Downtown Grand Junction, Colorado

     There were no passes to climb over on our drive to Grand Junction from the Black Canyon park and it was a relief - a sign that we are getting tired.  We spent most of the trip driving downhill to an altitude under 5000 feet.  After being at over 8000' for a long time, it feels like I have extra oxygen - I'm sure that is why athletes train at high altitude.  The Colorado and Gunnison Rivers join here in the Grand Valley which was a huge fruit growing area in the 1880's.

     We are in a traditional KOA campground on the edge of town.  It is just off the main road and has no shrubs between sites.  But it has big trees and green grass and is next to the County Fairgrounds so there is a lot of open space.  It is nice to have cell phone access so we can call Matt and his family to catch up on their trip to Disney World.  I like the mix of remote, rustic camping and commercial campgrounds on this trip.

    We set up out lawn chairs in the shade, but the temps are on their way to well over 90 in this high desert and the heat is dragging us down.  We escaped inside to air conditioning and rested until we remembered THE POOL.  It is  a small pool, without much landscaping, but there is some shade and the water is sparkling clean.  What a treat to have a nice swim and then relax in the shade as we socialize with other campers.  

     We are on the edge of town, but I read that "downtown" is very nice so we drove a few miles (across the Colorado River) to the very nicely updated Main Street.  The street has been narrowed to two lanes and has some curves built into it around fountains, gardens, outdoor sculptures, and outdoor cafes.  It is what Nicolet Mall could be without the buses.  There were many nice shops in historic buildings, but most were closed by the time we got downtown.  However, the area was full of folks walking around, playing in the spray park, and eating at one of the many restaurants.

   We chose Italian and had a very sophisticated north Italian meal.  No spaghetti on the menu!  Rick was disappointed to see that the Gelato shop had closed by the time we were done with dinner and is determined to go back for some tomorrow.  We went back to a quiet campground and enjoyed the rest of the evening outside in the warm night.