A good turnout tonight at Grinnell College. A good end to the fall tour.
Tomorrow I head to South Bend, Indiana, for a reunion with a few friends I studied with in Jerusalem in 1989. Then to NJ to return my mother’s car and join my family for Thanksgiving.

Thursday, November 17 (7pm)
Grinnell College
Grinnell, Iowa

details coming

Denver, Colorado

Mazin Qumsiyeh on the bus.

Boulder, Colorado.

Palestinian Night at Colorado State University

(left) With Maysoon Zayid, the self-described Palestinian Muslim Virgin Comedian from New Jersey. Check out her website and go see her perform if you are able.

(right) With Mona one of the organizers of the event. Mona is from Gaza City and a student at CSU.

Camp Casey, Fort Collins, CO

San Luis Valley

One of the most remarkable places we visited was the San Luis Valley in Colorado. The valley is the size of NJ and gets an average of 6″ of rain a year. One afternoon, Charlie and I walked for a few hours in the valley. The weather changed quickly from warm and sunny, to cool with snow flurries, and back to warm and sunny.

We only passed a few homes and an occasional sign….

We drove from the San Luis Valley west into the Rocky Mountains to get to Paonia. This is Kevin our bus driver and one of the sunniest people I’ve met. He often led Bea and I in songs from the 70′s and 80′s.

Thursday, November 10

Glenwood Springs, CO

Wednesday, November 9

Glenwood Springs, CO

Tuesday, November 8

Glenwood Spring, CO

There is a path Charlie and I walk every morning and evening in Paonia. It runs beside an elevated irrigation ditch on the North side of the town. In the morning, Christina walks with us and points out where the coal is mined, the gas station with three generations of gas station owners, the apple orchard, the Chaka shoe plant.

Yesterday a reporter from a local paper came to Christina’s house to interview the Wheels group. Charlie may have made more of an impression than the rest of us. “What kind of dog?” she asked while scratching his head. And wrote down my answer. The best kind.

When we went in the bus to take pictures, Charlie climbed into the driver’s seat. The reporter jumped off the bus and began shooting him from the street. “Hey, chould you open the window?” she asked, pointing to the glass beside Charlie’s head, “I’m getting a glare.” This happened once before. We left Charlie in the bus while I gave a presentation at a charter school in Denver. When Bob and I returned to the bus there was a group of kids standing by the front of it, taking pictures. As we got closer we saw Charlie, sittting tall in the driver’s seat, occasionally turning his head as if offering different poses.

Today we are heading to Glenwood Springs . On Friday, back to Denver and the end of the Wheels tour. A day or two of rest and Charlie and I will begin to head back to the east coast.

Kristina took this shot of Charlie and me on the irrigation ditch path. Charlie has a stick in his mouth that he has just subdued.

With Bea (tour manager) and Kevin (bus driver) about to leave Paonia

November 7

Crawford/Paonia, CO

details coming

About to meet with a group of art students at Vision School, an alternative high school in Paonia. We have two hours so I’m hoping it’s a talkative group.

Paonia is a small town in the middle of the Rockies. Many artists live here.

November 6

Crawford/Paonia, CO

unconfirmed