From Utah through Winslow and finally back to Tucson!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Hello!

This is our final post for the trip, because we didn’t have internet access in our room last night!

Up Saturday morning and down at 8:30 a.m. for the B&B’s communal sit-down breakfast. Place was full – one long table for 10, a round table for 7. Lovely food – a frittata with homemade salsa and link sausage, toast, variety of jams, fresh O.J. -- all excellent! However, at the end of the meal, one of the other guests asked who had a red Toyota – because one of the tires was flat! UGH!!! So, rather than getting off about 9:30 for our journey back to AZ, it was almost noon by the time our tire had been changed (to our “faux” tire) and we had driven in to Loa, UT to have the flat tire fixed…only to find out that of course the puncture was on the sidewall, and could not be repaired, and we had to buy a new tire! Didn’t need that added expense, thank you very much!

Finally ready to go, but decided that as rain had finally caught up with us (it had threatened for days, but never done anything!) we didn’t want to risk taking the graded gravel road that had been the plan. So, instead, we drove through Escalante canyon (incredible sight!) and back through Mt. Carmel Junction and Kanab back into Arizona. From there, it was through Page, down to Flagstaff and finally – long day! – to Winslow and La Posada Hotel.

La Posada is one of the old Harvey hotels (remember the Harvey Girls movie anybody with Judy Garland?) and has been beautifully restored to some of its old glamour. The architect was Mary Coulter who also was responsible for Hurst Castle near Cambria, CA.

Checked in at La Posada about 7:30 p.m. and went to our room to change for dinner. This is the third time we’ve stayed there, and this time, we had Room 218, the Manager’s suite. It was FANTASTIC! There was a huge balcony on the second floor looking over the back garden AND the train tracks! We had trains going by all night – it was GREAT! Besides the balcony, there was a lovely sitting area, as well as a HUGE Jacuzzi tub and flatscreen TV – the works! (Except wifi!) The hotel has done some upgrades since we were there last summer, and is looking even better than ever! We changed quickly and then headed downstairs to the Turquoise Room, the hotel’s fabulous dining room. We got our favorite table, right by the window (so we can watch the trains!).

R had his favorite soup to start – corn chowder and black bean, side by side. I had an heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad; excellent. R had the bison steak, which he loved, and I had their chicken breast with poblano chili salsa accompanied by a sweet corn tamale; outstanding!! All washed down by a lovely bottle of French red wine (a cross between a merlot and a syrah)…ah…much better ending to the day!

As we were both ready to collapse by then, we headed straight upstairs – and regardless of trains or whatever else may have gone past, we both slept very well!

Downstairs by 7 a.m. for breakfast – my favorite, machaca beef chiliquillas – way too difficult to describe – with their green chili potatoes…YUM! On the road about 8, and home about 1 p.m. So – a great ending (except for the tire!) to a great trip!!

Until next time!

Much love,

m

x

A long but beautiful day!

Friday, 9 September 2011

Hello!! We’ve got WIFI!! YIPEE!!

So…where was I when last I blogged…oh! Back from Gardiner MT and the Tumbleweed Café (combination of hot spot, new and used books and sandwich shop…I’ve decided that I want to start a combination hot spot-laundromat-book store – what do you think?!) As the start of the NFL season was last night, and we knew that the bar of the Mammoth Hotel has TV reception, we joined a raucous group of Saints fans, with a few Packer fans thrown in for good measure. Ended up spending the evening there, ordering bar snacks such as buffalo wings (NOTHING to do with bison, I promise!), the Mediterranean platter (hummus, baba ghanoush, tabouli, etc.) and the worst hot fudge sundae I’ve ever had …I think somebody forgot to put in the ice cream…) Very good game, Packers won by 8 points, and a good time was had by all – except some of the Saints fan, who retired at the end of the third quarter…

Up early this morning, as we figured it would be somewhere between 9 – 10 hours getting to Torrey, Utah, and we needed to get to our B & B by 6 p.m. Emmy (GPS) lead us through the park to the west entrance at West Yellowstone, and then basically the same path that we took last year, past Salt Lake and Provo, and down state. Off the freeway to head toward Capitol Reef, and had pretty much of a traffic-free ride over beautiful hills to Torrey and the Old Schoolhouse. Torrey is really an interesting place. There is only camping available in the park, so the area around the park provides any and all accommodation. The Old Schoolhouse is a stunningly beautiful renovation of – duh, the local old schoolhouse. Lots of light hardwood and clean lines; very, very comfortable. Our room, the one I picked from photos on their website, is Chinle. It is on the third floor, and is a large king-sized room with bathroom. (Note: Next time, I want Moenkopi, as they have views from three sides, which I LOVE!) Met Ty, the innkeeper; very nice lady. She recommended Diablo for dinner, and we headed there to make reservations for dinner tonight (which is why I’m going to have to stop now, but will finish when we get back.)

Dropped things off, watched a few minutes of the U.S. Open while R was checking email, and out we went for the drive to Capitol Reef. WOW! We haven’t been through there in probably 28 or 29 years, and we had both forgotten how incredibly beautiful it is around here! We have beautiful views from our room, but the closer we got to CR, the more beautiful the scenery became! Lots of pictures to post … sorry!

Will break now and change clothes – we are VERY hopeful about dinner tonight (and tomorrow night, at the Turquoise Room at La Posada hotel in Winslow…) always nice, especially after some of the meals we have had, to get something wonderful at the end of the trip!

More later!

Oh my…just an incredible meal! Truly, one of the best ever! Very interesting place – very busy, but as we had reserved, no problem. For starters, they present you with a “tapas” platter with home-made brown bread and various grilled veggies (onion, green onion, red and green sweet peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, egg plant, peppers) with feta cheese on top – very yummy and unexpected! We then had our salads; mine was spinach and warm mushrooms, R’s was citrus. My salad was actually standing up !! in a green tortilla, spinach on the bottom, then the sautéed mushrooms on top, all mixed together with a thyme and rice vinegar dressing and sitting on a tomatillo salsa. R’s salad was more “normal” looking, and included orange and grapefruit atop frizzy greens, tossed with roasted red pepper vinaigrette and candied nuts…everything disappeared quickly! For mains, R had the twin beef tenderloin steaks with chayote squash, carrots, potato barrels, crisp corn tortillas and mole blanco. I had their vegetarian entrée – Mayan tamale: eggplant, poblano peppers, roasted tomatoes, masa and casera cheese steamed in a banana leaf, with char grilled vegetables and brandied corn custard – fabulous, especially the corn custard!

Their dessert tray was scary – and of course came with their homemade ice cream…

I had their carrot cake with peach ice cream; R had the apple tart with chai tea ice cream – washed down with glasses of St. Germain elderflower nectar…waddled out of the restaurant! This is a place to which we will DEFINITELY return!!!

Night!

m
x

Posting on the run...

Hello!

It has been a long time since I posted directly to Blogspot, but didn't have time today to properly compose, so here goes!

Up about 7 to head out to look for the elk who supposedly come down to the hotel in the morning. Didn't see anything out front of the hotel, so came back for showers et. al -- and voila, there were the elk, right below our window, at the back of the hotel! We had a nice leisurely study; they really seem to be very used to people!

After a good breakfast buffet, we decided to head south toward Old Faithful, seeing some of the sights that we had missed previously -- mud pots, more thermal springs as well as a wonderful waterfall!

The osprey was absolutely incredible, looking for breakfast in the river!

Headed back to the hotel for a very late lunch -- wings for Robert, and a salad with warm goat cheese for me -- then naps, much needed, and now posting! So, sorry this is so brief -- we take off early tomorrow for our 9+ hours of driving down to Torrey, Utah tomorrow -- more later!

Much love,
m

Moving North...

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Hello, from Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel!

Dinner last night at Old Faithful Snow Lodge was great! Robert had a house salad to start, followed by a 10 oz. sirloin steak, which he said was great. I had a house salad to start, followed by half a roast chicken with buttermilk mashed potatoes and seasonal veggies – also very good! This was followed by a small chocolate bundt cake topped with vanilla ice cream – Wow! Robert had a glass of Laiphroaig (single malt Scotch – a long, long way from home) for dessert.
Up this morning about 7 – it got REALLY chilly last night, which made for GREAT sleeping weather. Down to breakfast (buffet; very good, and undisturbed by fire alarms!) and out of the hotel about 8 a.m., heading south to see what there was to see! R took some pictures of the hotel – an outside front view, followed by pictures in the 3-story lobby.

Our first stop was at the West Thumb geyser area, where we saw more thermal activity right next to Lake Yellowstone, including one geyser that makes it home actually within the lake! Apparently in years gone by, the thing to do was to catch your fish, and then cook it in the geyser, all without removing the fish from the hook! Lovely area; beautiful lake!

From West Thumb we followed the lake around, to the Lake Yellowstone Hotel. It is painted an incongruous yellow and white, which did nothing at all for Robert, but I thought it was quite nice! We walked through the lobby and took some pictures of the ornamentation – really lovely; I’d like to stay there some time!

Moving on from the hotel, we passed several places where it was actual mud bubbling up, rather than water – but still as hot, like boiling! Not nearly as attractive as some of the other geysers, though! From there we reached the Falls of the Yellowstone, upper and lower. Last summer when we were here we actually walked DOWN something like 400+ steps to see it – which of course meant that we had to walk UP on the return trip! UGH! This time we played it safe – overlooks only, as my knee is still playing up somewhat! Beautiful falls; racing river – would hate to be a canoe at the top, as once caught in that current, you’d next be heard of in Missouri! Oh well!

We stopped at Canyon Lodge for lunch – good salad bar, and then decided to push on north in the park to Mammoth Hot Springs. We actually passed two elk while driving, and managed to get a couple photographs – they were beautiful! We were able to check in early; very nice place, old wood building, comfortable rooms.

Took a short nap when we got here, and now are planning on driving into Gardiner, MT to see if we can find any internet access! So, hopefully this will get posted tonight!

Lots of love; more later!
m
x