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2/28/23, Santa Fe to Winslow

Because my new hotel bar friend is a wind turbine engineer, he has detailed information about the weather, and was excited to show me graphs that signified another severe occurrence, this time snow. My first impression of him was not great, he reeked of cigarette smoke and played video games on his phone while sitting at the bar, (said the judgy old lady). But he's had a tough life, his mother was a trucker for the DOD and his father was a Hell's Angel. He moved around as a kid and then was deployed to Iraq twice, right after 9/11, causing him to not be able to do anything for two years after his return. We need to do better with returning veterans than just chewing them up, and spitting them out.


But he loves his job now. There are 400 ladder steps he has to climb every day to get to the machinery of the turbine (not a windmill, I was told) up top, and the room is as wide as a bus. Sometimes he doesn't realize he's left a tool up there until he's returned to earth, and has to climb back up, viewing it as being paid to go to the gym. He gets paid well and his employer, the best wind turbine company according to him, bought him a 2023 Dodge Ram, pays for his lodging and gives him a gas card and a per diem. They are short 5,000 engineers like him, if you know anyone...


So, Phoenix it is tomorrow, like it or not, if I'm to avoid the weather. Then on to Palm Desert


Beautiful drive from Albuquerque north, one of the most remarkable roads in terms of crazy rock structures and weird land and the Continental Divide. Four Corners windy and dull, but I'd had it in my craw for many years so had to do it. A lot of the journey was through Navajo land, which was significantly different from Chickasaw land; well cultivated, nice houses, capital investments in those irrigation things on wheels, plants, trucks and large herd of cows.


I always seem to arrive in town right at the golden hour, and Winslow was no exception.. I'm staying in a funky place recommended by a correspondent on Summit Ave who has stayed here and it's charming and funky and Albert Einstein once stayed here. I had a real meal with a knife and fork, which was fun, delicious and slightly challenging after my recent life out of the back of. my car, or while driving. In the morning I have a Costco orange and a piece of bread either with Costco cheese or with Costco peanut butter and non-Costco marmite. For snacks, I have a head of cauliflower, bag of almonds, bag of Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips that melted into a glob in Amarillo and a case of seaweed squares, that are consumed like potato chips. So, yes, knife and fork was nice.


Things from today:

  • There was a sign for the Grand Canyon Centennial, which took place in 2019. I thought it had been there longer.

  • There was a man peeing right next to his car on the side of the road, which I was not charmed by, but then realized that there aren't any trees or buildings or bushes to hide behind, it's really that or nothing.

  • I have seen a few signs in the last few states for Indian Cuisine and wonder which Indian it is

  • It is easy to obey a reduced speed limit (usually from 75 or 70) because it means there's a town and there's something to look at

  • I saw.a man get handcuffed today, they were rough with him

  • In the high altitudes, there's a sharpness to everything that is like the difference between digital and analog camera photos

The road from Albuquerque north was one of the most exciting ones I've been on. This part was on the continental divide and was pretty high up, maybe 7,000 feet

For some reason, I had always wanted to stand here, so not worth it.

View at Four Corners, which is Navajo property

Four Corners

Winslow, AZ



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