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| Entrance overlook |
The deep brown rock and sheer walls were perhaps less visually appealing than say the Grand Canyon, but the magnitude of this place was not to be taken for granted. The Ute Indians occupied this area of Colorado for ten-thousand years but avoided the canyon for superstitious reason. My newfound fear of heights quickly came to the surface standing at the barricaded edges of the canyon, and I totally got where the Ute were coming from about their superstitions. While the formation and beauty of such a place boggles the mind there is little good that could come from significant interaction with the canyon—namely a sure and painful death with one slip or fall.
There were overlooks that were less barricaded than others and I made sure the laces of my shoes and Caroline’s were tied tightly—Donna hung back. A couple of young dudes from New Jersey—of course—on their way back home after purchasing a nifty green 1983 Volkswagen T3 Transporter van in San Diego didn’t really respect the size, the scale or the danger the canyon presented. They tempted fate at one of these unbarricaded overlooks by standing on some rocks with their arms above their heads in a dumb yoga tree pose. I wanted to yell at them to get down from there, tie their goddamn shoes and quit being assholes. I don’t know, maybe I was wrong—maybe as they stood there posing with their eyes closed, they really were having a transcendental moment and not just showing off.
Despite the beauty and power of the Black Canyon I was
more than happy to exit it for the safety of the Staywise and football Sunday—the
first football Sunday of the NFL season. Donna and Caroline were planning on
going into town to a place called called the “Amazing Glaze,” to paint some pottery while I got
my lazy fat guy on with Sunday football. We brought cheese and crackers and all
the fixings for veggie wraps from the van for a cheap lunch. Again, our swipe cards didn’t work.
“Mr. I don’t know, I’m not from around here” actually didn’t
know why the cards weren’t working other than to say when they brush up against
a cell phone the magnetic strip sometimes becomes demagnetized and the card
doesn’t work.
I forgot about the time difference and was expecting
the games to just be starting when we got back a little after 1pm, but we were
on Mountain time, so kickoff was at 11am. When I sat down we were well into
the debacle of the Bengals v. Steelers. Even though Cincy revamped their O-line
Joe Burrows was sacked seven times and Mitchell Trubisky, who backed-up to Josh
Allen last year was a jag—just a guy. I was hoping Trubisky would have a better
showing with this new opportunity. That was followed Chiefs drubbing of the Cardinals—you
can’t win in the NFL with a five-foot QB and then the Bucs v. Cowboys, where
both teams looked terrible.
The “Amazing Glaze,” didn’t work out for Donna and Caroline.
The painting of the pottery was just one part of the process. After the painting
was done the pottery had to baked in an oven. The proprietor baked on Wednesdays
and people pick up their painted jars and ashtrays on Friday’s. Since we weren’t
locals ours would have to be shipped. It was all too involved and the girls came
back to the hotel and put up with me watching ten hours of football.
How we got here...
An Ode to Fire and Donna
Chronological Posts From The Road
Going Mobile: What We Learned
Our Rig: A Pictorial Essay
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