Flume

Behind the mesh, pictured, is a 1,500 foot vertical drop to the Colorado River, whose wide swathe chisels the red sandstone.

"In need of water to work the Dolores Canyon gold claims, the Montrose Placer Mining Company built a thirteen-mile canal and flume to deliver water to from the San Miguel River. The last five miles of the flume clung to the canyon itself, running along the cliff face below. Constructed between 1888 and 1891, the four-foot-deep, five-foot-four-inch wide "hanging flume" carried 23,640,000 gallons of water in a 24-hour period. Its construction dazzled mining pros with its sheer ingenuity. The placer claim, unfortunately, dazzled no one; after three years of indifferent yields the company folded, abandoning the flume to the ravages of weather and time. Now listed in the National Register of Historic Places, this engineering marvel symbolizes the twists of fate so often encountered in the pursuit of Rocky Mountain gold."

--US National Parks plaque

"This work will show how easy it is, when backed up by engineering capital, to bring water from and to points which were always thought to be inaccessible."

--Engineering and Mining Journal, January 1890

"We're looking pretty good for mid-40s."

--Sonnet

Gateway

Gateway Canyon Resort, and its surrounding area, owned by John Hendricks, the founder of the Discovery Channel (Hendricks got his start, in '85, with a $5 M investment from Allen & Co, whose partner - Botts & Co. - my first opportunity in London. Allen's investment worth $ billions ). Hendricks' father, a home builder, knew of the area and , since public land, told his son that, should he ever have some money, he must own it. The rest of the story, as they say, history.

Rte 90/141 takes us by Ridgeway (where John Wayne's "True Grit" filmed), the 17,000-acre Ralph Lauren ranch, Telluride, Naturita, Uravan and other postage stamps which make me wonder : how do people live in small towns with a gas station , liquor store and US post office ? There is charm to the beauty but services narrow to non-existent : schools, grocery stores, Pete's Coffee and public amenities a long drive - 20s of miles, maybe. Cowboy country , I would last a week. Naturita has one of the best libraries in the state, Stan tells me, and Silver checks it out.

"Ma'am, I don't know much about thoroughbreds - horses or women. Them that I did know, I never liked. They're too nervous and spooky; they scare me. But you're one high-bred filly that don't. 'Course, I don't know what you're talking about half the time."

--Rooster Cogburn

“I've had three wives, six children and six grandchildren and I still don't understand women”

--John Wayne

44 Road

Photo from 44 Road, of Route 141, in Gateway Canyon, mid-day.

The Orenstein-Stanfill roaming family circus picks up sticks and heads for Utah via Route 141/90, taking a scenic detour to Gateway Canyon Resort, on Stan's recommendation. We caravan with Stan and Silver and Marcus.

As the Shakespeares' changes shall be upon us, their transition discussed (or ignored) by the family. Thackery gives us guidance, Dear Reader, below, which I read to the kids, who cover their ears:

"James Crawley, when his aunt had last beheld him, was a gawky lad, at that uncomfortable age when the voice varies between an unearthly treble and a preternatural bass; when the face not uncommonly blooms out with appearances for which Rowland Kalydor [anti-zit cream] is said to act as a cure; when boys are seen to shave furtively with their sisters scissors, and the sight of other young women produces intolerable sensations of terror in them; when the great hands and ankles protrude a long way from garments which have grown too tight for them; when the presences after dinner is at once frightful to the ladies, who are whispering in the twilight in the drawing-room, and inexpressibly odious to the gentlemen over the mahogany, who are restrained from freedom of intercourse and delightful interchanged of wit by the prescience of that gawky innocence; when, at the conclusion of the second glass, papa says, 'Jack, my boy, go out and see if the evening holds up', and the youth, willing to be free, yet hurt at not being yet a man, quits incomplete banquet. . . ."

--William Thackery, "Vanity Fair", 1848

Storage Drums, Cascade St, Montrose

Silver recounts Quaker boarding school - The Grove, in Maine, before Vassar : 9:30PM lights-out! No matches (cigarettes!). No boys (heaven, forbid!). Students achieving certain minimum exceptional performance allowed to pursue extra-curicular studies and Silver chose . . vocabulary. She learned one-hundred words a week and has not forgotten one.

Gassing up at Conoco, the following sign: "Pork N Hop Tickets R Here".

We say good-bye to the Red Arrow , Presidential Suit , visit the Coffee Trader one last time, and head for Utah.

Russell Stover

We visit Russell Stover Candies factory in Montrose ("America's Favorite Chocolate Store"(R)) and, as Silver says, "kids in a candy store".

For those few unaware, Stover sells 60% of all boxed chocolate in the US of A or 100 M lbs of chocolate annually. Who hasn't, at some youthful moment, bought their most successful product : a heart-shaped box of Valentine's chocolates ?

Me: "How long does a gecko live?"

Madeleine: "It says 20 to 30 years."

Me: "That's nice. So who is going to take care of your gecko when you go to college?"

Madeleine: "I don't know. You, I guess."

Me: "You can always take it with you."

Madeleine: "The only way they are going to let me have a gecko in college, Dad, is if they are going to dissect it."

At Russell Stover

Madeleine: "I don't like chocolate, Dad."

Me: "Oh, really?"

Madeleine: "I only like four kinds: eclairs , Mars, Snickers and twirlers."

Me: "What's a twirler?"

Madeleine: "It's a kind of chocolate that has caramel in it. It is sooo nice."

Eitan: "I got a jaw breaker . [Eitan thrusts a radioactive blue ball in my face] "The women said her son had one and it took him two months to finish."

Me: "Oh, great. What do you do when you're not sucking on it?"

Eitan: "You can't break it with your teeth, either."

Madeleine: "Is it like chewing ice, Eitan ?"

Eitan: "Yeah. It's stronger than ice."

Madeleine: "Woa."

Me: "That's disgusting. Just don't let me see that thing anywhere in the house when we get back."

Eitan: "I bet I can finish mine in less than a month."

Madeleine: "Woa, Eitan, that is so wicked."

Self Portrait XIX

Trailhead, entering Mount Sneffels wilderness, Uncompahgre National Forrest, Colorado.

Blue Lake

We hike into Sneffel Wilderness while our trail takes us to the first of three Blue Lakes : this one 10,980 feet. The lake unnatural blue , filled by a stream from the towering Mt Sneffels, which has some scant snow. The water freezing cold - I last a few moments before too painful - while Eitan does a full-on cannonball then scrambles out, Dear Reader, in something near shock.

"Mount Sneffels is a fourteen thousand foot mountain peak located in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness of the northern San Juan Mountains, about 5 miles west of Ouray. The mountain named after the volcano Snæfell, which is located on the tip of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland. That mountain and its glacier, Snæfellsjökull, which caps the crater like a convex lens, were featured in the Jules Verne novel A Journey to the Center of the Earth. An area on the western flank of Mount Sneffels gives the appearance of volcanic crater. Seen from the Dallas Divide on State Highway 62, Mount Sneffels is one of the most photographed mountains in Colorado."

--Wiki

Madeleine: "Can we get a Gecko, Dad? Can we? Can we? When can we get a gecko? Will it go on the plane? I know, I will buy the cage and you can buy me the gecko."

Me: "What does a gecko eat?"

Madeleine: "Crickets."

Me: "Where will we keep crickets?"

Madeleine: "The garage. We can keep them there."

Me: "No, way. Your mom won't go for that."

Madeleine: "And if we feed him crickets we would have to take off every one of his last legs."

Me:

Madeleine: "So the ghecko can catch him."

Me: "Crickets: Out."

Madeleine: "Ok. We can feed him meal worms and wax worms as a treat. You keep those in the refrigerator."

Me: "Sonnet: Are you on board with this?"

Sonnet: "Is there a choice?"

Drive By Looting

The riots : like everybody, I am upset by the ransacking of London and other UK cities. This is violence fueled by boredom and opportunity : looters can do it, so they do. There is no Great Cause, like suffrage or the Arab uprising, motivating these people. Where is the imagination? Thatcher's coal miners thuggish yet fighting for their livelihood . Blacks in America , equality. We see criminals stealing electronics. We hear inarticulate, bored , yuf who believe they are owed yet fail to get educated or working. They contribute nothing yet receive health care, opportunity, and roads to leave. Cameron has it right, quoted in the NYT : "The sight of those young people running down streets, smashing windows, taking property, looting, laughing as they go, the problem of that is a complete lack of responsibility, a lack of proper parenting, a lack of proper upbringing, a lack of proper ethics, a lack of proper morals."

“This is the uprising of the working class. We’re redistributing the wealth.”

--Bryn Phillips, a 28-year-old self-described anarchist

"Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."

--Martin Luther King

Lovin' It

Me: "We can go to Sonic for good hamburgers or Mexican or pizza . . ."

Eitan, Madeleine: "McDonald's!"

Me: "Are you sure? You can do that all the time in London."

Eitan: Yes, Dad, but they don't have the playroom."

Madeleine: "Plus we go, like, only once a year."

Me: "McDonald's it is."

Both: "Yes!"

Later, entering McDonald's, both: "Mmmm, ohhh .. that smells so nice.. ."

Me: "Good to be home?"

Eitan: "I'll have the 20-piece Chicken McNuggets and chips.

Cashier:

Me: "French fries. Madeleine, you're up."

Madeleine: "I will have a cheese burger, six Chicken McNuggets and chips."

Me: "Knock yourselves out."

Later, Eitan: "Are you writing that down?"

Me: "Yeah, so?"

Eitan: "Dad! You are making me look piggy on the blog!"

For the record, from the McNugget box:

Stack 'Em & Dunk 'Em" : Golden & Juicy Meet Saucy.

Take a crispy coated Chick McNugget(TM) made with white meat and dunk it into one of our delicious tempting sauces. It's the perfect combination.

I'm lovin' it(R)

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 460 % Daily Value

Total Fat: 29g 44%

Sat Fat 5g 25%

Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 70mg 23%

Sodium 1000mg 42%

Total Carb. 27g 9%

Dietary Fiber 0g

Sugars 0g

Protein 24g

Vitamin A 0%

Vitamin C 2%

Calcium 2%

Iron 8%

The Shakespeares Sleep In ~ Riots And Cleaning

Madeleine, tidying room: "So, really, Dad, it's always me scratching your back."

Me: "Hey, do you know there are riots in London?"

Madeleine: "So?"

Me: "Good point."

Madeleine: "You are always making me do things I don't want. Can't you do it yourself for once?"

Me: "What fun would that be?"

Madeleine: "Can you at least pick up your clothes?"

Me: "You do it."

Madeleine: "You're just being lazy. All you're looking for is a slave."

Me: "They are putting 16,000 police on the streets."

Madeleine: "Why?"

Me: "Riots."

adeleine: "Where are they, Dad?"

Me: "Northwest London. Not near us."

Madeleine: "Oh. It is so unfair."

Me: "The riots?"

Madeleine: "The cleaning."

Corn Festival, Y'All

We return to the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival which celebrates its 20th anniversary with all-you-can eat corn and everything else American: corn dogs, country bands, US flags, slushies, military and religious booths, SUVs, corn-eating contests, enormous families, tatoos, cowboy hats and boots, iPhones and apple pie. Teenagers slink about; couples hold hands ; girls wear ripped jean-shorts up to their fannyline despite the family theme of it all. Despite a cloak of self-perceived invisibility, the young people on display, as it always is.

Last time , the headliner was Shania Twain and, since I had never heard of her, we did not stick around. Twain has sold over 40 M country albums. This year it is '70s rock band "Guess Who" , famous for '70 #1 "American Woman" which the band has lived on ever since. Richard Nixon invited Guess Who to the White House as long as they did not play "American Woman."

We find a morning spot underneath a canvas umbrella and watch the Shakespeares run back and forth and back and forth to the various food stalls - popcorn! Water Mellon! Hot dogs! Ice creams! Lemon sluice! Meat legs ! It's all a bit overwhelming in 100F+ heat so I read and observe. This an honest effort, a successful festival, and good vibe place.

"In 1992, a few insightful people in the small western Colorado town of Olathe, decided to celebrate the community's agricultural jewel... "Olathe Sweet" sweet corn, by organizing the first Olathe Sweet Corn Festival. This hometown crop was and continues to be more than just another of the many agriculture products of the region. Sweet corn is the crop that has kept this rural American community alive when other efforts were failing. Indeed, the citizens of the Town of Olathe, Colorado had cause for celebration."

--Olathe Sweet Corn Festival" Official History

Feeling 44

As I am up at 4:30AM for some horrible reason , I rouse myself from bed to sneak from the hotel to the SUV to drive to Black Canyon. The temperature a perfect 70 degrees , despite the hour , while HW 50 deserted. I turn into the National Park and curve along the mesa, passing the empty ranger station, a number of look-outs, the closed visitor center and eventually Painted Wall , pictured, where I set up my camera and await pre-dawn. The gorge, cut by the Gunnison River over millions of years, puts my balls into my stomach : one slip and it is a long ways down. I jump about the rocks with my tripod in a reckless fashion that would make Sonnet scream.

"At a sheer 2,300 feet, the Painted Wall, a prominent segment of the Black Canyon's north rim, is Colorado's highest cliff. The darker rock is Black Canyon Gneiss. The bold white and pink bands are granites and pegmatites injected during Middle Proterozoic (1.4 Ga) through Cambrian (~510 Ga) intrusions. Large books of white mica (muscovite) and crystals of pink potassium feldspar and translucent quartz give the pegmatites their lustrous pink look.

Just as Precambrian joints and faults controlled the placement of these igneous intrusions, the current regional jointing system now controls the locations of the side canyons cut by smaller streams left behind as the mighty Gunnison cut through the Gunnison Uplift.

These views look west from the Chasm View Nature Trail overlook, which is across the canyon from Chasm View on the South Rim. "

--Colorado Geology Photojournals

Painted Wall @ Sunrise

More words from Washington D.C.:

Me: "I'll give you five bucks if you can name five things about the white House."

Madeleine: "Really?"

Me: "They have to be good ones, too. I'm not paying for baloney like the White House is white."

Madeleine: "Barack Obama and his wife and his dog live on the 2nd floor."

Me: "Good."

Madeleine: "That the British burned down the White House in 1812."

Me: "Yep."

Madeleine: "There are 35 toilets. And five kitchens. That counts as two."

Me: "35 toilets?

Madeleine: "Four, dad, one more."

Me: "Go for it."

Madeleine: "There are eagles everywhere."

Me: "Dig deeper."

Madeleine: "The eagle is the symbol of America."

Eitan: "Mom told you that! "

Me: "I'll take it. Here's $5."

E: "What! Can I do that?"

Me: "Nope, you had your chance."

Eitan: "How about 5 questions for a dollar?"

Me: "No."

Eitan: "50p?"

Me: "No."

E: "A quarter? I'll do it for free, even."

Madeleine: "Washington: Museums, museums, museums."

Me: "Your worst nightmare?"

Madeleine: "Yep."

Eitan on the Jefferson Memorial : "Do we reaaallly have to go here?"

Eitan: "You know we burned down the White House? "

Me: "Oh, really?"

Eitan: "1812. It says right here the British burned down the White House."

Me: "Well I'm glad to know what side we're on."

Eitan: "I do like it when the British win."

Eitan: "Bye Dad! Bye Daaaad!

Me: "Get off that escalator right now!"

Madeleine: "What if the train comes?"

Me: "Then we will leave him."

Madeleine: "You would want to see some dumb old statue instead of keeping your own child?"

Sonnet: "I remember our trip to Washington D.C. when I was your age. I recall feeling the same way as you."

Madeleine: "Gee, thanks Mom, for making me feel really bad."

Soccer Camp

And no vacation would be a vacation without football for Eitan. Thanks to Stan, Eitan joins 75 kids, ages 10 to 14, for three hours of evening action, Wednesday to Friday. The well groomed pitches offer sweeping views of the mesa and Rockies. Two-thirds of the players female. Photo by Sonnet.

Me: "I noticed there are a lot of girls playing football."

Eitan: "Yeah, so?"

Me: "What's it like, playing against a girl?"

Eitan: "The same, I guess. .it's not like I care or anything."

Me: "Do you know what a Trojan Horse is?"

Eitan: "No."

Me: "It's from the Illiad. A bunch of Greeks hide in a giant wood horse which is left for the Trojans as a gift. The Trojans take the horse inside their city and, at night, the Greeks sneak out and open the city doors. Boom! They sack the city."

Eitan; "Why are you telling me this?"

Me: "It's kinda like playing with girls on the football squad."

Eitan: "La la la la lalalalalalala . ."

Big J

Big J's Pawn Shop on Main Street across from the Coffee Trader, the best coffee in Montrose. The founder-proprietors Fong and Will, both gay, from Las Vegas where Fong responsible for Harrahs Hotels entertainment and Will same for MGM Grand. In short, better than a sitcom. The duo moved to the Western Slope twelve-years ago, buying a derelict house, and turning it into their vision : a stately Victorian with a lovely coffee garden filled with flowers, tables , a few lounge chairs and a happy vibe. Many new proprietors followed their lead and, today, downtown Montrose celebrates a Main Street festival every Thursday evening of summertime.

Silver Is Purple

Eitan: "You are not going to JC Penney with Mom, Dad."

Me: "Oh? Why's that?"

Eitan: "Real men don't shop at JC Penney."

Me:

Eitan: "Real men only buy BBQ grills and sports stuff."

Me: "Thank you for clearing that up for me."

For the FYI: Founded in 1907, JCP's 1,106 stores produced $17.8 B of turnover and $389 M of net income for the 12 months ending December 2010. The company employs 156,000 people. While not particularly my style, JCP offers good basics and many a young man bought his first suit here. Many still do.

Texas Wedgie

Sonnet prepares dinner at her parents house.

Me: "Have you ever had a Melvin?"

Madeleine: "What's that?"

Me: "A wedgie. ."

Madeleine: "We call them a Texas Wedgie."

Me: "Oh? What's that then?"

Madeleine: "It's when you grab both sides of someone's pants and do this" [Madeleine puts both arms above head]

Me: "Have you done this in school?"

Me: "Yes, the last time was Harry. And only when he needs it. Billy had to put his hair back in school and Harry was laughing at him so we chased him across the yard. I caught him, Nathaniel held him. And Alex gave him a Texas Wedgie."

Me:

Madeleine: "And he never laughed at Billy again."

Sonnet: "Harry got a Texas Wedgie? That's mean."

Madeleine: "That's life, Mom."

Emma Watson Goes To Brown

Following seven books, 3,408 pages, 1,090,739 words and eight movies : Harry Potter comes to an end at the Fox Cinema Center where we see "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2". Sonnet began reading Harry P to the kids when they were 5.5 and 7 years-old, replacing my Spider Man bedtime stories. Unlike the wizard, my adventures included, like, real characters such as the "Giant Green Cricket" and the "Spider Killers", a series of deathly spider rob0ts, controlled by Kingpin, which scaled buildings to slay Our Man. But, hey, I am not jealous : We all have to move on I am sure.

Eitan, at the end of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows": "Oh, God."

Highway

We cross the Rockies on familiar tarmac , heading for the Western Slope and Montrose.

"

Eitan's List of things we have to do in Colorado. By Eitan

1. Montrose swimming pool every day.

2. Dairy Queen at least once.

3. Make a cake or a pie/ tart.

4. Go shopping for a snorkel and camera.

5. Go watch Harry Potter.

6. Take lots of pictures.

7. Go for a late nigh dip in the hotel pool.

8. Go to McDonald's Playland.

9. play lots of football.

"

Summer Reading

Eitan: "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Madeleine: "Wolf Brother," Michelle Paver

Sonnet: "Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West", Dorothy Wickenden

Me: "Vanity Fair", William Thackery

High

Obama, whose prior experience not much to crow about, fast losing my attention. No doubt he has the hardest job in America (as Leno quipped: "a job only a black man would take") but has failed to stand against the bully Republicans. Even following the debt-ceiling "negotiations" where Obama caved on his single request - revenue increases - he takes the hit from Bahner who blames the White House for a S&P downgrade; Quoth Bahner : "Unfortunately, decades of reckless spending cannot be reversed immediately, especially when the Democrats who run Washington remain unwilling to make the tough choices required to put America on solid ground."

The reality that our national debt spiraled out-of-control thanks to el presidente Bush and his Republican controlled Congress who increased US debt by $5 T. Obama, by 2010 year-end, has added another $1.6 T mostly to save the financial system and address the economy he inherited. To suggest the Democrats responsible for the debt a bunch of baloney.

So when will the President wake up ? The story now told by the loudest to the dumbest. Dullards must be met head-on. FDR , in similar circumstances, relished the battle and welcomed the hatred of his adversaries. Obama's instincts , and decency, have set us back.

Eitan, from the air: "Chicago is neat."

Me: "Neat?"

Eitan: "Neat and tidy."

Madeleine, at a bookshop in Chicago O'Hare airport: "Look, Dad, I've found the comics you used to like. Want to see?"

Me: "Sure."

Madeleine: "See? I like the X Men. They are my favorite."

Me:

Madeleine: "Can you buy me some?"