the corner to see what that’s all about. There are at least 3 stores on the block selling Route 66 souvenirs and an entire wall dedicated to the Eagles song, complete with a flatbed Ford. Like all the other tourists, I posed with the statues and the truck and admired all the knickknacks in the windows up and down old Highway 66. And I loved it. I am a sucker for a good tourist trap.

More than just a tourist trap

I had a few minutes to spare and I wanted to see more of the town so I walked away from the hustle and bustle a few blocks. In one direction I found several interesting old buildings and a storefront with an upstairs door leading to nowhere. In the other, I saw a darling gazebo by the train tracks. So of course, I wandered that way.

Figuring that it was just a picnic spot, I was surprised to see a path heading off to the right. I followed it around some bushes and was rewarded with more nostalgic Route 66 memorabilia. An old clock towered over a large Route 66 logo on the sidewalk and there was a series of old highway signs advertising Route 66. As I posed for pictures yet again, I saw a splash of color in the alley across the way.

Better than I could have hoped

Already enamored with the vibrancy of the town, I meandered over for a better look. The backside of the buildings lining the main drag were even more interesting that their window displays. A taco toting, sombrero wearing, mustachioed saguaro invited you down a narrow alley where Frida Khalo loomed, set against her signature turquoise. Monarch butterflies navigating an intricate maze of blue and black and white were followed by even more complex Native American symbols. All of it in dazzling shades of color.

After taking a minute to absorb as much as I could, I continued down the alley and popped out right where I had started my tour of the town. My car parked only a few feet from the alley. If I hadn’t walked the long way back, I would never have known that such delight was hiding among those narrow walls.

I climbed back into the car to continue on my way, sad to leave after such a short time. As I drove out of town, I was serenaded by a local musician singing to passersby and found that only a short way in yet another direction was even more to explore. Back on the interstate heading toward New Mexico, I knew that that would not be my last visit to Winslow, Arizona.

August 14, 2020 By Markleigh