Exploring

One gray Saturday, we had to get out of the apartment. We decided to head south for the small town of Montrose. As we drove through downtown Montrose, we saw a sign for Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We had never heard of this national park. We were awed and surprised when we drove up to the edge of the canyon and peered down into an incredibly dark and tall canyon with only a sliver of the Gunnison River below.

Colorado National Monument

Grand Junction is in a valley set between two imposing, rock edifices. The strange and beautifully worn white Bookcliffs and the earthy red Colorado National Monument. The monument is minutes from downtown and is a mesa that has been eroded by water leaving canyons and rock formations. It is a wonderful place to hike and watch wildlife. Eagles and ravens soar overhead and lizards dart below. Most exciting are the bighorn sheep which were at one time close to extinction, but have now made a come back. They are incredibly nimble climbing up the soft red rocks.

Palisades Peaches

The Grand Junction area is full of peach orchards and roadside fruit stands. Clementine loved playing in the big corn bin at one of our favorite fruit stands. We arrived in Grand Junction at the height of peach season and it was a sweet welcome to our new home.

Grand Junction

Grand Junction is a small college town, as the theater billboard indicates. It has a lovely downtown with lots of trees and neat shops. There are sculptures on every corner and most of them are for sale. Once a year the sculptures are changed and new artists display their work. Our favorite things about downtown are the farmer's market, the bagel shop, and the gelato shop. The gelato is made fresh everyday with locally grown ingredients including lavender, peaches, corn, and pears. Our favorites are plum, hazelnut, and spicy chocolate. We have not tried the avocado flavor yet, but we hear it is good. The very best thing about downtown is we can walk there is a few minutes.