Keeping It Real in Colorado

Upon departing Colorado Springs, thoroughly distraught about leaving Dharma, we made our way to Rifle, Colorado. Highway 70 is so scenic it's easy to forget you're driving on an expressway.

In Rifle, we filled up the Dod at a whopping $2.59/gallon and found a quiet Walmart parking lot to stay for the night. A liquor store sold the mysterious and hard-to-find Barenjager which is like Jagermeister minus black licorice plus honey. Over Barenjager on the rocks we played Boggle until we got sleepy and hit the sack.

Wednesday morning we got an early start and headed to Rifle City campground. At each campground I think "it can't get any better than this" but it does! Our peaceful campsite dubbed "Kathy's Garden" was set right next to two small waterfalls with a coniferous covered mountain providing a beautiful backdrop.

We found a felled tree during a challenging vertical hike and used our new-found axe to chop some firewood. Our apparel changed from sweatshirts to swimsuits at noon. The weather in Colorado is as unpredictable as in Michigan! We tried to befriend another bug but it sure was no Meow Meow.

After a relaxing day of sunbathing and reading and cross-stitching by the babbling brook, Chris cooked another delicious medley of kielbasa, potatoes, green pepper, onion and jalepeno in the cast-iron skillet. Chris strummed some original melodies on the guitar and I even broke out the clarinet to accompany. Yes, whisky was most certainly involved in this jam session.

Today we got a later start than usual and headed out towards Grand Junction, Colorado. On the way stopped in Palisade, CO. Palisade's motto is "a delicious place to be" because the town is chock-full of orchards. Unfortunately, being October, the orchards have bared all their fruit for the year and all the fruit stands are closed for the season. However, we did come across three local wineries with free tastings. Grande River vineyard was superb. We also stopped at Peach Street Distillery for a nightcap. Currently, we are parked at yet another Walmart for the evening. At this rate, we'll be featured on peopleofwalmart.com any day now.

Chris trying a Cabernet Sauvignon grape off the vine. Wine grapes are even tastier than table grapes!

The Dod checking out the vineyards.

This photo was taken while driving on Highway 70. Imagine if this was your commute to work each day!

Signing off with this fun fact: "Welcome to..." city signs change from population to elevation when you enter the Rockies.