Jul. 3, 2008
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Yes I still love him, though he's 64!
 I threw my husband, Bub, a not-surprise birthday party the night before he turned 64 at the Fox and Hound Smokehouse and Tavern at the Foothills Mall. They gave us a great private room with pool tables, couches and great wings and pizza. This started 4 days of celebrating. Bub's birthday wish was to go to Winslow, Arizona and stay at La Posada , the historic Fred Harvey railroad hotel built in 1930 . Bub chose the route, commissioned me to drive and invited Lily to come along to go back in history!
The day dawned a beautiful, cool Aizona morning. We went out to the tennis courts first, where he beat me a quick 6-0. His practice with my brother last week gave him a bit of an advantage, though we had some good volleys.
Home to pack and load the wagon to get on the road by 9:30. We were estimating arrival at 3 to answer granddaughter, Lily's, constant chorus of "when are we going to be there?" We headed north from Tucson on the Catalina Highway through the Junctions: through Oracle Junction, then Florence Junction, and Apache Junction.
 Bub had found a couple of roads he had never been on (and neither had I ) and wanted to see the country. So we headed towards Roosevelt Lake on Route 88. Looked like it was about 40 miles. Pretty mountains and cactus with bright orange flowers on agave blooms that were 20 feet high. Then the sign said "Next 25 miles unpaved road." Hmmm.....Bub says,"Oh, that must be what the dotted line on the map meant." LOL
We traversed a 12' wide washboard road with speed limits from 15-25. There were maybe a dozen other vehicles along the way, as we passed Canyon Lake, Apache Lake and Tortilla Flats before we got to the dam at Roosevelt Lake. It was gorgeous, wild country. It wouldn't have been surprising to have turned a corner to see a circle of tipis and indians....but lizards we about the only other life we saw. Though I think we probably had plenty of Indians spirits hanging out. It took quite a while and I had to recalibrate arrival time for the impatient backseat gal.
When we came around the corner to see Roosevelt Dam, I asked Lily if she knew what that was and without missing a beat she says,"The Great Wall of China?" We got her straightened out but I guess that means she is getting a little geography at school to have knowledge of such things! We'll have to add the Great Wall to the list.
Back on paved 65 mph roads....for a fast clip to Payson. The clouds had been building into beautiful thunderheads and finally opened up. We had planned a picnic under the pines when we got there but had to settle for a pullover between Payson and Pine to eat our sandwiches. Lily was more interested in her slurpee and Bub's Cheetos than her turkey. The temperature had been 102-106 since midmorning, but now dropped to 70.
It was 2:30.
DVD players have changed the traveling with a child dynamic considerably. I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing. It helped with the incessant,"when are we going to be there" and "I am bored" but we had to get her to pull the earbuds out and MAKE her look when we saw breathtaking scenery. Not a particularly good trade-off, methinks. I'm loving the concept of living that "it is the journey, not the destination" and having the concept be embraced by Lily would make me feel like a good grandma.
.jpg) As we drove towards Winslow, through the tall trees of Pine and Strawberry with their antique shops, then downthe mountain, the land became pretty barren and dry. The temperature was back up to 90. A perfect place to site a prison like the one we saw just south of town. I'd left my directions to the hotel at home, but told Bub we could pull it up on my Centro, but turned out there was no need. Winslow isn't that big and, of course, the railroad hotel is right next to the tracks on the famous Route 66.
La Posada Hotel Restaurant and Gardens didn't disappoint. I've used my Flip Camera to post a tour of La Posada. This was the masterpiece and favorite building of Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the greatest of all Southwestern architects. Really a museum full of art and artifacts, the hotel has been lovingly brought back to life by Allen Affeldt.
We have the Harry Truman room. It's one of the largest of the rooms. Gorgeous gardens  surround the hotel. I'm insired to go home and plant a rose garden. Bub says I'll have to stop travelling to stay home and water it (he's said the same about my desire to own a parrot). I imagine I could buy a fancy timer and set them to automatic.
We relaxed a bit. Lily and I put bubbles in the Jacquzzi tub and let the car kinks melt away. She and Bub walked the grounds while I cleared 125 emails (yes, I am guilty). Dinner was amazingly magnificent. The Turquoise Resturant was named one of the Top 10 AZ Resturants this spring by Arizona Highways magazine. The Mexican tiled floors, Navajo Rugs and dark wood create just the right atmosphere. Lily got her every wish: from hot rolls to start with, to mac & cheese for dinner, a Shirley Temple to toast with, crayons to keep her occupied, to adjusting the temperature because she was cold. This child is definitely NOT low maintainance!
 Bub got everything he wanted too! He choose a Chilean Shiraz from the extensive wine list. Our meal started with a soup duo: Corn Chowder and Mexican Bean soup-light cream on one side of the bowl and dark chili brown on the other. Definitely a taste treat for the palate. I ended up having this 3 times during our stay, it was SOOO good!Bub's Prime Rib came with fresh horshradish sauce, stemed vegetables, garlic mashed potatoes and gravy and I ordered Wild,Wild, Wild, which brought a trio of  game: quail, elk and a corn tamale with grass fed beef. Lily's Mac and 4 cheese was just to her liking.
The piece de resistance was the Chocolate Souffle for dessert, with chocolate Gran Marnier sauce and fresh whipped cream. A candle and Happy Birthday song by Lily embarassed Bub sufficiently to give us glee.
What a great way to spend a birthday. The three days on the road, taking us to places we had never seen, turned out to be a fun, summer adventure. Happy Birthday, Bub! We do still need you, we will still feed you and we still love you though you`re 64!
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