Another Day, Another State
Due to a change in plans, we needed to reach Dallas by Sunday morning. So, we started the day with a short visit to the Wells Fargo Museum in Phoenix. In addition to the displays on the company’s history during the American Western expansion era, there was a small art gallery of paintings and sculpture by artists such as Remington and N.C. Wyeth. At the gallery’s request, I didn’t take any pictures. The five-cent bill pictured is a reproduction the museum provided to me as a visitor. We then drove to Tombstone, Arizona. We missed the re-enactment of the gunfight at the OK Corral, but several people were in costume walking the closed off street and riding stagecoaches. Although we didn’t cross into Mexico, we still had to go through a border patrol checkpoint at the turnoff for Nogales. Crossed into New Mexico–a first-time visit for both Momma and…
Arizona, Take off Your Rainbow Shades
After some thought to visiting Death Valley and London Bridge in Nevada, we decided to head East, beginning to work our way back. Over the past week, the journey had taken us into Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada. Still, a lot to see and a long way to drive, and time is running short. We drove to see Hoover Dam to get a better view of the facilities and Lake Mead than we had on the tourbus yesterday. Unfortunately, we could not find the way to get a picture of the front of the dam, but got several pictures of the lake and the back area. As we go, I continue to find the changes in the terrain fascinating. And the temperatures are far more reminiscent of my Southern roots than the much cooler climes of Iowa. Making it as far as Phoenix, we realized the goal of Roswell,…
Checking off a Bucket List Item
RB got the day off, a chance to set under the cool canopy of a parking deck while Momma and I rode a tourbus from Las Vegas to an old entry on my Bucket List–The Grand Canyon. We rode past Hoover Dam and the Colorado River while the driver gave us history of road construction around the dam and played a PBS documentary about the site’s construction. After a rather limited night’s sleep last night, I didn’t hear the entire film. The trip took us into Arizona–my first visit to the state. We had lunch in a small town then continued on to the canyon. Momma’s visited the canyon before, so she let me explore mostly on my own. We visited two sites on the canyon’s South side, so we missed the opportunity to walk out on the glass walkway–which is on the West rim–an opportunity I’d hoped I would…
Rocky Mountain Rendez-vous
We got off to an early start in the hope of seeing some Utah before leaving the state. Since we were already so close to the Great Salt Lake, we decided to pay it a visit. The gift shop was just opening when we arrived, and the lake area was pretty much occupied only by flying insects–lots of flying insects that made us decide not to get out and explore. It was impossible to tell whether the intense aroma was coming from the water or from nearby industry. The salesperson in the gift shop (the building with the golden domes on top) had time to give us lots of information about the lake since we were her first customers for the day. Time was short since we wanted to be in Las Vegas before very late due a very early start on Wednesday. So, we drove into Salt Lake…
A “Rest” Day
With all that’s planned during this week, we decided to get into Salt Lake City and relax and prep. Took plenty of pictures along the way, though, of the look of the Rockies in Wyoming and Utah. First time either of us have visited Utah, so we’re looking forward to see as much of it as we can. One thing that I continue to notice is that, while we are still journeying through the Rocky Mountains, the look of the terrain changes. The color and structure of the rocks look different in Utah from Wyoming and from Colorado.
Seeing the Rocky Mountains
After prepping RB for the journey, we set off from Denver. Intrigued by what I read about the Rocky Mountain National Park, we made the first of what I suspect will be several changes in routes on this excursion. Boy, was it worth it!! Started raining as we left Denver, but it was a clear and beautiful afternoon by the time we reached the park entrance. Momma purchased a senior pass, which gives her (and her guests) access to the park system for life. In addition to having lunch up there, we made many stops to take pictures and just to enjoy God’s creation. A co-worker at the college had recommended I drive using low gear. That really helped with the braking around some serious hairpin turns. When we reached the highest point of the route, the temps got quite rather chilly, and we actually had to stop a one…
Denver Goes to the Spirituals
Missed most of Friday’s conference. Really wanted to catch the afternoon presentations, but events prevented that from happening. C’est la vie… Saturday, though, was stupendous. As usual, waited until the last moment to put together my Powerpoint presentation, even added two slides less than an hour before the session started. Still, gave the presentation on singing dialect twice to enthusiastic audiences. Mainly talked about why dialect should be considered in performance of spiritual art songs and resources–especially recordings–where its use can be studied. The lecture included musical excerpts performed by historical and contemporary singers such as Marian Anderson, Roland Hayes, Robert McFerrin and Jessye Norman. I was even daring enough to compare the incomparable Donnie Ray Albert’s recording of the Hale Smith setting of “I’m Going to Die Easy,” which he sang without dialect, with mine–which is pretty heavily spiced with dialect. For the recital part of my lecture-recital, I…
Greetings from Denver!!
Got into Denver about 9:15 p.m. MDT. Pushed to get in with enough time to get (for me) a full night’s sleep before attending tomorrow’s conference activities. Glad my mother’s flying in to meet me here rather than in Iowa because I made the drive with only one 15-minute stop once I left Des Moines–where the hair stylist did an herculean job of bringing my hair under control–and I wouldn’t have put her through that. The trip included an extremely heavy rain with winds strong enough that even I decided I needed to slow down. Just hope most of that rain took out the fires ravaging Colorado. Speaking of flying, RB and I were pleasantly surprised to see the speed limit from west of Omaha into the Denver suburbs rise to 75 mph. Except for the aforementioned rain and the many construction sites, we made very good time, shaving over…
Fire and Rain
Packing for early morning departure. Find myself looking at news about severe storms crossing Iowa. However, the system is heading east away from my planned route. The other news is about the fires in Colorado. THe map below shows the fire evacuation around Colorado Springs. No indication that Denver is involved. My prayers for those whose homes are in the paths of trouble.
Hot Stuff!!
One of the things about combining business and pleasure is that you have to pack for both. Professional and semi-formal dress for the conference part and comfortable travel stuff for the vacation part. Weather forecast in Denver is for mid- to upper-80’s (very comfortable for a southerner after a long winter in the Midwest). The Weather Channel website predicts that the rest of the trip is going to be–simply put–damned hot, with temps exceeding 100 degrees. Guess we’ll find out if dry heat really is more tolerable than humidity-rich heat. RB has been road-readied, and I’m confident she can handle both the mountain and desert driving to come.