Day 6, of our cross country road trip, Last Lunch on the Road

Bina and I are in Arizona making our way home. We stopped in Winslow for lunch http://www.laposada.org/turquoise-room.html at La Posada Hotel. The food was great and we even got desert; apple rhubarb pie with vanilla cream gelato.

The Turquoise Room

Apple rhubarb pie with vanilla cream gelato

Day 6, of our cross country road trip, AZ State Line

This place is on the NM/AZ state line. The building is small but the shallow cave is crazy big.

Day 6, of our cross country road trip, Continental Divide

We began our road trip from NJ/PA back to AZ starting last Monday, we completed our cross country today and back home safely. During our travel, we were so fortunate to have missed all the major storms. By noon today , we were just getting to the end of New Mexico, had to stop for this view of the Continental Divide.

 

Day 5, Santa Fe, NM a Old Town Area

Bina and I spend most of the day so far checking out the Old Town area of Santa Fe NM.
Here are some photos at Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

We then went to the Loretto Chapel, Point of Interest in Santa Fe, NM. The staircase has no nails or screws in it.
Loretto Chapel staircaseTwo mysteries surround the spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel: the identity of its builder and the physics of its construction.
When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in to address the problem, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder as a staircase would interfere with the interior space of the small Chapel.
Legend says that to find a solution to the seating problem, the Sisters of the Chapel made a novena to St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters. On the ninth and final day of prayer, a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. After searching for the man (an ad even ran in the local newspaper) and finding no trace of him, some concluded that he was St. Joseph himself, having come in answer to the sisters' prayers.
The stairway's carpenter, whoever he was, built a magnificent structure. The design was innovative for the time and some of the design considerations still perplex experts today.
The staircase has two 360 degree turns and no visible means of support. Also, it is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. Questions also surround the number of stair risers relative to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction.
Over the years many have flocked to the Loretto Chapel to see the Miraculous Staircase. The staircase has been the subject of many articles, TV specials, and movies including "Unsolved Mysteries" and the television movie titled "The Staircase."

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Day 4, road trip, more photos

I forgot, we stopped by a Route 66 museum In Clinton OK on one of our pit stops.

Fun and historical stuff!

 

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Day 4 of our cross country road trip - Thunder Storms!

We tried to go see a WWII submarine in Muskogee OK. But got there to early and there was torrential rains. So here's what Bina and I could see from outside the place.

Check out the website for this place; http://www.ussbatfish.com/wm-park.html

Yes that us a real full sized submarine.

The rest of the day was mostly rain and more rain. We pushed our selves to make it all the way to Santa Fe NM.

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Day 3, of our cross country road trip

Got out this morning and after some breakfast we headed West on rt 40. Nashville was crazy busy roads, also we'd not found much to see there. We kept on going to Memphis Tennessee.

Had lunch at the Blues City Cafe on Beal St and walked around for a while. Got some photos in front of a Elvis statue.

 

Here's a few more photos from Beal street.

Then back on the road. From Tennessee on to Arkansas. we made it most of the way through Arkansas before stopping for the night.

We had dinner at a local placed called C&C Catfish restaurant. Good old fried Southern food. We also got hit was a very big and loud thunderstorm. It was so bad, many places are without power this morning.

We will be getting on the road soon and hope to get some good distance towards Santa Fe NM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Day 2, of our cross country road trip!

Got up and out this morning our route to Nashville had no special stops. While still in Virginia at a rest stop, I checked the town ahead of us for anything cool. I found that there was a humongous pencil we could take some photos.

Virginia is the state with a genuine big pencil, this fine example that's about thirty feet long and made of metal.

Exactly when this monumental writing stick was created is a matter of debate. We've found references claiming it was built in "early 1951," "the late 1950s" and the "early 1960s." Why it was made and by whom is much more commonly agreed upon. John Campbell Findlay, former owner of the Wytheville Office Supply store, had it constructed as an advertising gimmick that he hoped other business owners would copy to attract travelers on U.S. Highway 21 (the main highway back then) to stop in Wytheville and shop. There's an oversized paint can just down the street, but as far as we know, that's the only other monument inspired by Mr. Findlay's vision.

The shop and the big pencil were moved to its current location in 1985, where the pencil retains its sharpness as a Wytheville landmark.

On the way to see the pencil, we saw a log house that looked very cool. So on the way out of town we stopped to take some photos. We were suprised to see it was also a resturant. It was close enough to lunch time es we just had to try the place out. ;-)

Besides being a resturant, there's some shops behind it and the whole place is filled with cool old time stuff.

 

 

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