When we arrived, the air was full of dust and smoke. The wind was blowing something fierce. A bad combination robbing us of views of layers of mountains across the valley. I thought these spring winds only occurred in West Texas. Now I know they happen every spring in New Mexico and Arizona as well. We stayed here 3 nights. Each afternoon, the winds picked up to the point that they were rocking our truck. One night and one day we were pelted by rain (and a little hail).
From our campsite, we can see Winslow and I-40 in the distance. There is the Flying J where we bought fuel before stopping for the night in Homolovi State Park.
Only in the dead of night, when you listen very carefully, can you hear the trains running parallel to I-40 or the 18-wheelers rolling down the Interstate. This is a quiet park. All you can hear is the wind. Given the park’s proximity to I-40, it is a good park to overnight in while travelling through Arizona.
Bathrooms are clean, well laid out and the showers are done right. Our campsite is level and comes with picnic table, fire ring and tent pad. We put up our tent for daytime use but had to take it down on the second day due to high winds.
On check-in, we were warned of cougars (the four legged kind) in the park. I’ve only seen birds and rabbits.
I’m not really sure if this is rabbit play or rabbit foreplay.
Regardless, it sure was cute.
The park has ancient ruins where people used to live long ago. Some think that the ancient civilization that farmed this area was a precursor to the Hopi civilization. There are a number of sites, both inside and outside the park, where the Homolovi people lived.
I was hoping to see ruins that were more obviously some form of city or town that people lived in. These are not that.
On close examination, I could see that concrete has been inserted between the stones to stabilize the site and prevent further degradation. I understand why stabilizers were needed but it still ruins it for me.
This is the desert. It goes on pretty much forever. Not everyone likes the desert. We told a friend we were going to stay here and their response was “you won’t like it. There is nothing to see there.” I disagree. It is beautiful in its own way and I will stay here again someday.
I’m loving this desert.
Winslow Laundromat
Linda found a laundromat in Winslow that turned out to be remarkably nice. Plenty of rolling baskets. Shiny clean folding tables. All new high-end Dexter machines. They had all the sizes of front loader (1, 3, 4 and 6 loads). The place was clean and the attendant was attentive, polite, friendly and nice.
Finding the laundromat was a bit of a trick since Google and Apple maps have the name wrong. Also, at the time we were there, the only signage was on the door. Google knew the laundromat as as “Leisure Laundromat.”
The name on the door, which makes much more sense, is “Handee II.” In the above Google Map image, the lower red pin denotes the Handee I laundromat.
Hope to see you on the road ahead!