Mile 1,038: Land of Roadside Attractions

The Northern Arizona desert was more like the desert I had imagined: huge, flat, mostly featureless. And big. Did I say big? Yes. Hours of driving and you seem to be right where you were when you started.

The quintessentially American culture of the roadside attraction seems to flourish along the I-40/Route 66 corridor like nowhere else. It seems like a natural, if bizarre, evolutionary response to the presence of a road through the middle of a whole lot of not too much in particular. Largest-Ball-of-Twine type outposts seem to sprout like weird blossoms to attract travelers, like flowers draw bees. Instead of taking pollen, we leave money. Or so they hope.

The Meteor Crater drew me in; something about a huge rock hitting Arizona tickled a response in me. However, they had planted a huge multistory Meteor Crater Education Center on the crater's rim, along with a $15 entrance fee. Given that the Grand Canyon is $25 for a week, I thought of this as - literally - highway robbery.

I got back on I-40 and rolled on for a while, just watching the billboards. I kept seeing signs for Winslow, and it rang sort of a faint bell. Winslow, what do I know about Winslow, Arizona? I racked my brain for Winslow history (and resisted the urge to Google it from my Blackberry) until a snatch of music floated up from, I think, my limbic brain: "Well I'm-a runnin' down the road tryin to loosen mah load..."

I knew what I had to do.

The image of the Buddha standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona seemed sort of funny at the time. When I got to downtown Winslow, however, I discovered a "Standin' on a Corner" Park, along with not one, not two, but three "Standin' on a Corner" gift shops on the three corners of the intersection, with the "Standin' on a Corner" statue occupying the fourth.

I got out of the car clutching the Amida Buddha in my hand. From a loudspeaker mounted on one of the shops came the sound of Glenn Frey singing "Take it Easy"from the Eagles' first album.

I can only assume it played, on a constant loop, all day long.

I snapped a quick picture and fled.



I drove through an impressive storm and crossed the Navajo Nation, stopping briefly to buy my cheapest gas of the trip ($4.05 premium!). My mission was to reach Albuquerque by nightfall, so I poured on the speed.

As I neared the city, I decided I really wanted something more luxurious for the night. I wanted - oh, say it! - a Jacuzzi. And at that moment hove into view a sign for the Comfort Inn in West Mesa. Free Wireless! Hot Tub!

I floored it.

This is what I got in Albuquerque for $10 more than the Grand Canyon Motel:



I set the MacBook up on the desk (actually a separate piece of furniture at the Comfort Inn) and it worked like a champ.

Showered, put on clean clothes, ate, collapsed. End of a good day.


the trip so far