Grand Junction, Colorado

The 23rd was a laid back day, it was rainy and overcast for most of the day.  We went for a lovely breakfast at Main Street Cafe which had Canadian content but didn't have the opportunity to figure how/who as they were so busy.

I later had the opportunity to READ...it felt very decadent!  After a short walk over to a local grocery store in Hurricane, Utah, my sweet hubby made a lovely dinner of shrimp pasta.  The other outstanding event was that our new next door neighbors were from California and turned out to be conservative, similarly concerned about the future of our grandchildren and who was going to pay for everything in the future...

Today, after much analysis over routes and weather, we chose to move on to Grand Junction, Colorado. 380 miles later we arrived at a small KOA campground. Not as nice as our prior home but still lovely. After settling in we went on a winery tour. To me, this was one of the highlights of our trip, meeting with local business owners, learning their struggles, who they are, and where they are from. Our first stop was Whitewater Hill, a lovely winery that was hopping with activity. Squeezed in amongst other patrons, we found it the most commercialized of the three we visited and the one that was the least intimate. The second winery, Hermosa, was a convenient hop, skip, and a jump down the road. Much more interesting, more character and fabulous Cab Franc. More rustic as the tasting room was in a converted garage but we felt great affinity with the vintner. An electrical engineer (Dirk has his origins in civil engineering) AND he lived in Conroe and commuted to Sugerland back in the days before he declined fed he wanted his children to have an agricultural upbringing. Great personality, loaded with personality, and loves people!  The final winery we visited was an older couple who had bought the winery 7 years ago and unfortunately and uncharacteristically lost their vineyards two hail and frost during two of those years, a catastrophe for anyone in the agricultural business without crop insurance. We spent the most time with them, meeting a neighbor vintner with a geology background who explained extensively the balance of water wllocation of the Colorado River water rights with California. Stable at the moment but certain to get ugly if the drought continues. Maybe another night here...we shall see whether the campground has space to extend a night, what the weather window is for Texas and whether we face snow in Breckenridge. Having a fabulous time but missing family, especially our Alli Mae!