The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

We arrived in Montrose yesterday, but I didn't get a chance to post anything. We met a nice couple from Pueblo in the campground and sat outside with the kitties talking until almost 10 pm. I am posting some of the previous days pictures now.

Since we didn't have to leave the campground in Fruita until noon and we were only driving about 70 miles to the next stop in Montrose, we sat outside in the morning for a short time. There was a nice cool breeze and we enjoyed the leisurely time we had there. We liked this CG so much we hated to have to leave. As you can see the boys enjoyed it too.

                                     
                                                 More time in the playpen for the boys.

         
          Finnegan is so relaxed. He loves this corner of the dashboard for some reason.

After we left the CG we had to return the rental car. It was so much easier this time than trying to do it in the middle of 50 mph winds. Once we arrived in Montrose we drove to the airport to pick up our next rental car. This was pretty easy and the lady at Enterprise gave us a free upgrade to a Nissan Pathfinder which is really fun to drive.

Today, Sunday we decided to visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. On the way we stopped at Starvin Arvin's which is known for their breakfast. I had a western omelet with hash browns and biscuit. Look at the size of this "cat head" biscuit. One is more than I could eat. David had corned beef hash with eggs, hash browns and biscuits. By the time I got my camera out he was half way finished with his and too embarrassed to have me take a picture.

The Black Canyon was amazing, It is about 2700 ft deep with a river running through the gorge.

It was as impressive as the Grand Canyon, but unfortunately you cannot capture the 3 dimensions of  the canyon and gorge in pictures.

After our little outing we came back to the MH for the afternoon and made some hamburgers on the grill. It is nice and cool here at night and we are really enjoying the weather.

Here's 

where we are now.

A Day Exploring the Colorado National Monument

We left after breakfast to drive to the Colorado National Monument which is park of the National Park Service. This is another time our NPS Senior Pass has paid for itself.

As we were leaving all 3 kitties were watching us leave. Bentley, Finnegan and ..........can you see Nickie?

He's in the driver's seat.

The CNM was only 3 miles from our campground, right down the same road from it actually. The drive through the CNM was 23 miles long with pull offs along the way for you to view the various scenery and overlooks. I'm not going to explain each one, only show the pictures. We took so many pictures and these are just a few,

We had lunch in Grand Junction and drove back to our campground to enjoy the campground we are in and spend time with the kitties. They deserved a little go out time after being in the MH all morning, This CG has a picnic table with a cover and a little gravel area around the table as well as a fire ring. What a terrific CG for a state park,

The kitties all enjoyed their play pen and getting out in the breeze while looking for bunnies and birdies.

                                                                     
                                                                        David enjoyed it too.

    We made some chicken on the grill and took the kitties for a stroll around the CG. What a nice day.

On the Road to Fruita (or better know as) Lost in Fruita

This morning we went back to the Golden Burro for breakfast before heading out on Highway 24 towards I-70 to continue our trip to Grand Junction or actually Fruita where the James M Robb State Park campground sits. As we left Leadville there was a big snow storm heading over the mountain, but luckily we only got a slight snowy mix. It was still petty cool as it got down to 27 degrees last night.

Highway 24 had beautiful scenery with a lot of hairpin turns. We made good progress as we drove along.

The picture below looked like an abandoned village and the houses looked fairly new.

        In this area there was a lot of Birch trees with new bright green leaves. It was a stark contrast against the evergreens.

 Highway 24 ran alongside the Eagle River, which was beautiful and we saw several people fly fishing.

 This house sat alongside the Eagle River.  They had some terrific river views from the back of their house.

                                     We went through Minturn, a small town on the river.

                                                                        The Eagle River.

  Once on I-70 we passed Glenwood Springs and the scenery began to change from mountain views to more red rock views. Also the Colorado River joined in and the elevation dropped from 10,000 to 5,500.

                                      Nicholas enjoyed the change in scenery too.

                                             The Colorado River.

                               We could see a storm brewing as be got closer to Grand Junction.

                                          And of course Finnegan had to have his turn on the dash board.

                                       All 3 boys are enjoying the ride.

 We were scheduled to pick up our rental car at the airport in Grand Junction on the way to the CG in Fruita, We got to the airport, but there wasn't clear signage as to where the terminal was or we just did't see it. David headed for the passenger drop off direction, found a good spot to park the MH while I got out to pick up the car. The wind had pick up and was about 50mph.  I headed to what looked like the terminal, but as I got closer realized that was not it. I ask a person walking by and he told me it was on the opposite side of the airport from where I was. I spoke with David on the walkie talkie and he said the MH was rocking and rolling in the wind. Well, no joke-I was walking into the wind trying to see where I was going while looking for the terminal. Unfortunately we couldn't park the MH in the regular parking lot, so there I was roaming the airport in gale force winds. I finally got to the terminal, got the car and we thought that was the worse of it. Well, that would be WRONG.

The GPS  was programed for the address of the CG and so I followed David in the car since he had the GPS. It sent us down a road off of I-70, making a right turn here, a left turn there through farm lands. paved roads, unpaved roads, and out in the middle of no where for about 10 miles with still no sight of the CG.. Thinking the GPS was taking us on a shorter route, it then became apparent that it was sending us to no man's land. We were on a dirt road and it was telling us to turn where there was no road. Passed a sign that said BLM and then something about a dessert. Boy that just didn't sound right. The next thing we knew we were at a parking area for a trail head. Realizing we were totally lost and no clue as to how to find our way out I used the GPS on my cell phone to navigate us out to the CG. The main GPS had us going in the opposite direction from where we should have been going. Words to the wise. DON'T BLINDLY FOLLOW YOUR GPS.


LOST IN FRUITA

We made it to the CG and what a terrific CG for a state park. It is right next to the Colorado National Monument and it is a very modern, clean CG. I'll take more picture tomorrow but here are a couple taken today. We have great views and can't wait to explore the area.

Where we are now.