It's 10:00 p.m. here in Grand Junction, Colorado. We've traded in the aspen and pine trees of the alpine environment for a hot, mountain desert environment. But before I talk about Grand Junction, I need to write about the drive here from Estes Park.
This was one of the days I had been dreading since we started the trip: the ride over the Rocky Mountains to get across the state of Colorado. And I'm only the co-pilot.
The ride down to Denver was uneventful. Jeff and I drove separately from Estes Park to Longmont because of the windy descent out of the mountains, and hooked back up along the side of the road. West of Denver, we began our ascent from about 5,000 feet to 11,000 feet, the highest point of our drive. And that was just get through a tunnel - not the top of the mountain.
Jeff did an amazing job driving. He stayed calm and kept the engine from overheating by running the heater when we were going up. Whenever possible, he got a running start to hills to make it easier. The ascents seemed longer and more gradual, whereas the descents were more steep. So Jeff put the engine in lower gear so he wouldn't burn out the breaks. He was so good about it that the kids never knew how hard it was for him to get the RV and Jeep up that mountain.
And then he did it again at the Vail Pass, about 25 miles farther down the road, and about 10,000 feet high.
We got to see Vail from the interstate, but didn't take the exit. Too painful to maneuver with a RV towing a Jeep. We also passed Breckenridge and some other ski towns. It was a scenic drive.
There is a beautiful stretch where we were driving alongside the Colorado River through the Glenwood Canyon. The mountains in the Canyon are gorgeous. While I was taking in the scenery and trying to figure out how to take pictures from my seat in the RV, Jeff was dealing with the winds, trying to keep the RV on the road. Usually, I feel the wind pushing us around, but I didn't this time. Again, Jeff did a great job driving.
It is amazing to watch the scenery change as we made our way west on I-70. The colors of the mountains changed, the types of trees changed, and even the texture of the mountains changed. We started to see gold and red colors in the rocks of the mountains, and sometimes it seemed like there was sand near the top. In some areas, you could see how the wind shaped the rocks, and how the water shaped it in other areas. We watched the river gush past, and in one spot, very brave people were getting on rafts to go whitewater rafting. There was something interesting to see around every corner.
As we got closer to Grand Junction, I looked out Jeff's window, and was surprised to see so much green - farm fields and trees. Out my window, looked like a mountainous desert. Very few trees - just rock and sand.
Out Jeff's window, I saw one of the many wineries in Grand Junction. There were also lots of fruit orchards. They have a farmers market here, and we might try to go find it.
The town has about 48,000 people living in it. No real high rises - the taller buildings have three or four floors. There's a dinosaur museum nearby that is supposed to be very good, as once again, we're in prime dinosaur fossil territory. We're also near the Colorado Monument, which is actually part of the National Park Service sites. We might check that out tomorrow. Another landmark near Grand Junction is the Grand Mesa, which is a huge, flat mountain near Grand Junction that has more than 100 lakes on it, and lots of great scenery.
This gives us some options for things to do in the coming days.
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