Rocky Mountain High!!!

We leave Green River late; figuring where we are going from here. Shall we continue on to Denver or make a detour to Moab, which we understand is very busy at this time of the year.

Another bank loan?

I make a call to the KOA at Grand Junction enquiring into their weekly rates. It works out at about $26 a night which is not too bad. Also there is an Enterprise Rental Car handy with a good weekend rate. So we head east to the Colorado State line; 100 miles to Grand Junction, Colorado.

We are travelling on I-70; high desert with mountains to the south. We catch views of Monument National Park in the distance.
We drove this road more than 27 years ago in 1987 on our first trip to the US when we drove from San Diego to South Dakota.

We cross the state line into Colorado at 12 noon - within a few miles the countryside is looking a whole lot greener.

We stop at the Visitors Centre at Fruitta. Once again we are overwhelmed with an avalanche of information and brochures. Then we are off to KOA Grand Junction (Kampgrounds of America.) We are members and receive a 10% discount on rates.


We have booked into the RV park for a week. It's nice to get set up and stop for a while.

The bikes are off!! We are out on the roads exploring as soon as we are hooked up.


No - the wheels haven't fallen off, but ... punctures! We must have ridden over weeds with prickles like double gees! Every time I look outside, Trevor is bent over one of the bikes fixing punctures. No sooner than one is fixed he finds another - 10 in all!!


So some necessary purchases -  2 new tyres and tubes. We also buy a hummingbird feeder. We see 2 hummingbirds feeding at it. They are  amazing little birds.

Grand Junction is the largest city between Denver and Salt Lake City and approximately halfway between them. It is the largest regional hub for Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. and sits at an elevation of 4,586 ft.

(We are still finding the higher elevations somewhat difficult. We should be eating more red meat and drinking lots more water.)


The scenery in this part of Colorado is stunning  - from the brilliantly coloured plateaus and canyons of the Colorado National Monument to the lush flat-topped mountain called Grand Mesa, a 10,000 ft high 'island in the sky' and everything in between.  So much to see!!

We take a rental car for the weekend - Trevor picks it up mid morning on Friday and we drive into downtown Grand Junction. The city is spread out. I look for coffee; I think I must have put the furthest possible Starbucks in the gps. We seem to drive a long way!

Trevor gives blood at St Mary's Hospital, Grand Junction - the third time in our travels.

On Saturday we drive to the Colorado National Monument. I thought we had seen all the majestic natural structures possible in Utah, but ... no!

The Visitors Centre in the park is interesting with information, exhibits and audiovisual programs. We learn that the grand sculptor of the majestic rock formations has been erosion and that time - lots of it - is a loyal ally. It has taken millions of years to carve the many massive spires, domes, sheer-walled canyons, balanced rocks, arches and windows of the park.

The Colorado National Monument high country rises over 2,000 ft above the Grand Valley of the Colorado River, part of the Colorado Plateau which also includes the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion Canyons.

We take the Rim Rock Drive, a 23 mile road which climbs from the valley of the Colorado river to the high country and then winds along the plateau rim.

There are many road-side overlooks along the way; I think we stop at them all.
The road is also popular with cyclists as well as motorists.

It is a semi-desert land of pinyon pines and juniper trees, ravens and jays, desert bighorns and coyotes.
But it is the rock sculptures and sheer cliff walls that take your breath away.

Each turn of the road brings new, wondrous sights.

Independence Monument

Coke Ovens - colourful rock  domes.

The Colorado National Monument was the dream of one man. In 1907, John Otto wrote: "I came here last year and found these canyons and they felt like the heart of the world to me ... it should be a national park." Otto was considered crazy by many; he lived alone out in the wild and desolate canyon country. But he campaigned tirelessly for it to be set aside as a national park. He built miles of trails over difficult, often tortuous terrain so that others could appreciate its beauty.
In 1911 Otto's dream came true - Colorado National Monument was established.

Otto was rewarded by being named the park's caretaker, a job he carried out for the next 16 years - building and maintaining trails while living in a tent in the park - for $1 a month!!

On the way home we buy a lottery ticket in the National Power Ball Jackpot - the prize $600,000,000 - more than 1/2 a billion $ - yeah right!