A Valentines Getaway

above: Rim Rock Road, Grand Junction is seen in the valley and Grand Mesa beyond.

 

I arrived in Grand Junction Colorado, after my short trip to South Carolina, on February 13th to a bouquet of flowers and a dark chocolate heart on my pillow. I had arranged my flight to go through Grand Junction instead of Montrose, our usual location, so that the Hippygeek and I could spend a couple of days together. Not just because it was Valentines Day but also because it was our Anniversary.

 

above: My beautiful bouquet. (No picture of the chocolate, I ate that.)

 

After spending 24/7 with our kids, who we still adore (believe it or not), for the last nine months, we thought we would take advantage of the babysitting provided by their Grandparents and have a couple of days to ourselves.

 

 

We chose Grand Junction because it sounded like an interesting place to visit and the Colorado National Monument is nearby. We booked a room downtown so that we could walk to the shops and restaurants on the pedestrian friendly main street which is also decorated with a museum’s worth of sculpture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the 14th, our Valentersary (Valentines Day + Anniversary, yeah, I know, it’s kinda corny), we celebrated by exploring the Colorado National Monument, part of the Colorado Plateau, just a few miles from downtown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove Rim Rock Road which is a 23 mile road that snakes through the park from one end to the other. The drive gives breathtaking views of rock formations with 500 foot cliffs, canyons, the valley below and Grand Mesa. The weather threatened to drop rain then, dropped snow instead which made the scenery seem even more dramatic. It also left the park empty except for a few hearty cyclists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After visiting over 23 National Parks and Monuments, we have discovered that many of them exist only because ONE person cared enough to devote their life to preserving that special place. And, John Otto was the man that loved this place enough to see that it became part of the National Park system in 1911.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He also built the first road through the park called the Trail of the Serpent which had 52 switchbacks in a four mile stretch. Just the thought of traveling that road makes me a little green so I was glad that a new road was completed in 1950. It is still a twisty drive with 2300 vertical feet of elevation gain and 3 tunnels which makes for an interesting and grueling bike ride but was fine by car. The Trail of the Serpent has since become one of the 14 hiking trails in the Park.

 

 

We spent some time at the Saddlehorn Visitors Center then slowly made our way through the park taking advantage of all of the pull-offs to view the amazing scenery. It was a little to cold to do any real hiking so we were quite satisfied with the driving tour.

 

 

The Hippygeek is a bit of a foodie so we finished up our little getaway with a lovely dinner at 626 on Rood where we had Foie Gras for the first time, mmmmmm, melt in your mouth! Combine the beauty of mother nature + great food + the best of company and you get one of the best Valentersaries EVER!

 

 

The most beautiful view is the one I share with you.  ~Author Unknown