Grizzly Base » Archive

For chronological order, read from the bottom up.

Thursday, July 24
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Hundreds Flee Wildfires in Glacier National Park (with pictures)

Hundreds of hikers, campers and park employees were told to leave part of Glacier National Park on Thursday because of wildfires that forced the closure of most of the western half of the park. Park officials closed the west entrance and evacuated the Lake McDonald Valley because of a fire two miles from the entrance in the Flathead National Forest, park information officer Punky Moore said.

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Necessary amendment

Whether we wish to prevent the judicial imposition of gay marriage for procedural or substantive reasons, it seems clear that the only way to do so is by constitutional amendment. And while we do not carry a brief for every word and comma in it, the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment seems to do the job well. It reads: "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this constitution or the constitution of any state, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups." The first sentence of the amendment would ban gay marriage. The second sentence would bar judges from granting legal privileges to same-sex couples (or groups), but allow state legislatures to make their own decisions in the matter.

Sunday, July 13
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Kevin has posted some great photos of our adventure on his pictures page. Incidentally, Kevin and I collaborated on the user interface changes to let him show multiple pages of pictures, and I think it turned out well.

Saturday, July 12
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Day Six
Kevin and Marna got up early this morning to see me off with Cooper and James. We rolled across Kansas, arriving home at about 8:00. This has been an enjoyable survey vacation of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, covering thousands of miles and many places I'll want to visit again in the future. It's also reminded me that I have good friends here and in Colorado, and spending time with them was the real highlight of the trip. Now back to real life...

Friday, July 11
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Day Five
Our only big stop today was at Great Sand Dunes National Monument, where we hiked into the hot sand. James feebly tried to climb to the top, and I rolled down a few times. Then back to Denver. Tonight we're going to Dave & Busters to celebrate the 2,000 miles we've traveled.

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Day Four
Our first stop today was Shiprock, a massive mountain tower that's sacred to the Navajo. Then on to the four corners, the only place in the U.S. where four states touch — New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah. Back in Colorado, we drove into Mesa Verde National Park, where we saw several of the cliff dwellings. Then we drove... and drove... and drove... through Durango to Alamosa. We had reservations at the Holiday Inn, but couldn't find it. We stopped at a gas station, and there was no Holiday Inn in the phone book. We called 1-800-HOLIDAY, and they told us there was no Holiday Inn for 65 miles. Finally, another hotel let us dial up to check Kevin's email and get the phone number associated with the hotel. Turns out the Holiday Inn changed to "Inn of the Rio Grande" on July 1. Tomorrow: sand dunes and back to Denver.

Wednesday, July 9
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Day Three
After a quick continental breakfast at our hotel, we ventured into downtown Santa Fe. One of the newest capitol cities in the US, Santa Fe is small and quaint. The buildings downtown are all short and made to look like adobe. We stopped in the Plaza near the Palace of the Governors, the oldest government building in the US. Then we took a tour of St. Francis Cathedral. Next, we examined the mysterious self-supporting staircase at the Sisters of Loretto chapel. Finally, we walked through the state capitol -- bringing my tally to 20 statehouses. Back on the road, we ate lunch in Los Alamos, near the national laboratories, where we saw buildings with names like Human Genome Research Center and Ion Beam Laboratory. We're in Farmington, near the northwest corner of New Mexico, after driving hours and hours through some of the most desolate but geographically diverse country I've ever seen. Next stop: the pool.

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Day Two

We left Denver around 9:00 this morning and stopped for lunch in Raton, New Mexico. Our first roadside attraction was the Capulin volcano. It's been extinct for a long time but it's one of the best-preserved cinder cones in America. We hiked around the rim and into the crater. From the rim, we could see New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas (pictured in the panorama above). Next we stopped in Cimmaron, where I got to visit Philmont Scout Ranch, albeit briefly. Then on to Taos and south to Santa Fe.

Tuesday, July 8
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Day One

James and I met at Cooper's this morning around 7:30, enjoyed Krispy Kreme donuts courtesy of the Royals, and started our road trip. Today was all about efficiently covering ground: we made brief stops every two hours to refuel my Jeep and our bodies, then we were back on I-70. After passing through refreshing pine tree air near Kiowa, we arrived in Parker around 6:00 and enjoyed grilling with Kevin and Marna. We made a quick trip to Dairy Queen to top off the day. Tomorrow, we start the core of the vacation as we travel south to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Tuesday, July 1
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Great quote about design work:

It has been said that design is the art of making choices. When you design a trash can for the corner, you have to make choices between conflicting requirements. It needs to be heavy so it won't blow away. It needs to be light so the trash collector can dump it out. It needs to be large so it can hold a lot of trash. It needs to be small so it doesn't get in peoples' way on the sidewalk. When you are designing, and you try to abdicate your responsibility by forcing the user to decide something, you're probably not doing your job. Someone else will make an easier program that accomplishes the same task with less intrusions, and most users will love it.

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