Turquoise Room and Homolovi Ruins

The Turquoise Room in the La Posada Hotel in Winslow is one of our favorite places to eat. We both got our favorite breakfast meal from the list of 'Our Favorite Things (Food)' list; Bob got the Arizona Green Chile Eggs and Jo got the Corn Maiden's Delight. After ordering and while waiting for our food we got to talking about how some times you build something up so much in your mind that when you go back later it never seems quite as good, well the Turquoise Room is as good or better each time we go back. We plan to eat at least one more time before we head out.

After our great breakfast we went to the Homolovi Ruins State Park where along the Little Colorado River an ancient people, the ancestors of the Hopi, built their homes. Although the area only receives 8 inches a year on average they were able to farm in the rich flood plain. Homolovi was occupied from about 1200 to 1400 AD with the seven complexes built as the colony grew, two of which are open to the public. There is more to see in Homolovi II with more excavations along a sidewalk with information signs. Homolovi II was occupied between 1330 and 1400 AD, and has about 1200 rooms with only a few available for viewing. This ruin features three large rectangular plazas and about forty kivas (underground ceremonial chambers) an excavated one is shown here.

The people of this period are called Hisat'sinom, which is the Hopi word for "long-ago people". It is believed that they left due to an increase of mosquitos which they viewed as a sign to leave the area. They migrated to the Hopi Mesa about 60 miles north.

This State Park was closed due to budget cuts but recently reopened and also includes Petroglyphs that date to earlier than the ruins available a short distance from the road to Homolovi II. With all the sand and wind in the area they are really hard to see.

The weather was gorgeous and it was interesting to see how people lived in this region 800 years ago. There are sites where you can see more ruins and Petroglyphs but this site is still worth stopping at.

Photos from today have been uploaded to Homolovi Ruins.

All of our photos from all of our travels are on Flickr

Till next time,

Bob and Jo