Thursday was
a record setting day for Greeley: not only did they have lots and lots of
people attending this year’s Greeley Stampede, but they also had the highest
temperature recorded for this date – 103 degrees. We used this as a good excuse
to stay indoors the entire day. We did laundry, watched a Sandra Bullock movie,
ate steaks and played cards.
Laurie and
David were very welcoming hosts and made us feel right at home. It was fun to
visit with them. Thanks for everything Laurie and David! We enjoyed your
company.
Summer has
arrived in full force in the west. It seems each day is progressively hotter
than the previous one. I’m sure some of this is attributable to a certain
degree of road fatigue on our part. We’ve been at it since April 23 and we can
hear the faint call of our hometown.
We decided to
set aside our peripatetic ways and make our way back to Fullerton. This means
there are still several places we have yet to visit, but we now know how to
make the most of our time on the road. This will come in handy on future trips.
Friday
morning we got an early start and got onto I-70 West. This road takes you right
up over the Rocky Mountains. Much of the first part of the day was spent going
about 45 mph up the eastern face of the mountains. I’ve been up I-70 through to
Vail a few years ago, but everything west of there was new to us.
This highway
is something of an engineering marvel. The Eisenhower Tunnel is at about 11,000
feet elevation and you can feel the altitude even when you’re sitting in the
car passing through the long tunnel under the mountain. Further west, you get
to the Glenwood Canyon section of the highway, which has spectacular scenery
and amazing road design.
The gorge through the canyon is very narrow and
somehow they got a four lane highway through there. There are sections where
the westbound lanes are elevated above the eastbound lanes, and where winding
tunnels go right through the mountain. They put several rest areas within the
12 mile section of highway that are designed to let travelers get a closer look
at the towering canyon walls, the Colorado River, Hanging Lake and other
natural features.
We couldn’t
get a confirmed campsite ahead of schedule, but Karen called the James Robb
State Park and found out that there was a good chance we’d find a walk-in site.
Sure enough, we got to the campground and they let us in. Located just off the
highway along the Colorado River, it’s just what we need for tonight.
It’s Friday
night out on the town, so we headed a couple of miles west to the town of
Palisade, CO. Palisade bills itself as the ‘Peach Capital of Colorado’. This is
not peach season, so we didn’t get to try them out. However, we did have dinner
at the Palisade Café 11.0 (the current owner is the eleventh owner). The
locally grown heirloom tomato appetizer was great. So was the deep fried
avocado taco and the locally brewed beer.
After dinner,
we walked over to the Palisade Brewery to try some more beer. We chatted for a while
with the brewer, who gave us a sample of this year’s special brew, ‘Love Potion
Number 8’. Apparently, they’ve made a special Love Potion each of the years
they’ve been in business and this is the 8th year. Karen told him he
really needs to pull out all the stops for next year’s ‘Love Potion Number 9’.
On the way
back to the car, we stopped at the Palisade Distillery, whose specialty spirit
is a pear brandy. The distiller told us they start off by carefully hanging empty
brandy bottles on pear trees, then let the pears bud out and grow to maturity
inside the bottles. After that, the rest of the process takes place.
We’re back at
camp now and the temperature has finally dropped to the low 70’s here at 4700
feet elevation. It’s strangely comforting to be surrounded by the high mesas
and buttes of the west. We plan to get up early and get over to Utah tomorrow.
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