We fueled up near the RV park on our way out of St. George, UT Another long day of highway driving awaited Mike and Ruth on US-15 and I-70. 378 miles later we had seen some of the most beautiful scenery of our trip. Breathtaking really, my picture can't really do it justice.
While we hadn't encounted a great many bugs on our trip to date, Ruth's very large windsheild decimated a cloud of bees as we entered the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. It wasn't pretty.
We were lucky or committed enough to get two weeks at the James Robb State Park in Fruita, Colorado. This is one of four Colorado State Parks we booked on this trip. We rolled in late in the afternoon and were greeted by Wendy who checked us in and directed us to our spot.
The campsite we booked had full hook ups and faced a small lake contained within the park. There was tons of natural space between the other campsites and it felt very private. The park grounds butted right up to the Colorado River and about 10 minutes drive from the Colorado National Monument park. There is also nicely paved bicycle trail all along the river accessible right from the campground.
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| Yeah, this will probably work. |
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| View over the lake in the evenings. |
We explored downtown Fruita on our bikes the first day and checked out the local businesses for postings of local upcoming events. We have found that the local pub or storefront in town ususally support the local happenings with posters in their windows so we lurk about an take pictures for future planning. You can imagine my disappointment when it was discoverd that the "Mike the Headless Chicken Festival" would take place after our departure. Very poor planning on my part.
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Of course we were able to find the local pickleball courts in nearby Grand Junction, CO and were welcomed to play. The weather was cool in the mornings, but heated up with a bit of wind in the afternoons.
We stopped by a Sam's Club while in Grand Junction. We stocked up on a few essenials and then had to find storage for all that loot in Ruth, including a half a dozen wine bottles. Good thing I use my dishwasher as a wine cabinet, problem solved.
Fruita was one of the places where we would meet up with friends on this trip. William and Jenny were on their own cross country camping adventure and this is where our paths crossed for a few days. This makes it our 2nd Annual Camping Conclave as we met up last year in Bend, OR as well.
While W & J got settled in to their campsite, Mike and I went for a short hike at The Lunch Loop trail which was both for hiking and mountain biking. We shared the trail with several bikers as we wound our way through the moon-like landscape.
The state park was located within 5 miles of the entrance to the Colorado National Monument, in fact it was the entire backdrop to the campground. We headed out with a picnic lunch to drive the Rim Rock Drive through the National Monument. We deployed our own "picnic" chairs at the Monument Canyon Trailhead for a lovely lunch spot. We hiked the Serpents Trail (16 switchbacks) and ended our day with a refreshing beverage at Rockslide Brewery.
We had a couple of relaxing days just hanging around the campsite and catching up with at least one evening alcohol infused guitar sing-a-long that was fun and hysterically funny. Windy days and an aggressive spinkler schedule did make for a couple of urgent lawn chair and bike relocations during our confabs.
On a lovely 5 mile hike through the Colorado National Monument on another day, my sock was causing a blister on my heel. Jenny was at the ready with a piece of moleskin from her first aid kit. This little adhesive cover did the trick and allowed me to finish the hike without further damage and pain. I learned a valuable hiking lesson from Jenny's resoursefulness and experience, so sharing this safety tip with you too.
Palisades, which is small town very near Grand Junction boasts a very lovely wine region. We were lucky enough to enjoy an evening concert at a winery close to our campground as well as making a day of wine tasting and late lunch at Peach Street Distillery in the town of Palisades.
After our steak dinner one evening, we decided to walk over to the Dairy Queen for dessert. It was a little after 8pm. When we arrived the lobby was dark and a posted sign said, "Drive thru only". We would not be denied dessert, so we just got in line at the drive thru to place our order. As we got up to the order area, we were informed that they could not serve people "on foot" at the drive up window. A couple of guys were in a pick up truck behind us. We asked if we could hop in their wheels to place an order. They were super great sports and let us. We all got our Dairy Queen and got a great laugh with the guys in the truck and the DQ employees. Small towns, gotta love 'em.
Our last full day we drove up to the Grand Mesa National Forest. We drove through the cute little town of Cedaredge, Colorado on our way up to the 11,000 ft elevation of the Grand Mesa. We enjoyed hiking around a couple of lakes that were periodically covered in drifted snow. We stopped for lunch at the Mesa Lakes Lodge and marveled at the scenery as we made our way back down to Fruita. It was a great last day in the area.
We really enjoyed this area, made even better by the visit with our friends. Our next stop is Granby, Colorado located near the entrance of Rock Mountain National Park. We will settle in for a month stay there.
