We were to meet the owners at 2 PM to get the tour and then they were taking off. When we arrived, things seemed calmly chaotic. The six month old puppy was barking non-stop, the one year old was screaming while he and his older sisters were having lunch, yet the owners didn’t seem bothered by all the noise. I think the wife was just hiding her frustration though. During all this, the wife was showing us the house which made it hard to hear and concentrate. Fortunately, soon the puppy soon quieted down and the baby was carried around happily while his dad tried to get organized for the two week trip. The RV had needed repairs so they had yet to go get it and also buy more cat food. The swamp cooler was being replaced as we spoke which just added to the goings on. The oldest child, 11, showed us how to care for the eight chickens. Despite an expected departure of 3 PM, it was closer to 5 before they finally had everything in the RV and headed off. I was surprised they didn’t leave even later as the house had needed some cleaning up and not everything was packed. Even at that, I ran the vacuum after they left to get up the crumbs and debris. The two cats were hiding in the back of her closet, but as the floor space is covered with bags and boxes of stuff, it was a precarious process to try to get back there to check on them.

The house is quite sizable at about 2600 square feet. The three bedrooms are all en-suite. The spacious living area has views of the hills and mountains but the backyard is cluttered and despite having an underground pool, gas grill, and fireplace, there was no plan to make it inviting. There are two other sections out back which are equally uninviting. One has nothing but a patio, rocks, and couple of weedy plants and the other has a raised putting green and some playground equipment in the dirt. Odd toys and such are scattered and tall grass is growing between most of the pavers. The kitchen is small, the knobs on the gas burners are on backwards, there is no stove vent, the microwave and oven look like they were white but have yellowed with age, and the countertops are inlaid laminate. I do love the stainless steel refrigerator and dishwasher, whose bottom rack actually rolls in and out properly, and the vast farmhouse sink. I am also not a fan of the ceramic tiles in the kitchen and living area as they are hues of pink, gray, and tan. The many floor to ceiling windows let in a lot of light giving an airy feel. The master bedroom is enormous but there are no outlets near the bed, at least that can be accessed, so the beside lamps are not plugged in. Most of the wall light switches don’t seem to work. They paid just over $600,000 for this house, which we find hard to believe. In addition, the sparse decor does not give the place any sense of home. Although they have lived here four years, the garage still is littered with open stray plastic tubs etc. with odd items strewn here and there. It is as though the movers loaded the garage and the unpacking was never finished.

A great aspect to this sit is that the Colorado National Monument is just a minute’s drive. After being in high heat and not wanting to do much in it for the past month, we drove through the monument the next day and loved it. I kept feeling such a grand sense of freedom from the heat and being able to do whatever we wanted. Freedom, freedom….. As we have a lifetime pass, we were able to enter without having to pay. Although, most of the national parks and such are not being monitored due to the pandemic. I didn’t see any cars with passes in the windows so I am afraid most people just forgo the pay station and take advantage of the situation.

The drive is one incredible view after another with canyons opening out to a panoramic valley below with mountains lining the horizon. Massive rock formations abound. While we were admiring one view, a man came along and said he had just seen a bighorn sheep. We didn’t see it so moved on and while taking in another view, saw several bighorn sheep way up a rocky outcropping. At first I could see one making its way across and up a massive rock and then noticed the rest of the crew higher up were resting and waiting in a flatter area in the shade. It was pretty cool to see them and watch two of them manage to scale the rock and not fall.

The next day we drove about an hour to the Grand Mesa area. At an elevation of over 9000 feet, the air was a clear and refreshing 59 degrees. I even wore long sleeves and pants! First we hiked a mile towards Lost Lake which is flanked by steep sides, one covered in large rocks and some trees. The turquoise water was beautiful and somewhat clear. Despite all that, it wasn’t photogenic so we didn’t linger. Once back, we rested while we had a quick lunch, and then made our way around a lake which had a flatter one mile trail. Several people were out boating or kayaking and some were fishing. One man caught and netted a small fish, probably a trout. When we returned to the parking lot we enjoyed the scenic pond with cabins in the woods at one end and another man fishing from a small boat.

A couple of days later, the need to get out and about having abated somewhat, we returned to the Colorado National Park for a short hike. The trailheads are just inside the entrance and we took the shortest one as it was already quite hot. Devil’s Kitchen trail is very poorly marked and was hard to follow when it traversed the large rocks. We eventually found our way, not taking the most direct route, and really had a better view of the open “front” side. The tall imposing structure provided welcome shade and a large area to rest out of the heat.

Meanwhile, after 48 hours the cats, Ricky and Lucy, were much for visible. Ricky suddenly decided to accept us and became quite friendly, rubbing against my legs and wanting his head rubbed. Although Lucy was visible more often than Ricky, it took her another two days to decide to be sociable and join us on the sofa. Surprisingly, at the same time she let me comb her, which she really needed with her long fur. Sometimes they slept with us, especially Ricky who gave us our space on the king sized bed. We also had eight chickens to tend, until one afternoon they became a flock of seven. It seemed to have died from natural causes as there were no signs of attack. I called the owner who gave us some options, but she preferred we just get rid of it so it wouldn’t be there when they returned. Bill took it down to the wash and the next morning it was gone. We assume a coyote came and took it off somewhere. We collected a few eggs every day, white ones and brown ones, large and small, with some of the white ones being a bit pointy.

Lucy
Ricky, Mr. Big Boy

Smoke from the California fires starting drifting our way in time for the weekend. The air quality was in the moderate range making it fair for healthy and poor for the sensitive. That put off any distance driving for hikes with a view so we basically stayed home for a few days. We could normally see the Grand Mesa from the living room but it was hidden while the smoke was in town. One day we drove to the other end of Colorado National Monument and slowly walked a one mile trail from the Visitor’s Center to Window Rock. The views would have been great on a clear day, but they still managed to impress us.

The next day we decided to explore the trails behind the house. I had tried the first morning, but flood waters overnight swept through the wash and were still abating preventing me from crossing. The owner had said there is a 40 minute loop which seemed right for a cardio walk. Having done that earlier in the morning, we took our time. Often we didn’t really see a trail as such, but bike treads in the softer areas of dirt guided us in the general direction. Once we got around the gray hills, the landscape became quite interesting and different. It reminded us both of the moon, minus any craters. Random huge boulders lay strewn about. After about 45 minutes and a steep climb, we tried to figure out where to go to return to the house. There was no shade and the temperature had increased almost ten degrees since we began the exploration. Not being sure what was ahead of us, we decided the safest idea was simply to retrace our steps. The only wildlife was a few small lizards and a few quail.

Late that afternoon the air cleared and we could see the Grand Mesa, but by morning it was obscured again. Frustrated we couldn’t really go anywhere, we decided to check out the nearby Colorado State Park. With the air still cool we enjoyed a brisk walk around the connected lakes. There were a couple of people fishing from boats, ducks feeding, two single blue herons standing still while being vigilant, and a kingfisher perched on a branch over handing the water looking for breakfast. The nine dollar/car entry fee was good until noon the next day, so we kept that in mind if the smoke were bad again the next day. We also stopped by the adjacent Audubon Park which is being redone into a wetland area but is still dry. One trail took us to the river where otters live, but alas, we didn’t spy any. We returned the next morning for our cardio walks and all I saw were what were likely raccoon tracks down by the river. We also walked another trail at the Audubon Center and spied a few ducks and up on the telephone wires, what was probably a kingfisher.

The last excursion was to Black Canyon of the Gunnison, about an hour and a half south east of Grand Junction. It was well worth the drive with very striking steep deep views of the canyon. Despite the heat, we did get in a hike, almost two miles, which dropped down quite a bit before ascending. To get all the way down to the river below, one needs a wilderness permit purchased previously. It must provide amazing views though of the sharply steep canyon walls though. After sweating through the cardio hike, we drove the rest of the road and made several stops along the way to enjoy the views. As each one had quite a walk to the view, we opted out of a couple of the ones close together; we were tired from our strenuous walk. This is a national park well worth a visit!