We had an agenda today that included mostly mundane stuff and little fun. However, things worked out substantially better than initial expectations.
On the misery list this morning was replacing the truck tires, acquiring a battery for the house battery system for our Barbarian Invader fifth wheel trailer, replace our wireless indoor/outdoor weather station which died in our electrical surprise at Monument Valley, buy liquor and tobacco before we go back into Utah where there are bizarre liquor and tobacco laws and terrible prices and to pick up some ice since our portable icemaker performs poorly in weather hotter than Mercury.
The tires went off (and on) without a hitch. We went to a little shop called Pro Tire and Alignment in Grand Junction. It is located in a Quonset hut in town but the appearance should not sway prospective clients. Kevin, the owner, met us at the desk, pulled out the tires we wanted (Michelin truck tires), pulled our truck into the service bay and 35 minutes later we were done. Tires, mounting, balancing and smiling were included in the final $1107 price. The truck has 18″ wheels with 10-ply load range E tires and they ain’t cheap but they perform well.
Peggy accessed the ‘net from our phone and found we were very close to the Interstate Battery store so we then stopped over there for a new deep-cycle battery for our trailer. Another $155 left the accounts and we drove back to Junction West RV Park with our loot. Another little squabble with our battery compartment then ensued before the new battery installation was completed without serious injury. The cores were delivered back to the store and the first two ugly tasks on the agenda were done while it was still morning.
The rest of the agenda soon was relegated to the back seat and we decided to play a little hooky by driving 5 miles up the hill from Grand Junction to Colorado National Monument. Peggy and I were here in 1979 but since we are old, we really do not remember too much about the place other than we liked it.
The Monument is located along the south rim of the enormous valley where Grand Junction is the main city. We were soon at the fee station but passed without charge because of our Federal Access pass. The smiling Ranger gave us a map and told us to move along. The rim road in the Monument has two gates; one close to Grand Junction and the other at Fruita about 7 miles west. From the Grand Junction entrance the road immediately stars climbing up a series of switchbacks, passes through a neat semi-circular tunnel before emerging at the rim of the valley. From there, the road passes either immediately on the edge or pretty close to the edge of some absolutely spectacular canyons. Peggy was a bit nervous along the way because she is not fond of narrow roads running along the edges of abrupt drops to certain death, particularly those without guardrails.
The Monument has more gorgeous terrain like we have been fortunate enough to see recently in Capitol Reef, Bryce, Zion, Lake Powell and Monument Valley. I do not seem to be able to become bored with fantastic rock formations, colorful flowers, scurrying wildlife, Microsoft’s complete array of colors and viewpoints unlike anywhere else in the world. Even the road here at Colorado NM is spectacular with scenic switchbacks up steep canyon walls, good tunnels and great vistas to the north over Fruita and Grand Junction. The entire loop through the Monument is only about 25 miles but only covers about 7 or 8 miles as the crow flies.
We stopped at the visitor center near the Fruita fee station and picked up some of the woodcut-looking postcards sold at national parks and monuments. They are not available elsewhere. Our collection is getting pretty large.
Since we had finished today’s pass through the Monument, we were obliged to finish our original agenda items. Fortunately, there is a Cabela’s store here and we went there to replace our indoor/outdoor weather station. We also bought Peggy a better insulated water container and a DeLorme Gazetteer for Wyoming. Our collection of Gazetteers (combination road and topographic maps for the entire state) now includes most of the west: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and Wyoming. These maps are great when engaged in aimless wandering, something at which we excel.
We got some ice. We got some tobacco for me since Peggy is stronger and doesn’t use any. We went to a liquor store and left wondering if we were drunks because quite a bit of money changed hands there. Amazingly, we had finished our required agenda items for today and went to a national monument. What a day.
We shot some pictures during our pass through the Monument and you can see ’em if you click here