If you’re a map and geography enthusiast like myself, and enjoy spending time poring over maps and Google Earth learning about cities, roads, rivers and countries - then you probably appreciate historical maps as well.

It’s amazing that without satellites and aerial surveying, (save for rudimentary bicycle powered cartoonish hot air balloons,) the early explorers still managed to depict new lands in such a correct manner and proportions.  The cartography of our coasts and borders from the mid 1800s is almost the detail of present day accuracy.

The Old Map Gallery in Denver’s Lower Downtown area has a huge collection of old maps from all corners of the globe, including celestial and oceanic charts as well.  If you have a map geek in your life it’s worth checking out their collection.  Or make your co-workers think you’re smarter by eschewing the cuddly cat calendar for a nice framed map like this circa 1700s Europe shown below.

They located at 1746 Blake Street, in Denver.  And at oldmapgallery.com

Share This

So you’re jammin’ to Pink, yakking on your cell phone while applying your makeup when this monster tumbles off a semi trailer and rolls right at you. Yikes. Straight out of Terminator 2.

This giant piece of mining equipment fell off a truck this morning on busy interstate 70. Someone explain to me why we still have mines?

The disproportionate size of this spindle almost appears photoshopped. Perhaps it will wind up on Snopes?

Photo from KUSA

Share This

I recently saw this article and graphic at Time.com. I’m assuming the same is printed in Time Magazine, which I’ll confirm after my next bloody visit to the dentist.

Time Article:  An Answer to Flight Delays?

I hold a private pilot certificate with a few hundred hours under my belt. I don’t have the authority of a commercial pilot or a busy controller, but I fly under ATC guidance, and practice instrument flights and approaches “in the system” as often as possible. In reading this article I feel akin to doctor who sees a puff feature on the heart or circulatory system that lacks any substance and is plastered with colorful pictures of angry faced fatty acids and “FYI” balloons making up the majority of “in depth” reporting. I’d guess said doctor or expert would hurl the magazine at the wall and scream, “No, No, No, that’s NOT how it is!”

While the basis of this article, “GPS is more efficient that radar,” is technically correct in that single line summary, there’s so many other issues that should be considered before selling GPS/Nextgen as the sure fire cure for all ATC woes. But first - kudos to whichever 5th grade class tackled the graphics and animations on “How air traffic control works.” My only correction is that you mislabeled Denver’s airport as DIA. DIA is a local moniker for Denver International Airport. The FAA designation is DEN. No big deal, still an A- for the group.

However in contrast to the kids that designed the animation, the writer of this  Time story, Tracy Samantha Schmidt, is obviously inexperienced and uneducated in the logistics and delicate ballets danced daily between pilots, ATC centers, approach controls, and towers. With recent articles such as “Is the Wii Good for your Health” and “The Backlash Against Facebook” I’m not surprised that the quality of the piece she penned is appalling.

The current ignorant sell, which Tracy Schmidt so eagerly jumped on, is to convince everyone that our current ATC system and method of routing planes is responsible for all your current air travel misery. Sounds like a great scapegoat huh? That and general aviation, which is another myth with private pilots everywhere are taking issue with.

Consider the air travel horror stories lately: Eight hours on the ground in New York. Feces rolling down the aisles on Continental. Northwest cancels half their daily flights.  Do these anecdotes sound like they have ANYTHING to do with air traffic control? Nobody hates an airline when they’re actually moving through the sky.

The animation highlights to a laughably disproportionate level the current method of routing cross country flights, and blames delays on the routings. The ridiculous animation shows a plane being bounced around the sky like a pinball, saying to itself in Droopy Dog voice “If only there was a way I could fly a straight line to my city” This simply isn’t the case. The vectors that planes fly are no further out of the way than an easy dog leg on your local city golf course. When extreme “zig zag” patterns do exist they’re localized and born from complex arrival and departure patterns in and out of major cities. These approaches exist in order to “funnel” planes from all directions into one or two arrival lineups for final approach. Often complex turns and “zig zags” are based from100 miles out in order to avoid terrain, other airports, departing traffic, and of course noise abatement.

Look at the graphic below and tell me you actually BELIEVE this is how you fly? It’s a complete lie.

Airlines are routed across country by VORs. These high range VORs are set in strategic locations to assist in “transitions”, guiding traffic in and out of major class B cities.  And airlines already do fly “direct” to these VORs and transition points, unlike the graphic above.

As a small-time private pilot I consider charts and traffic patterns beautiful pieces of art. The transitions and arrival procedures from high altitudes into busy airspace above an metropolitan area are well crafted and written, and these global charts are used worldwide by skilled and responsible pilots. They’re simply elegant in their technical sexiness.  I respect the work of pilots and controllers, which is why I found this statement so inflammatory:

“pilots rely on split-second decisions made by controllers to keep them on a route out of the heading of other planes.”

This is complete nonsense. This line makes is sound as if head on airline collisions are imminent at all times. Once planes are en-route they are under a “center” control. East and West routes have certain altitude assignments and maintain horizontal airspace at all times. Have you ever heard about a near-miss at 38,000 feet over Des Moines?  No.  What you hear about is near-misses in what’s termed the “airport environment”. Runways, final approaches, takeoffs, and ramps are where the majority of incurrences takes place, and thus need the most improvement. The lack of focus on the LOCAL AIRPORT ENVIRONMENT is what makes this article so wrong:

Consider the (misperceived) frustration at our ATC system as compared to the interstate freeway system. It’s wonderful to drive with the top down in the open country road, but often hellish to drive in urban areas. Pull up Google maps and look at interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The interstate takes some turns and dog legs around mountains and terrain, but it’s direct and it connects the two cities just fine. Barring unforeseen events like accidents, (or weather in the aviation half of this analogy,) you’ll find a nice and pleasant drive (or flight) from Vegas to L.A.* But that last 40 miles into L.A.? You’ll sit there for another two hours suffering the miserable traffic into downtown.

This route is no different than flying from Albuquerque into Dallas or Chicago. Everything is peaches until you hit the congestion. By car it really doesn’t matter if you’re going 80 or 70 miles per hour on I-15, or even if you stop at McDonald’s for 20 minutes. The shit happens when you get to the cities. The air travel misery happens at overbooked hub airports and their local air traffic areas. Not en route.

This is at least addressed in one paragraph of the article:

The second problem is one of logistics. While NextGen’s technology would open up the skies to more planes, airports are still limited in terms of space, explains Darryl Jenkins, an aviation expert who consulted the White House during the 1990s and now teaches at Ohio State University. “As long as we are constrained at the airports, we are still going to have problems in the entire system,” he says. “We need more runways.” Blakey agrees that runways are great in a lot of circumstances, and she points to how a new one at Atlanta’s hub airport has eased congestion in the immediate area and nationwide. But NextGen does not include plans for more runways, and Blakey says that’s because of space constraints and local politics.

Instead of whining about zig zag patterns in the sky we should invest the money in people, resources (such as ground radar,) and improvements in the LOCAL airport environments at our largest hubs. The TOWER is where air traffic controllers are overworked, overtaxed, and because of this have increased chances of errors. Granted I haven’t sat next to him or her, but I’d bet the controller sitting in a dark room in Denver Center or Salt Lake Center watching planes meander over the big square states has a far less stressful position than approach control into Chicago. Why are people being told, or sold, a false worry about the LEAST problematic and least dangerous part of our ATC system?

The ATC SYSTEM isn’t to blame for your delays. Yes it’s old, yes GPS can route you direct, but it’s the AIRPORTS and city hubs that are to blame. Just because GPS is guiding you there doesn’t eliminate the need for the same number of controllers en route. And GPS doesn’t guarantee a faster gate arrival. If airlines still have 25 planes scheduled to arrive at 5pm, cramming them in and stacking them up over the hub won’t LAND them any faster. You still have minimum separation requirements on approach. And as shown with the Chicago area Janesville arrival (below), airplanes will STILL have to position and line up for approach miles from the city, rather than fly “direct” to the airport and drop into the gate. That fantasy is about as “straight” as Larry Craig after a three hour layover.

If people need something to blame, blame overscheduled flights, airports at capacity, and poor management by airlines at a LOCAL AIRPORTS run by local governments. Blame airlines that cram hundreds of people into planes during a snowstorm and never take off.

Personal examples: Blame United when it has five fully booked flights on Tuesday afternoon between L.A. and Denver, (two hubs,) and cancels TWO. THAT has nothing to do with the ATC system. Who do I blame when I’m visiting family in Grand Rapids and my Chicago commuter is on ground stop for 45 minutes due to traffic? I blame an airport with too many flights. Not the system that brings them there.

The “system” works fine. The airlines, schedules, and hub airports do not.

*Re: I-15 Vegas - L.A. Yes I know, don’t say it. Been there done that. It’s just a geographical analogy :)

Share This

Where people of all races, creeds, religions, and sexual preference can live without fear of persecution.  Unless you’re a Republican fed by the monies of the religious right and get caught with another man.  Then giggle tee hee tee hee finger pointing at you.

I swear between Mark Foley, Ted Haggard, Larry Craig (slist), is there going to be ANYONE left to vote or hold up as your right wing leader in ‘08?

And what would be wrong with Larry Craig flat out stating “Hey I have some gay urges.  I shouldn’t have been screwing around in a public restroom.  But it’s me, and I’m not ashamed of liking guys.  It’s between myself and my wife - deal with it” 

Perhaps the only problem with that statement is his history of voting against gay rights. That’s what makes these constant revelations so gleeful to those of us who really don’t care about the personal lives of others - that is until they’re hauled out in front of the media from an escort’s crummy Denver apartment or a Minneapolis airport bathroom.  

Share This

In case you did get the baffling urge to send Ted a donation for his continuing education and “recovery”…  (see yesterday’s post)   Below is his letter and mailing address from Christianity Today.

What’s even more nuts is that he’s toting his teenage kids into a halfway house for the homeless and drug addicts? What the fuck? What did Alex and Elliot do to deserve to be dragged out of high school life in picturesque Colorado Springs and into a Phoenix halfway house!    Is The “Dream House”, a place teeming with drug addicts and prostitutes, a healthy place for a 16 and 14 year old to dwell? 

The story of this joker’s life just becomes more and more like a parody.  Each press release makes him appear a bigger buffoon.  Furthermore it was uncovered by Dan Savage and Seattle’s “The Stranger” on Friday that “Families with a Mission”, the organization that accepts money for Ted, is run by a registered sex offender who was jailed for sexual assault against a 17 year old.   Way to pick your friends Ted.  Good times.

If any of Ted’s sheeple are reading this and you STILL are feeling implored to send Ted and Gayle some money, can I at least encourage you to split your donation with the Maxfund of Denver? 

Jasper here is paralyzed, and needs $200 for a doggie wheelchair.   “Doggon’ Wheels” is based in Montana and makes custom wheelchairs for immobilized dogs.    Jasper just wants to run around the park with other dogs, and even while trundling around with wheels attached to his back legs he’ll get much need exercise and happiness in life.     Far more satisfaction in life than Ted will ever find flagellating himself in a Phoenix halfway house.

Another great thing about Jasper?  He’s accepted himself for who he is and realized that he can’t change, and that trying to change would be silly and fruitless.  And Jesus still loves him.  (How could he not!)

Read Jasper’s story and tell me who deserves your hard earned dollars more?  And who do you trust to put them to use better?  

Ted’s letter…

Gayle and I, along with Alex (16) and Elliott (14) have decided to move into the Phoenix Dream Center on October 1st. The Phoenix Dream Center is a half-way house for the homeless, those coming out of prison, recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, and other broken people. I identify. The building is sponsored by Phoenix First Assembly, our new church home, but the workers are volunteers. The Dream Center also houses a church called “The Church on the Street.” I met the pastor and he asked me if I would be willing to counsel some of the men and to teach the group from time to time. The woman directing the ministry to women invited Gayle to teach and minister to the women. Gayle and I spoke to the boys about it, and after a series of discussions with several leaders and our pastor, Tommy Barnett, we decided to serve the dream center in whatever capacity asked, whether it’s cleaning the building, hosting a visiting group, attending a meeting, or facilitating a study. In order to increase our availability to serve, we have decided to move and live in the Dream Center.

As a result, the Phoenix Dream Center team is creating an apartment for our family by combining a small, one-bedroom apartment with an adjacent room so our boys will have their own rooms. Even though Alex and Elliott’s drive to school is quite a distance every day, we think it is worth it to be given the privilege of service. Now, however, we need to raise our own support.

In preparation for the future, Gayle and I are both enrolled at the University of Phoenix at their main downtown campus. Gayle is in the undergraduate program studying psychology. I am pursuing my master of science in counseling degree, which means we are both full time students. Alex and Elliott are both attending a local Christian school. Elliott is playing 8th grade football this fall. Everyone is busy!

It looks as though it will take two years for us to have adequate earning power again, so we are looking for people who will help us monthly for two years. During that time we will continue as full time students, and then, when I graduate, we won’t need outside support any longer.

But for the next two years, we will need support. Between now and the end of the year, we have to find the people who want to help us transition into our future. So I am starting today to let friends like you know that we are raising money for support as we move into the Phoenix Dream Center.

Would you be willing to help us find people who can give a one time gift or make a commitment to help support us monthly for two years? If so, that would be a blessing.

edit from James:  No I will not.

If people want to support us directly, they can mail checks to Ted and Gayle Haggard, 9699 N. Hayden, Suite 108, PMB 180, Scottsdale, AZ 95259. This is a private mail box address that we have been using since we moved to the Phoenix area. If any supporters need a tax deduction for their gift, they can mail it to Families With a Mission at P.O. Box 63125, Colorado Springs, CO 80962. The supporters would need to write their check to “Families With A Mission” and put a separate note on it that it is for the Haggard family, then Families With a Mission will mail us 90% of the funds for support and use 10% for administrative costs.

Thank you so much. We feel our move into the Dream Center is the next step God would have us take. Any help we can get with this will be greatly appreciated and, I believe, rewarded in heaven.

Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think might have an interest. Any assistance we receive will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

God bless,

Ted Haggard
“Preparing”

P.S. Our handicapped son, Jonathan (20) has been taken care of financially by Victory Church (Mike Ware), Church of the Highlands (Chris Hodges) and New Life Church in Colorado Springs since November of 2006. It’s our prayer that these churches will continue helping Jonathan while we’re in this stage of our lives. We are so grateful for their assistance. Their faithfulness to Jonathan and consequently our family has given us room to heal. We are all very thankful for their prayers, love, and kindness.

Send your checks away…  Here’s Jasper’s donation page.

Share This

A long long time ago I worked retail on Colorado Boulevard and frequented Crown Burgers almost daily. It’s been a while since I returned, despite now biking to work and back daily only three blocks away.

I was across the street at Bova Furniture ordering some lamps and popped into Crown Burgers for lunch. Still the same great place run by the same friendly Greek family after 20 years.

My usual order, the quarter pounder, has a unique sauce (Greek inspired,) and another favorite of mine is the pastrami burger.

From the Westword Review:

The casual, kitschy Crown Burger has an odd Greek-American hamburger-stand menu that includes giant omelettes, cheeseburgers, fries and gyros, as well as a monster ham-and-pastrami hand grenade called the Royal Burger, all of which you can eat in or order as you drive through. That’s the best way to grab Crown’s best offering: a breakfast burrito overstuffed with ingredients taken straight from the long line of flat grills in the galley, and oozing with grease.

Crown Burgers is also celebrating their 20th anniversary with a fine selection of Crown Burgers t-shirts! Why spend $35 for a shirt at Pacific Sunwear when you can support a local business and have a shirt with a fun and original logo.

They’re located at 2192 South Colorado Blvd just south of Evans. Full menu at crownburgers.org

Share This

Your Sunday religion roundup:

Like many adults, disgraced due to infidelity, religious hypocrisy, drug use, or not - Ted Haggard is returning to school to further his education! And good for him. Only he’s asking for “financial help” from his followers, or former followers. Whoever those are. Reason? He cannot “maintain adequate earning power” during this transition. And apparently he’s above applying for student loans, grants, or a part time job at Arby’s like most regular adults due when they need some extra scratch for tuition.

From the AP

“It looks as though it will take two years for us to have adequate earning power again, so we are looking for people who will help us monthly for two years,” the e-mail said. “During that time we will continue as full-time students, and then, when I graduate, we won’t need outside support any longer.” Haggard left the 10,000-member New Life Church late last year and resigned as head of the National Association of Evangelicals after a former male escort accused Haggard of paying him for sex.

Completely nuts? I don’t think so. Here’s a logical comment by a commenter in the article discussion: “Haggard’s job has always been begging for gullible people’s money. what do you expect? If a pizza driver needed to raise money to go back to school, he would deliver more pizzas. If a swindler needs money for school, he goes back to swindling.”

This article is borderline parody at best. Well maybe the AP realized this, which is why they summed up the article with this:

Haggard received a salary of $115,000 for the 10 months he worked in 2006 and an $85,000 anniversary bonus before the scandal broke, The Gazette reported. Haggard’s severance package included a year’s salary of $138,000, and he collects royalties on his book titles, the newspaper reported. El Paso County records show Haggard’s home, which has been up for sale, has a market value of $715,051.

If you’d like to support Ted send your checks to Ted and Gayle Haggard, 9699 N. Hayden, Suite 108, PMB 180, Scottsdale, AZ 95259.

Meanwhile over in Buena Park, CA, the “reverand” Wiley Drake (christ how’s that for a name) is asking his sheeple to start praying for vengeance against God’s enemies. Including such useful biblical gems as “let their children be fatherless, be vagabonds, and beg”.

American Chronicle Article

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and a former Southern Baptist minister, is considered by many to be the Christian’s leading choice for president. One would expect, however, that Huckabee is thinking some very unchristian thoughts today about one of his most vocal supporters, the Rev. Wiley Drake of the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif.

Recently Rev. Drake sent out a letter offering his personal endorsement of Huckabee for President. Just endorsing Huckabee as an individual would not have gotten him in trouble but he made the technical error of sending out this endorsement on church stationery. That puts him in the position of a church leader endorsing a political candidate and, under Internal Revenue Service rules, that jeopardizes his church’s tax exempt status.

The IRS probably would not have even known about Rev. Drake’s folly had it not been for a group called Americans United for Separation of Church and State. They found out about the de facto Huckabee endorsement by a church and reported it to the IRS.

So while other ministers are praying for peace or praying for blessings from God, and encouraging their followers to do the same, Rev. Drake is asking his parishioners to pray for revenge; he is calling for an imprecatory prayer for the punishment and/or deaths of officials of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Today’s International Herald Tribune reports the following:

“On his Internet show, in a news release on ChristianNewsWire and in an e-mail to Americans United, Drake called on others to pray that the Americans United officials be punished. He gave as examples of imprecatory prayer:

“Persecute them. … Let them be put to shame and perish.”

“Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.”

“Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg.”

Rev. Drake claims that this is what God wants — he says (correctly by the way), that the Bible calls for imprecatory prayer when someone “attacks the church.” Reverend Drake is clearly a man who would make a great Muslim Imam — he has the same values as the ones who call for the deaths of all those who do not submit themselves to Allah. The Rev. Drake, however, should not hold a position in any Christian church. I would hope that, as I write this, there are two statements being drafted for release A.S.A.P.:

One from the national leadership of the Southern Baptist Church, chastising Rev. Drake and, more importantly, removing him from his position as a Southern Baptist minister.

The second statement that should be in the works, even at this late hour, is a statement for Mike Huckabee, denouncing Rev. Drake in no uncertain terms and rejecting his support. If Huckabee does any less than that, we may have to question his sanity as well.

With leaders like these, is it any wonder they Christians are mocked and teased? Any middle of the road non-smiting Christian should be angry and ashamed at the insanity of Ted Haggard and Wiley Drake. Yet where are they? Where are THEIR press releases and protests? Why aren’t friendly neighborhood methodist churches writing letters to the editor and writing the authors of these articles stating “THIS IS NOT US.” Do they care they delusional “leaders” like these are using THEIR Christian God’s name for these outlandish begathons and insane charges to the followers like “Pray for your enemies death?”

Who knows. From an outsider the who issue is amusing, entertaining, and baffling. Yet often disconcerting given the number of people that eat up this shit. And vote.

Share This

I posted on this beauty about 14 months ago, and I’m happy to say this tribute to urban non-renewal is still thriving.

I actually noticed it in January of 2006. Whatever the magic is it has been there since January and still going strong, despite some raucous windstorms too.

If you’d like to water, or decorate it for the upcoming holidays, the ghetto tree is located on Josephine Street between 14th and Colfax. Hopefully it will stand strong until Arbor Day rolls around next April.

Share This

I don’t bring a laptop along when traveling, and I discourage people from toting their laptops to countries outside the U.S. since internet cafes are on every other street corner in every major city on the planet.  Why carry an expensive notebook PC around when you can just duck into a small cafe the size of a Subway shop and write e-mails to home, blog, backup photos, get directions, and be done.   If all of your PC needs area web based anyway then there’s no need to worry about theft and carrying your own PC from place to place.

The ultraportable PC by ASUS could be an alternative.  But I can’t tell.  Is that their BEST photo?  It might be the ultimate travel computer.   Or it might be a complete piece of crap.  Agreeing with my premise that most folks on the go only utilize the web on their PC.  ASUS provides an easy on the go solution:  A web only PC that weighs about 2 pounds with a full size keyboard and a 7″ display.  It contains 512MB of memory and uses flash drives for storage. (Specs from Gizmodo)  Caleb’s research indicates it will retail for about $200.   I’m curious, but will definitely try this out at a brick and mortar store first.

Gizmodo Article  More info and specs

Share This

Some people love the Roomba, iRobot’s self propelled low profile vacuum cleaner.  Others find it gimicky and a big waste of money.   I’ve owned the original Roomba and now own the Roomba Discovery, and I fall into the “love it” category.

I have hardwood and carpet in my house, and it does an excellent job of cleaning up between major housecleanings.  Plus I have a townhome, which saves me from hauling a vacuum up and down many steps.  I run it once a week around the kitchen and main floors and it easily picks up dirt, crumbs, and other miscellaneous crap.  And with the “virtual walls” I can set it to clean a certain area or room, although at times it tends to clean one area to much, ignoring another.

The Roomba 500 series has resolved a few of the Roomba weaknesses.  The navigation I mentioned above, causing Roomba to focus on one floor area too much, and also the occasional problem where Roomba gets stuck on items on the floor.  (The manuals do advise to pick up loose items, just like a regular vacuuming.)

A Virtual Wall Lighthouse offers the most efficient room-to-room cleaning and creates an invisible barrier to mark off-limit areas that Roomba will not cross. When in Lighthouse mode, it directs Roomba to clean one room completely before moving on to the next. Use Lighthouse mode for the most thorough and efficient cleaning of specific rooms. When in Virtual Wall mode, an adjustable, infrared barrier is created that Roomba will not cross. Use Virtual Wall mode to mark off-limit areas in your home.

Dramatically improved anti-tangle technology keeps Roomba from getting stuck on cords, rug fringe and tassels.

Did you know that the innovative company iRobot also makes tactical robots for government and military use?  Next time you arrive home to find a suspicious package at your doorstep the local authorities just may have one of Roomba’s cousins help you out.

Share This

Returning from my weekend getaway I discovered something I didn’t know: The rest area atop the summit of Vail Pass, (between Vail and Copper Mountain,) is VERY nice! Clean bathrooms, access to hiking trails, and plenty of parking. And in the middle of the summer when it’s 90 in the city, it feels great to stop the car and stretch in crisp 60 degree air.

The second? Well it’s more of an observation than a realization: You really should forego the lemon yellow “Support Our Troops” stickers if you’re going to be driving this, which is hauling this… which is hauling this… I don’t even know what the hell is under that tarp. Perhaps a grill requiring another few barrels of crude? Yeah yeah I’ll shut up. We’re Americans and we have the right to drive whatever the blah blah… Besides I do feel safer now that 10 U.S. troops died on this same Saturday, perhaps taking their last breaths at the exact same time I passed this monstrosity of irony. Fill’er up!

Share This

Whew!  Another Peach Festival has come and gone over in picturesque Palisade, Colorado.   It’s difficult to remember the details of said festivities with all the peach themed parties, peach scented hot tubs, peach infused vodka - and of course peach pie.  The DJs this year were flown in from Mykonos and Reykjavik, thus making the Grand Junction / Palisade metro area without doubt the most rock in’ spot between Vegas and New York.  It started when Caleb’s mom Kara announced she’d be in Salt Lake City and asked if we wanted to meet for dinner.  You’ll remember Kara from my literary sparse Mazatlan posts a couple years back.   We explained that Salt Lake City wasn’t exactly a quick afternoon jaunt from Denver, and it wouldn’t really be enjoyable to meet in the middle of Wyoming off an I-80 truck stop for pork chops, so we decided to meet in Grand Junction Colorado and make a weekend out of it. 

Grand Junction is a beautiful 250 mile drive from Denver or Salt Lake, and adjacent to nearby Palisade, where of course the Peach Festival and the accompanying all night circuit parties would occurring.  We left Saturday morning and were off to a rough start as we had to shampoo the car floor after I spilled Starbucks all over.  But soon we were zipping past Vail and through the incredibly gorgeous Glenwood Canyon. 

Grand Junction and the western slope of Colorado brands itself as “Colorado’s wine country”.  Over the past years vineyards have opened themselves up for tours and wine tasting.  As a result tourism as increased and people from the region and further away are actually visiting and spending a few days, rather than just spending the night exhausted from driving to or from somewhere else.

The wide area known as the “western slope” encompasses one of the most beautiful pasts of Colorado.   100 miles west of the steep cliffs and forests of the Central Rockies, and past the resorts of Summit County, Vail, and Aspen, the western slope consists of rich fertile farmland fed by the Colorado River, with sandy red mesas surrounding the valleys.   The trip from Glenwood Canyon to the Grand Junction and the Utah border – whether you take it by car, touring bike, or train, (via Amtrak’s California Zephyr,) transports you through the green valleys alongside the Colorado River and through one of the most amazing parts of the country.  There are plenty of access points to the Colorado River and nearby hiking and biking trails, and a few rafting companies are based in the town of Glenwood Springs.

I attempted to reserve a room at one of the many bed and breakfasts and guest homes that dot the area, but this time of year, (you know, the Peach Festival,)  it was difficult to find a vacancy, so we settled on the Hampton Inn in downtown Grand Junction.  I had never visited Grand Junction except when rushing through on interstate 70 en route to Vegas or L.A., so I was curious to explore the actual town rather that just peeing in filthy bathrooms at off-ramp gas stations.  There is a cluster of chain motels near I-70 and Horizon, but the Hampton Inn, or adjacent Hawthorn Suites downtown is in walking distance to the pedestrian friendly downtown, and the best hotel location in the city. We checked in and met Kara – then together walked around the compact central area adjacent to the Colorado River and rail line.  Downtown Grand Junction is like any other medium size semi rural town:  art galleries, eateries, and bars share space with low rise office buildings scattered about the grid.  We ate at the Rockslide Brewery for dinner, and made a spur of the moment decision to see the musical “Sugar” playing at the Cabaret Dinner Theatre a few blocks away.   Based on the movie “Some Like it Hot”, “Sugar” is a comedy about two guys who dress up as women in an all girl swing band to escape the mob.  We watched the show consisting of some relatively good actors and some obvious amateur ones, but with the rich chocolate desserts and strong margaritas the show was fun and amusing.

After the show I asked one of the more “festive” performers where a good place to go dancing was for our crowd.  He told us that the only place around, Club Fuzion, had ceased operations, and that our best bet was a local pub called Quincy’s.  And it was at 6th and Main only a block from the theatre.  Quincy’s was a nice big dive bar with a mix of cowboys, Mexicans, gay and lesbian, all who come to the same place to party.   We walked by here twice and had no idea it was the town’s only gay bar and gathering spot.  Inside the bartenders were welcoming and the crowd was friendly, and while the crowd certainly wasn’t fashionably dressed, neither were we. One place we didn’t get to but noticed and heard some great blues music emanating from was Boomers at 3rd and Main.

Below:  Tucan Coffee House

The next morning we gave the Hampton Inn waffle maker a run for it’s money and swiped a few complimentary apples before meeting Kara and driving over to Palisade.  Palisade is about 10 miles east of Grand Junction.  It’s a beautiful farm town nestled between two large sandy mesas.   The Peach Festival was winding down but the Sunday farmers market was in full swing, and the peaches were ripe and ready for harvest.  In addition to peaches local vendors sold homemade pastas, barbeque sauce, and many other eats that made the street aroma rich. The Tucan Coffee House, (can’t miss it,) serves up fresh brews, sandwiches, and offers a relaxing environment to escape the true hard core farmers-marketers.
After passing Grand Junction multiple times it was an enjoyable interesting place to spend a weekend.  If you’re into wine, fresh fruit, semi-southwestern art, and outdoor recreation the western Colorado and Grand Junction area is well worth a stop.

Of course no weekend in the Colorado Mountains is complete without experiencing the horrifically miserable traffic on interstate 70 crawls through the canyons.  We stopped and had dinner in Georgetown at the Red Ram, (pictured left,) a favorite of mine. 

The beer and onion rings made the last 50 miles fly by as traffic lightened up and we dropped back down the mountains and home into Denver.

Check out these links for more, and for some of the electic guest homes in the area:  Downtown Grand Junction   Grand Junction   Palisade   Area Wineries

Share This

For my friends and strangers over at misc.transport.road -  some photos of interstate 70 as it winds Glenwood Canyon, Colorado.

I haven’t visited or posted to this group in a while, but there is a usenet board full of folks who are interested in roads, highways, and general infrastructure.  If you’ve ever wondered about arcane topics like font styles on overhead signs, new versus old gantry design, and why highways and freeways are numbered the way they are it’s worth a visit.  And like any good message board there’s plenty of heated arguments and flame wars too.  I’m more into trains and aviation, but it’s very impressive to see the way flyovers and interchanges are designed and put together.  Especially if you’ve ever navigated the 105/110 interchange in south Los Angeles.

Even if you’re not into it, it wouldn’t hurt for more people to go take photos of bridges, airports, and train stations in order to ensure your right to admire and photograph them still exist.  For more info on Glenwood Canyon and the history of interstate 70 check out Mathew Salek’s comprehensive site.

Eastbound

(more…)

Share This

If you’re in the Congress Park area of Denver, my home, check out the Daily Scoop.  Their specialty is ONE flavor a day! 

An ice cream shop with only one flavor?  That’s crazy you say.  Half the fun of visiting an ice cream shop is smearing your grubby fingers against the glass taking forever to decide what flavors to select.  What makes the Daily Scoop special is that the ONE flavor is made fresh every day from scratch, and always tastes great.  Something you WANT when you’re sampling obscure flavors like papaya and chocolate cake.

In addition to the daily special flavor they also offer vanilla and chocolate at all times, and also sell “day old” ice cream, packaged in the freezer for take home.  That shouldn’t sound bad, it’s actually delicious.

If you’re there in the early hours stop next door to Under the Umbrella coffee shop.  If I’m not incognito please say hello.  You’ll recognize me by my extremely heavy Sony laptop with the keyboard that’s falling apart.  They’re at 3506 East 12th, at Madison.

Share This

For your next Thai cuisine outing visit the Erawan Cafe at 8th and Colorado Boulevard.  Tucked along 8th Avenue next to the Starbucks, they serve a mix of Thai and Chinese dishes.  Some spicy, some mild, and a selection of imported beers.

Inside it’s cozy and quiet, with a unique interior peaked roof and soft lights.  For Fung Shui?   I always seem to find myself here when it’s raining out.  But noodles, peanut dishes, and hot tea are always perfect during a dark rainy evening after work.

Share This

I was feeling a bit lazy this morning so instead of my regular bike commute I rode through Washington Park and hopped the train down to my office.

While buying a ticket at the machine this oddity stood out at me like a televangelist who’s faithful to his wife.  Anyone know what’s wrong with this picture?   If I didn’t know better I’d think it was bait.

Hey it’s just like those kids menu puzzles at Bob Evans.  Only there’s just one thing out of place here.

Share This

Living in a townhome I don’t have much yard space, which I’m thankful for as I have enough household chores to do without mowing grass and trimming trees.   However should I acquire a lawn someday, or get off my butt in the spring and stake out a plot at one of Denver’s many wonderful community gardens, then H.C. Flores “Food not Lawns” will be one of my reads.

Given the photo on the cover you can bet that this book gets quite preachy about the subject of consumption and land use - and while I probably agree with almost all of Flores points, harping on the same “our cities are miserable” to the choir gets a bit overdone. 

For the record I may not be a gardener but my neighborhood IS the wonderfully close knit community that new urbanist and environmental authers pine for.   I’d love to learn how to garden, but I don’t see myself uprooting the hot tub and jackhammering my patio anytime soon.

Amazon reviews

Share This