An obscure picture of a delightfully obscure guy playing "The Farmer in the Dell" on the accordion and banjo in a Grand Junction, Colorado coffee house. He's wearing a leather Confederate soldier's cap, not that you could tell from this awful photograph
First....a hearty handshake and a look o' pity to those who had to work today. Why we continue to toil as a workaholic nation while all of Europe has six weeks (or more) of summer vacation befuddles me.
Maybe it's that extra cash that helps to pay for those wars we like to get into it. I sense that idea is not much solace for those stuck at the office reading Babble today. I'll stop rubbing it in now.
Or not, with my vacation status report. Back in 'Burque in time to see the Isotopes game last night amid sprinkles, cooling winds, a bit of distant lightning and a continuing inability for the 'Topes to hit in the clutch. The PA announcer guy kept saying the promised fireworks display was not gonna happen, but thanks to extra innings (and most likely a steady stream of fathers/mothers going to Isoptopes "Guest Services" and demanding fireworks NOW!) the fireworks went off and everybody could feel good about the ol' USA for an uninterrupted six minutes.
I'm going back on the road in a day or two, but will first recap the trip just concluded.
I just want to give major props to the entire Southern half of Utah and whoever had a hand in making it so damn beautiful. Water and wind erosion are cool. Sandstone with & without iron oxide, very cool. Capitol Reef National Park being so remote and waterless that few people go, making it about the most un-National Park in the U.S., very very cool. As a hyper-frugal person who constantly seems to under-hydrate on hikes, Capitol Reef is perfect. No entrance fee (unless you do the "scenic drive"), hotter than Hell and full of waterpockets with little or no water in them. I'll shut up now about Capitol Reef before I make it too popular and the NPS makes it $20.00 to even look at Chimney Rock.
Cedar Breaks National Monument is no slouch in the beautiful department, either,
and it only costs four bucks
XM radio is the greatest thing since Blonde on Blonde. I hate pimping commercial endeavors, but it's just the truth...especially when driving through Koosharem, Utah and environs. And yes, I just picked Koosharem because it was the coolest sounding village I drove through in almost 2,000 miles. Plus, being in Southern Utah, I wondered if the "harem" part of the name meant anything polygamical (sic/invented word). By the way, never stop in Koosharem for dinner because everything is closed, well at least for you and your kind.
Las Vegas, Nevada is the worst thing since...well, I'm drawing a blank. Maybe ever. Probably ever. Sprawl that makes Taylor Ranch look like Koosharem, Utah, and 115 degrees. Not to mention the "culture". I think the reason alot of Christians are moving there is they figure it's there only chance to see Hell, being as they are so likely to go to Heaven.
Moab, Utah is great for a number of reasons (and not-so-great on a few other fronts), and I discovered two more good things about it. First...the public radio station there, KZMU 90.1, is pretty darn good. Second, its bi-monthly "alternative" paper, The Canyon County Zephyr, is a damn fine read. Both radio station and paper made me wonder why 'Burque can't seem to get either right these days. Maybe you just have to be small to be good in those two areas.
About as close as I will ever get to the summit of Class 3/4 Wilson Peak outside Telluride
Driving back through Telluride (my very first time there) I was able to hike above the village on the Sneffels Highline Trail, then wallow in all its rich folks kitsch walking to and from a little market just off Colorado Ave. It seems the Holiday weekend was "Arts & Crafts Fair" time, with oil painters positioned all over the place painting beautiful mountains, lovely trees, and horrifically overpriced homes. The best part was when tourists would photograph the painters (I should have got a pic of that, but felt the photo of photo of art lineage would be too aestethically weird). Telluride is drop-dead gorgeous, the hike was sublime, but as Graham Chapman said of Camelot in "Holy Grail"..."it is a silly place."
I tried to Photoshop out all the tourists in this bird's-eye view of Telluride
And now back to 'Burque for a few days before heading north for a bit, including my irritatingly oft-announced participation in the Tour de Wyoming. 350 miles of northern WY over six days. My butt hurts just thinking about it, but it should be a great chance to check out the most misanthropic state in the Union at a relaxed pace. Then back for the next school year and a quick forgetting that I ever had summer vacation.
But before I head out again, another round of pity for those working these days, especially this day before the 4th. If you happen to be reading this from your workstation today, the 3rd, we in the slacker contingent salute and thank you for all that you pretended to do today. Quit looking at that computer clock and get back to work....
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