Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate

  When we are on the road, Karen usually drives.  I plot out the directions before we leave and write them down on the notepad most motels provide next to the telephone.  Even though the route might be straightforward, I get nervous that we will miss a turn, and within a short time I reach in my pocket and get out the pad to check the directions.  Then I grab our worn atlas to look at the map.  I love to look at road maps.  There on the page is the state we are in or going to, and I feel a sense of mystery.  What will the town to which we are going look like?  What about the landscape?  The map might show mountains or desert, but mountains and deserts come in all shapes and sizes. Southern Utah is desert, and so is southern Arizona, but they are not at all alike.  Read More

We were in Torrey, Utah hiking in Capitol Reef National Park.  We got a room for a week at the Affordable Inn for a reasonable rate, which surprised us, since it was near the beginning of the short tourist season.  We decided to call our friend Dwight, who lives about an hour away, and ask him if he wanted to take a hike with us. We hadn’t seen him in a few years, so this would give us a chance to catch up.  He came, and we took an eight-mile hike into Spring Canyon. Read More

  The impact of the U.S. economic crisis has been geographically uneven (see map). You can’t miss it in Las Vegas, where there are half-constructed homes, ubiquitous “For Sale” signs, abandoned shopping plazas, and homeless and half-crazed men and women, in sharp contrast to the scene there a few years ago. But in Boulder, Colorado you would be hard-pressed to find such evidence. Housing prices have not collapsed; rents are astronomical; tourists abound; bars and restaurants are crowded; and the unemployment rate is low. There are problems.  Small retail shops have closed; there is an inordinate number of sole proprietors (which could be a sign of inadequate decently-waged employment); there are many homeless persons; and much of  the grunt work is done by Latinos who can’t afford to live in Boulder or, if they do, live in substandard housing. Yet, these same features have probably marked Boulder for years, predating the economic downturn. There has been a significant increase in people seeking food assistance in Boulder County, but this includes a much wider area than the city proper. Read More