On the drive from Houston to Phoenix, we had the opportunity to stay in a very cool historic hotel, El Capitán. It was designed by a well-know architect, Henry Trost and opened in 1930. In its early years, it was a cattleman’s hotel, and ranchers bought and sold cattle in the lobby! The railroad depot nearby brought in travelers from far and wide, but in the 1970’s, the hotel closed, and the building was used as a bank. You can still see a huge safe in the room used for breakfast. The hotel only recently reopened after an extensive restoration effort. There are 38 rooms (the one we were in was tiny, but full of neat original details mixed with modern conveniences, like a flat-screen TV and Wi-Fi. We sat out on the open patio near the fountain and had a great evening swapping stories with a group of rocket-testers who were posted temporarily at a facility somewhere in the desert to the north!