May 2, 2013 - Denver to Grand Junction

WOW.. .what a difference. Grand Junction is only 4 hours away and we went from snow covered to 80 degrees! We did, of course, explore many of the tiny towns along the way. We stopped in Idaho Springs to do a little shopping and exploring. It was mid morning so we stopped at a little doughnut shop we found along the way. We met the owners who were a great couple that decided to quit their corporate jobs and open a mom-n-pop store and be their own bosses. They both had good-paying jobs and they saw the writing on the wall. After taking the...

May 2, 2013 - Visiting Grand Junction, Colorado

If you are looking for a less crowded place than Moab for hiking, biking and sightseeing, you might consider checking out Grand Junction, Colorado. Sure, Moab has the better reputation, but it also has the crowds. Reserve a spot at the state park in nearby Fruita and you’ll be near all the activities in the Grand Junction area. Colorado National Monument looms above Grand Junction. You can drive the 23 mile paved road and stop at the overlooks to ooohh-and-ahhh at the sandstone formations like Independence Rock and The Kissing Couple. If...

May 1, 2013 - What's that beeping noise?

Beep Beep Beep Beep…Beep Beep Beep Beep One night after a day of sightseeing in Canyon de Chelly, we got settled in for the evening and were catching up on our reading before going to sleep. It was cold outside so the door was shut but we had all the vents and a window opened. Suddenly, our carbon monoxide detector started beeping. Four beeps, then a pause, then another four beeps. We also noticed the indicator light was red. Uh-Oh. We quickly opened the door and all of the windows and turned on the three vent fans. We got out the manual...

Oct 14, 2012 - Grand Junction, CO

We left Montrose Friday morning in the rain & had rain most of the way to Grand Junction. Luckily, it wasn't raining when we got to Junction West RV Park & set up for our stay here. This was the first rain we've driven through on our journey so we've been very lucky. It was cloudy/rainy yesterday so we did our shopping. We'd been told that we shouldn't miss the new Cabela's in Grand Junction so we stopped there. Shortly after we entered the store, Judi saw a woman she thought was an old friend from school in Bishop, CA, & it turned out she...

Sep 10, 2012 - Black Canyon of the Gunnison River

We didn’t get to the museum in Gunnison this morning because I opted to get a haircut. You’ll notice in today’s pictures I’m not quite as shaggy as I was earlier. The local barber shop was pretty busy this morning. There were 2 barbers and 4 or 5 customers. The fact that I was from Delaware was a big point of discussion as well as the weather, crops, ice hockey, etc. Nice people in Gunnison. When I got back to the KOA, I noticed the sheep and goats pretty much had the run of the campground. I think they were the lawn mowers for the camp....

Aug 24, 2012 - to Grand Junction CO; 16/220

120824-Fri-67194-Today we ended at 67630, started at 67194 miles, for total miles today of 436. We drove from Ely NV thru UT into CO. We are in a KOA about 170 miles N of Durango, our next stop. We did about 240 miles on I70, of which 220 was in mid & eastern UT. It is also 50 here. 50 goes to Durango, so we will stay on that. It was desolate, but really beautiful. We had a great time! Sometimes I think you could see over 50 miles. I got 9.6 mpg on my last tank of gas.

Jul 27, 2012 - Home again

Got home about 4PM. Really hot here. But it was good to be home. Some musings about trip: I completed 2 things on my bucket list - float plane ride and biking across the Arctic Circle I probably liked the Yukon best because of it's vastness and the Valdez area for the scenery (waterfalls) Mosquitoes and roads were a pleasant surprise - not as bad as expected We had colder and wetter weather than they normally have, according to the locals. We learned a lot about the history of the different areas from the Milepost (too much information...

Jul 2, 2012 - Cosmo's Entry: Colorado Bound

Today we rolled out of bed in North Platte, Nebraska early and ate at Penny's American Diner. Only four more days to go! We finished up breakfast, and hit the road for the five hour drive to Denver. When we got to there Cole, Sam and I saw Men in Black 3. When we were done viewing the movie we went to the Nike store andI helped Cole pick out a new pair of shoes. We went to Target to pick up Diet Cokes for the road got in the car and drove another five hours to Grand Junction, Colorado. We had a lovely Mexican food at a restaurant there....

Jul 2, 2012 - Jill's Entry: It's All About the People

We woke up at our motel in North Platte -- a place that apparently caters largely to train engineers. This was the first time I ever saw grown men wearing overalls, but when I told Danyal, he said I didn't get out enough. We ate breakfast in the hotel's diner, where we were waited on by the same woman who served us dinner late the night before. She was a fairly young woman, the mother of a 7-year-old who had moved from Seattle to Nebraska to care for her aging parents. She said she only made $4 an hour and said she pretty much lives on her...

Jul 1, 2012 - Grand Junction, CO - A Very Scenic Drive

(Ron Writing) This morning we worshiped at the Craig Christian Church in Craig, CO. The members of this medium sized congregation greeted us warmly and Pastor Traber Cass delivered an excellent sermon. We also stayed for adult Bible study after the service. It was expected to get up over 100° in Craig and by the time we left shortly after lunch it was already in the high 90’s. We headed south on WY-13, WY-789 to Rifle, CO. This route was not marked as being scenic on the AAA map but we would rate it right up there with many routes that are...

Jun 12, 2012 - Tuesday 12th June

Last night we went to Ruby Tuesday’s for dinner. It was okay, nothing to write home about but it filled our tummies. We took dessert away – they had red velvet cupcakes on the menu. I’d seen red velvet cakes or cup cakes being baked a few times recently on some of the cooking shows on tv, but had never had them. They tasted delicious! Tuesday started as usual with breakfast in the hotel. We checked out by 8.30am and headed to a nearby Walmart to buy some more bottled water – we’d run out of the supply we bought in Las Vegas, what seems like...

May 27, 2012 - Rocky Mountain High (or nearly there!)

May 27, 2012 Happy second birthday to Natalie Bond! We're in Grand Junction, Colorado. There is no wind, no dust, no grit. There are, however, many streets with half names: like D 1/2 Street, A 1/2 Street, etc. Why? Who knows! The sun is shining, and the temperature tonight is going down to 45. You just cannot have it all, I guess. Things we did not do in Grand Junction: Visit the Museum of Western Colorado and take the Dinosaur Journey. Visit the Colorado National Monument. Visit the National Dinosaur Monument. Go horseback riding. Visit...