A Stormy Relationship

Normally, my blog focuses on places we have visited and our activities while we are there.  Yesterday, God brought the show to us via storm clouds and rain.  We didn't have to drive anywhere or even get on our bikes.  All I had to do is take pictures of the landscape as it changed from hour to hour.

Clouds building up around 3 PM.

Same mountain range, three and a half hours later.  Most of the sky was clouded over, with streaks of sun highlighting the cliffs of the mountain range.

Ten minutes later, there was a bit more sun as we walked around the campground.  It was sprinkling at that point, and we made it back inside just before it started to rain much harder.

By 7:10 PM, it had stopped sprinkling and the sky was shades of buttercup yellow, pale pink, orange and light purple as I looked to the east.

Turning around and looking west revealed a beautiful sunset and blue skies after the rain stopped.  This makes me thankful that the Lord has provided me with eyesight to see and enjoy His mighty wonders.

Riding along the Colorado

Since we carry along our bikes, we're always searching for nice places to ride while we travel, preferably ones that are fairly flat.  We are definitely not mountain bikers.  With the help from a guy at the local REI store, we found a great biking/hiking trail in Grand Junction.

This portion of the trail heads west towards Fruit, and is quite new.  According to the website, the trail is supposed to end up at the Fruita Visitor Center.  We almost had the trail completely to ourselves: we met only one lonely jogger along the way.  We are used to the trails in Loveland and Ft. Collins, awash with bikers, joggers, walkers and plenty of canines.

As we followed the path along the Colorado River and various ponds, it provided great views of the mesas to the east.

Don was ahead of me as he rode into the Walter Walker Wildlife Loop.  Wildlife Loop?  We hadn't even seen a bird or a rabbit.  Was all the wildlife in hiding or at some kind of conference?

However, as we rode into the area that was thick with bushes and trees, we both heard a noise..... and we had no idea of what it was at first.  I looked to my left and about 10 feet from me was the mother deer.  Off she bounded into the open area, her little fawn in front of her. I turned around my bike, knowing which way she was headed,  and was lucky to get a photo of both of them.

The clouds were building up, and it was so windy that we had to pedal going downhill!

All in all, we got in a nice ride that afternoon.  Then it was time for us to us to do some grocery shopping and make dinner.  At least we worked off some calories and got our daily dose of sunshine.

A Step Back into History

We got to Fruita on Wednesday afternoon, and that night we looked up things to do or see in Grand Junction.  Near the top of the list was the Cross Orchards Farm, established in the late 1880's by Isabelle Cross.  She came from a wealthy family in Boston who owned Red Cross and Walk Over Shoe companies.

For those of you in the younger generation (for us that is anyone under 50), Don is standing next to an old gasoline pump.  Quite a change from what they look like now!

By 1909, the Red Cross Land and Fruit Company had over 22,000 apple trees planted on 243 acres of land.  There was a huge Maltese Cross painted on the barn, which could be seen for miles back then.

This is one of the semi-dwarf apple trees planted about 50 years ago. In the early 1900's, there were Black Twig, Gano, Jonathan, Winesap, Rome Beauty and Ben Davis apple trees being harvested.  However, a devastating Codling Moth infestation hit in the teens, and led to the failure of the farm by 1923. The Codling Moth burrows into the apple, creating worm holes.  It was, and still is, the worst pest for apple crops. To combat the pests back then, the trees were sprayed with a lead arsenate insecticide every 2-3 days and "bug boys" were hired to crush the larvae by hand.  

 This was an interesting antique.  Don and I figured out that it must have held either water or insecticide spray after seeing the tank with the old hose attached. 

This is the original kitchen part of the bunkhouse, which was built in 1897.  Notice the unique "wallpaper" applied to the ceiling and top part of the walls.

This is still being run as a living history farm, with people in period dress and animals in the barnyard.  One of the workers told us that Midnight, the calf, loved eating the apples from the orchard.  She goes through 2 or 3 barrels of apples each day.  As I came near, she trotted right over to me.

And got up nice and close!  She was looking for her treat.

The original structures of the barn and packing shed are still standing.  In the height of the season, there were 50 or more pickers.  They were paid 1 cent per box and could earn between $2.50-$3.00 during a 14 hour day of back breaking work.  Boxes were assembled by young boys in the loft and sent through a chute into the packing floor.  Most of the packing was done by women.  Below you can see the entrance to the storage cellar, which could hold up to 3 train car loads of apples.  Apples were stored there until winter when they could be sold at a higher price.

The packing shed

This was one of the pictures on the wall in the packing shed.  Most of the workers used 3 legged ladders, but this group of men opted for stilts.  It would take a lot of practice and coordination to be able to walk on those things and pick apples at the same time.

Against the side of the barn were 3 legged ladders of all sizes.

 They even had a 3 legged ladder still being used under one of the apple trees.

Don was quite interested in all the old antique tractors since he grew up on a farm.  The ones he is standing by were started by cranks in the front.  He did find an old John Deere that used a wheel on the side of the tractor to start the engine.

Our tour was over and we headed out for a bite to eat.  I  had to take a picture of the street we were on.  Not only do they have 28 1/2, or 27 1/2 streets, etc., they also have B 1/2!  That is the main street half way between B street and C street.  Were they combining arithmetic and spelling to come up with that one?  I sure think whoever named these streets was smoking something.....  After all, this is Colorado, home of people who love their pot!

A "Monumental" Day

We arrived at the James M. Robb State Park in Fruit on Wednesday and it took us only about half an hour to set up and settle in.  That left us all afternoon to do some exploring.

So, off we went to Colorado National Monument.  We thought it might take us an hour or so, but we wound up taking 4 hours between driving and stopping at most of the overviews.  Not at all like I had envisioned.

We got excellent views of the Grand Junction valley below us.

However, to get to those awesome views, we had to drive up some roads with steep drop offs.  Did you notice that there are NO guardrails?  I kept asking Don to hug the yellow line while I tried calming myself.  Seriously, that is exactly what I did!  Just looking at this picture gives me chills up and down my spine.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I heartily agree.  There is no way I can describe the beauty of God's creation with just words.

An old gnarled Juniper tree, weathered and without needles, stands in front of the beautiful backdrop of the canyon.

The large rock at the very front is called Independence Monument, and the smaller one almost in the middle of the picture is called Praying Hands. Off the middle and to the right is the Pipe Organ rock.

As I came upon this trail post, I was reminded of Don's father, Otto.  He was such a wonderful father, father-in-law, grandpa.  

Otto's trail took me out over the mesa, where I was able to get this picture.

The tall rock below is called Independence Monument.  John Otto was the first person to summit it in 1911. Every year, on the 4th of July, hundreds of people climb up to the top.  The final part is the precarious backward leaning climb around the caprock.  That is something I will never, ever do!  

The Coke Ovens Overlook shows off the unique formation of these group of rocks.

Below is the view from Cold Shivers Point.  It was very windy that day, and at times it was hard to stand up straight.  I was glad for the guard rail when I finally got the nerve to look down!  No wonder it is named Cold Shivers Point.

This is a picture at one of the overlooks.  Glad I wasn't in that van!  One more thing to be thankful for.

Fall weather at Rifle Falls

Just a short drive from Rifle Gap State Park is Rifle Falls State Park.  It's the only place in Colorado that has triple 70 foot waterfalls that flow all year long (except when they freeze over in winter).  It has turned this part of Colorado into an almost tropical location.  Before we got there, I thought there might be one waterfall.  As we headed around the lush vegetation, we saw one, then the second and finally, the third one!

Spray from the waterfalls rose out of the rocks at the bottom, creating a fine mist that enveloped me when I tried to get closer for an up close shot.

Behind the falls are small caves in the limestone cliffs.  This would be a great place to take our grandchildren (except for the two teenagers who would probably be bored with this type of excursion).

I ventured up a path on the side of the hill, even though it was wet from the constant water spray.  I wound up behind the falls, allowing me to capture another view of the surrounding landscape.

Another few miles up the road was a fish hatchery.  Good thing we were driving slow when we came upon this group of cows.  They were slow in "moo'ving" off the road.

By the time we made it to the Rifle Falls Fish Hatchery it was closing time.  We had to be content to wander around the grounds outside and read the information they had posted on large billboards.

And what do we meet on the way back?  The same group of bovines, taking their leisurely stroll down the middle of the roadway.  I guess they weren't in a hurry to get anywhere, but we were......it was almost dinner time!  Steak, anyone?