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