In Which Grandma and Grandpa Visit Grand Junction, part 1

In September, Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Nick came to visit us in Grand Junction! They arrived on a Sunday, just before lunch, so we immediately stuffed them with sandwiches and crammed them into the back seat of the Subaru and took off for a bike ride, with 2 tandems strapped to the top of the car. We drove west from town, up to the top of a big plateau, and started our ride from the town of Glade Park.

From there we zoomed downhill about 4 miles until we reached the Colorado National Monument. Then we rode for a few miles along Rim Rock Drive, with views of red rocks, deep canyons, the valley where Grand Junction sits, and the Bookcliffs and the Grand Mesa that rise up from the other side of the valley. Cailan kept looking down at the buildings, trying to find our gray house. We could see the tall tower of the hospital near our house, but we couldn't actually identify our house.

Riding on Rim Rock Drive is amazing, because of the spectacular scenery, but also unnerving, because of the large drop-offs on the side of the road. We stopped for a rest break and to let Cailan get out of his bike seat, and these are the only pictures we got of the ride:





The return ride from the monument back to our car at Glade Park was as grueling as we had expected - when you start a ride by whizzing down hill at 30 miles per hour, it's a bit disheartening to think about climbing back up all that elevation at the end of a ride. Fortunately, we were in no hurry and could take a few rest breaks on the way! We got back to the Subaru just as the sign on the Glade Park Store flipped from Open to Closed, so we missed our chance for a nice cold drink. Instead, we went back to the house and had showers and homemade pizza.