After three days in Grand
Junction, we have gotten familiar with the area and the attractions. Grand
Junction, in the Grand Valley of Mesa County, has a constant view of the Grand
Mesa. Why so many “Grands”? Grand Junction is at the renowned confluence of the
Gunnison River with the Colorado River and the Colorado River was originally
named the Grand River, thus “Grand” was used a lot on surrounding, prominent
features. We enjoyed visiting around Grand Junction, Palisade and Fruita.
Monday, April 22, 2019
Today, we move over to Fruita,
for a week at the Monument RV Resort. At Fruita, we walked around the town,
relaxed, and planned our visit to the Colorado National Monument.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Yesterday, we visited the
Colorado National Monument, where towering monoliths exist within a vast
plateau and canyon panorama. We entered at the west entrance, an OMG road with
dizzying precipices and dark tunnels. Our first stop at the Visitor Center,
provided an enlightening video, illuminating dioramas, and handy brochures.
Along the Rim Rock Drive, we
enjoyed the overlooks, hiked some fabulous trails, and shared a picnic lunch
with a tourist-friendly Pinion Jay. Fabulous views of the Grand Valley,
Colorado River, Book Cliffs, and Grand Mesa area a constant companion. We experienced
sheer-walled, red rock canyons along the twists and turns of Rim Rock Drive.
Through Ute oral tradition,
the Ancient people viewed this as a sacred place. There was only the Creator
and darkness, then came the life form.
This place is truly a window
into the earth’s, geologic record, and a study of the erosive
forces of water, ice, wind, and people who walk off the trails.
We had a real fine day at the
Colorado National Monument! We ended our day with a nice “steak dinner” at the
camp.
This afternoon, we decided to
visit downtown Grand Junction to see the attractions. It was too hot downtown,
so we went to the Mesa Mall and walked the inside perimeter several times,
followed by a “Freddy’s Ice Cream treat.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
For an adventure, we drove to
Palisade to visit the SunCrest Orchard Alpaca Ranch, an Agritourism farm
business, specializing in alpacas, fiber processing, and finished alpaca
products. We experienced the alpacas up close and personal, learned some
interesting facts, and then saw how this amazing fiber is spun into yarn by
touring their mill. As usual, we learned that there’s a lot to the subject. It
was an unexpected surprise and meaningful adventure!
Afterwards. We drove the
Palisade Orchard Tour. Palisade, Colorado is renowned for its ability to grow
some of North America’s best fruit. Palisade has a rich history of raising all
types of fruits and vegetables in a climate unique to this section of the Western
Slope. As early as the 1890s, apple, cherry, peach, pear and plum trees were
planted in the area. Today, the spring bloom is almost complete and promising
to be a “bumper crop”.
Next, we had lunch in Grand
Junction, shopped, and then headed back to the campground for a relaxed
evening. This week in Grand Junction, the days have been sunny and warm.
Typically, we have the furnace on at night and the A/C on during the day.
Friday, April 26 was a rainy
day, so we washed clothes, did some maintenance, then went to Sam’s Club and
did some shopping downtown. We stopped by the Pufferbelly Station and sampled
their famous cinnamon rolls.
In the evening, we managed to
get in a good walk before wind and rain returned and kept us indoors.
Saturday, April 27, 2019
This morning, we cleaned-up
and dried out our outdoor furnishings. With a sunny day, we headed downtown to
tour and shop the “Main Street Mall”. Downtown GJ is home to dozens of
outstanding locally-owned shops, music venues, restaurants, and galleries. Here
tree-lined, pedestrian-friendly streets showcase public art, fountains, and
historic buildings – along with tantalizing local cuisine, unique gifts, and
relaxing family fun. We walked, shopped, people-watched and had ice cream.
Just around the corner, we
visited the Museum of the West, where we experienced Western Americana through
a 1000 years of history. This museum was pervasive, with loads of artifacts,
art, pictures, and explanatory placards. An excellent museum!
Sunday, April 28, 2019
This morning, I washed and
dried the bed clothes, while Terry made breakfast. The day started windy and
promises to become windier and rain in the afternoon. We elected to visit the
Gunnison River confluence with the Colorado River. We parked at the Grand Junction
Botanical Gardens and walked the Riverwalk to the confluence. It was very windy
but we endured. Countless people bike, skate, walk, and run the Riverwalk, past
the confluence, and many don’t even know what rivers are involved. The Colorado
is one of my favorite western rivers, beginning in the Never Summer Range, on
the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park and ending at the Gulf of
California, south of Yuma. Beginning as a clear, cold trout stream, it descends
13,000-feet, into a warm sediment-rich, turbulent environment. It gives us some
stunning canyons and Cottonwood flats. The confluence is historic because early
travelers followed the rivers and they often met at the confluence. Ute Chief
Ouray said “It is better to sit down than to stand, it is better to lie down
than to sit, but death is the best of all.” Few of the many government
officials that he negotiated with understood that quote! Called the man of
peace because he sought to make treaties with settlers and the government, Chief
Ouray may now say “if you can’t trust the leaders, what good are they to the
people”?
During our “Riverwalk” hike,
we happened upon the GC Renaissance Festival, situated in a large grove of
Cottonwoods, along the river. It was impressive and amusing, as the people were
generally costumed for the occasion and they had all the food, games, crafts,
and beer. Humorous too, in that some were dressed as Roman soldiers, Indians,
and cowboys. Oh, what the heck, it’s the Western slope and who cares what you
wear!
With a weather front bring
rain, we decided to stay in Fruita through Monday, and head to Montrose on
Tuesday. The forecast calls for better weather on Tuesday.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
This morning the rain ceased
and as we packed up, it began again. We got wet, so we decided go stay with our
plan and head on down to Montrose, in the rain. We had rain until we reached
Montrose County and the Uncompahgre (Ute for “dirty, red water) River Valley,
where we had sunshine.
Leaving Grand Junction and the
area known as Orchard Mesa, the highway descends into the community of
Whitewater and the Gunnison River valley. Leaving the valley, we could see the
snowy peaks of the high and rugged San Juan Mountains, stretching down to NW
New Mexico. We could also see the Uncompahgre Plateau in western Colorado a
distinctive large uplift, part of the Colorado Plateau. On previous visits, we
have explored the deep, red, enormous canyons, separated by generally flat
mesas. Crossing into the Uncompahgre Valley, we cruised on down to Montrose.
We had lunch at Arby’s and
then took a campsite at Cedar Creek RV Park, in Montrose. As we got set-up on
our site, the rain resumed, but we got inside and started our furnace, along
with the cable-television. It looks like we’ll stay in tonight, unless the
weather changes.
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Here we are, at Ridgway State
Park’s, Pa-Co-Chu-Puk Campground, our summer assignment. Nestled at the base of
the San Juan Mountains, in SW Colorado, at 6,650 feet, we have a magnificent
view of the spectacular mountains. With the jagged peaks of the snowy San Juan
Mountains as a backdrop and the lush Uncompahgre Valley surrounding us, we have
a stunning setting for our summer camp.
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