2011 | Winslow, Arizona
We were looking forward to staying several days at the lovingly restored vintage Harvey House, La Posada. As we checked in, the clerk asked if we were in town for the parade.
Parade?”
“Yes, it’s the biggest thing in northern Arizona, and all the Native tribes gather for the long weekend so sell. It’s huge.”
So that afternoon, we explored the hotel’s many wings and artifacts (much of the displayed art and weavings throughout had favorable price tags) and charged our batteries for a big day to follow. I did take a little walk at sunset to get a sneak peek at the parade route, and where the sellers would be setting up their booths.
In the morning, we found that Route 66 through the entire town was a half-mile-long bazaar. Between pictures (oh, and the parade, including a unit celebrating one of the last of the surviving WWII Navajo Code Talkers ▷ and the memory of his fellows).
I asked my wife to be on the lookout for a silver Hopi or Zuni badger-paw money clip, like the one I have used for many years. Our good friend A. had admired mine, but I did not want to part with it, even as a gift to a dear friend who had traveled many desert miles with me — I was holding it close as my talisman.
After a few minutes, Debbie waved me down, beaming. “Like this?”
It was exactly like mine, of the ten- or twenty-thousand pieces of jewelry on sale in Winslow that day.
▷ You could look them up. A very important story.