The sunny days were soon over as Tuesday we descended into low afternoon clouds to the plains, pounded up the Interstate with stops in Pueblo and the Springs for non-perishable goods, checked into a roadside Hyatt Place courtesy of the Company  [we were there to install

a sculpture at UCCS the next day] and, taking Daisy’s knowledgeable recommendation, wandered out a couple of hours later for Linda’s pre-birthday celebration on Pine Creek , ending the misty day with an excellent and companionable dinner.  Romantic, even.

We returned just in time for Ken Burns’ “Vietnam War”, Episode 8, which wrapped with “Four dead in Ohi-o”. Ouch, and pleasant dreams.

Wednesday morning presented wetly; complimentary hot Hyatt breakfasts, though strange, worked better for me than for L., but by 8:40 we were on our way to the Ent Center for the Arts

where while cruising for parking we found “Cloak of the Motion” on a fifthwheel flatbed in the back of the lot with young Kevin Lamoreux at the wheel of the Dodge diesel pulling it; he jumped out in the drizzle to let us know that while waiting on the setup time he’d put the entire piece back together, rigged and ready to go, so at nine we led him to the site.

Daisy pointed us to parking across the street, and within half an hour “Cloak” was off the trailer, on the ground, the crane packed up and Kevin on his way back to New Mexico while the

[KL signaling the crane]

Grounds Crew remained in the mud [not muck, not yet] to finish up whatever could be done

in the not-muck-yet. It was certainly one of the most hassle-free and professional installs in my experience…in no small part thanks to Kevin’s impeccable professionalism.

[Daisy, Linda, Daisy’s assistant Stephanie]

Final touches included elegant [“temporary”] signage, polite but somehow scrambled by

my iphone…after which we had a tour of the progress inside before L. and I from across the

street got a last view of the first outdoor artwork to be installed at the Ent before we took off.

Drizzly rains to Pueblo, Vitamin Cottage and King Sooper in short order for the perishable goods, then appropriately [and sadly, for anyone who remembers Hope and a future free of fascists] the Obama Booth at a strangely quiet Jorge’s Sombrero for our usuals; pork and avocado burritos with green for me, tacos de camarones for the sculptor.

[Jorge, on left, has aged even more than the President in the intervening years…]

After Gagliano’s Sicilian Deli [fresh ricotta; green chile sausages] and gas in Colorado City we continued south to Red Rocks Road, west on SR 69 to mile 18 with low skies all the way, and home to unloading and unpacking, all in a misty drizzle, which persisted.

Dense clouds lasted days, mostly, and all the way up the creek Thursday.

Friday morning brought a brief respite, snow on the Huajas…

and then sun [and lichen] just at the day’s very end, and briefly warmer.

Warmer than the low fifties it’d been all week anyway,

Happy daze, last of ’em.