On our way from Telluride to Idaho, we decided to stop overnight in Grand Junction, Colorado. We didn’t really know what to expect, just knew that it was a larger town near the border with Utah.
Looking for a place to camp, Alex found a couple options that looked like they might have decent campsites. So far, we have only reserved one campsite in advance — the one in the Ozarks. The rest have been “first come, first camp”, a bit of a gamble since we never know if there will be available sites until we get there. We have also been arriving late in the evening, decreasing the likelihood of availability. Twice, we claimed the last available spot in the campground. So, again, we put the address into Google Maps and hoped for the best.
As an aside: Just before we reached Grand Junction, we stopped at a gas station in what seemed like a fairly remote area, mostly desert landscape all around. But to our surprise, instead of the usual convenience store that accompanies a gas station, we found a large (for a gas station) Asian grocery store. It had all sorts of Asian foods, even whole durian and fresh jackfruit. We couldn’t understand what this Asian store was doing there in the middle of nowhere, and were pleased to discover it even though we didn’t need to shop for food.
Just past Grand Junction is a town called Fruita, and it has an entrance to Colorado National Monument. The drive had been fairly flat for a few hours, and we weren’t really expecting what this would be.
From the ranches and residential areas of Grand Junction and Fruita rises a sheer red rock formation, with a scenic road winding along its rim, cutting through tunnels, and coming up 2,000 feet above the surrounding landscape to a flat top. This is where we found our campsite.
We arrived around 8 pm and looked around in awe at this unexpected sight. The walls of the canyons in the distance glowed with different shades of red as the sun set overhead.
By the time we got situated, an almost-full moon had risen over the horizon. There was a light breeze, and aside from the continuous sound of crickets, it was very quiet. The temperature had come down from 100 degrees to a much more comfortable 84, and we relaxed in our chairs for the rest of the night as the stars gradually came into view.
Plus, we had cell signal, a rarity on this road trip. A perfect evening.
That sheep is smiling!
I know, right!? He was kind of scary but so cool to watch