June Wine Trip – Palisade loop

We belong to a camping group. Our NM trip was fabulous, so we were looking forward to this wine one in western Colorado. At the same time, we didn’t know anyone going, so we had plans that if they were not a good fit, we’d just wander off and do our own thing(s).

Before official stuff

Our original plan on the way over was to camp on some BLM land in Wolcott, where the mountain temps were 20º cooler, but it was full when we got there. One guy (a professional driver for a rafting company who was using public land for their business) was rude to us for being in a parking spot. Boggle. Also, he’s a chauffeur and he can’t make a 3-point turn with an 8-foot trailer? Maybe he shouldn’t be driving rafters/rafts. So, we had a late lunch, made new plans, and pushed on to Palisade. And that worked out for the best. After we left, I saw a Bald Eagle. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the wild before!

We settled quickly into the same spot we had booked for the wine portion of the trip. We then found a bar in time for the second period of the Avalanche Game Four. This place had been open a week and is amazing. Everything is new. And they have stadium seating for watching games. After the win, we hit another dive bar before calling it a night.

Since we set up in a hurry on Wednesday, we used Thursday morning to finish unpacking and setting up the RV. We used the day to do some Jeepin’ Around to Land o’ Lakes, which is apparently a nursery for mosquitoes who wanted to ruin our picnic lunch.

We then drove up to Grand Mesa (10,500′), where the wildflowers were amazing; we had our first sighting of Columbines, the Colorado state flower. The road down was very winding, but beautiful and fun. We saw several critters: deer, marmots, chipmunks (including some mini-sizes ones we called mini-monks), and lots of bubbles from happy fish (hopefully, eating mosquitoes in the lakes).

Back at camp, we encountered a rare desert rain storm.

Friday fun

Palisade CO is like Fredericksburg TX before it got commercial/touristy. There are wineries and peaches everywhere. So it’s more like a little town in Napa CA

• Book Cliff winery – brand new little place with fabulous views of the Book Cliff.
• Sun Crest Orchard Alpacas – we got a full private tour of the critters and the entire production line; it was like a grown-up field trip. He’s one of only 50 in the USA.
• Sage Creations Lavender Farm – they supply a lot of lavender to the area and have amazing lavender lemonade.
• After a picnic at the Palisade (public) Pool & Park, we finally met the group at…
• Maison La Belle Vie winery. They had a fabulous menu to pair with their wines. Reservations are strongly recommended.

After wine, we told the group (7 of us total) that we were heading back to Game Day to watch Game Five. They all decided to join. One guy, Clifton, was a bit grumpy about everything. I tried to tell him the place had only been open one week and still had hiccups to work out, but there was no pleasing him. If only I had known this was foreshadowing. I just wanted to shove a Snickers in his mouth, figuring he was hangry. Watching the Avalanche lose didn’t help the whole situation.

#StopFuckingRepublicans

Back at the RV, I cried myself to sleep over SCOTUS taking away women’s rights. They are coming next for LGBTQ+ rights, birth control in all forms, the rights of the #childfree to vote, the rights of non-Republicans to go to college, minority rights and lots more. Once again, unless you are a straight/white/xtian/republican father, you don’t matter. Funny how they are too stupid to see that they need women (and everyone else too) for survival of their creepy kind.

I then started researching emigration. Funny thing: Google doesn’t know the word. All it would give me is immigration attorneys, not emigration information. ::sigh:: I’m crushed to have to research leaving. We just got here.

Wine-ing day

After battling a few bugs, I finally found our ThermaCELL, and of course the cartridge was out. I went to pull the one from my off-grid curling iron and it was empty too.

We started the day at Colterris Winery, which E dubbed “clitoris” winery. Our hosts brought a huge assortment of charcuterie treats and we feasted. It’s a beautiful tasting garden, and they offer horseback riding through the property. The wines were good, I got a free little plastic wine tumbler perfect for RV camping, and tasters got to pick out a little wine glass charm to remember their favorite. Unfortunately, one of the group got an emergency call from her dog sitter, so this had to be her last stop. I hope she comes to more events.

From there, we moved to Restoration Vineyards. It’s very pretty, but the venue space is in the middle of the vines with no breeze. The heat and lack of wine choices moved us on quickly.

Talbott Farms was a joy! They have a small produce market and have yummy frozen mead drinks on the menu, which were great after being too hot.

And this is where things went wonky. I noticed that the little town was having a Pride Float. Clifton made two awfully homophobic comments. And then, just moments later, his wife explained that they had two kinds of friends: masked Republicans and unmasked Republicans. ew! So, when E referred–out loud this time–to the first winery as Clitoris, it was very funny to everyone else when Clifton didn’t catch what he said. Clifton then kept asking questions that were just plain dirty in context. We were all LOLing at his expense, but since they are bigots, no one cared. I should have asked him if he was afraid to sit next to me. I was glad when they bid their farewells and didn’t plan to join the campfire later that evening. I think the hosts were, too.

Down to just four of us and a wonderful Service dog, we hit one more winery: Talon. Their wines are unique, yummy, and affordable. The tasting room is nice and open. I bought four bottles and joined their wine club. We then found a yummy Italian place where I had Sea Bass (Picatta) for the first time and now I have a new seafood love. E had Saltimbocca, which is Italian for “put it in my mouth!”.

Sunday Funday

• The four remaining humans and dog started the day at the river to see the end of the Pride Float. It was about 30 floaters decked out in their rainbow flags-as-capes and tutus. It was adorable and fun and different.
• We then found the Farmers (and art) Market, but not until it was almost closed; that is a MUST DO when we return in the fall.
• We had lunch at Warehouse 25 sixty five and it was so good that we planned to watch Game Six there.
• After lunch, we went to a park so the dog could run off some pent up energy. She loves to be chased, so frisbee with her is interesting.
• Game Six at the Warehouse was so good. Guess what they have? More stadium seating! But with couches. It is posh for game watches.
• The Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup just rounded out the wonderful day. We are sad that we were still out of town for the big parade and celebration. We were really looking forward to that.
• Back at the RV campground, we finally had a campfire with the hosts. And we liked their propane fire pit so much that we ordered one just like it. It arrived before we got back home.

Monday

We saw our hosts head out, had breakfast, and continued exploring.

Jeepin’ Around Book Cliff Wild Horse area. It was a terrible Jeep Road (I was sore the next day; that’s how bad it was).

It was way too hot for the horses, but the views from the top were pretty cool.

Gunnison

The drive to Gunnison was quite normal for the first shift (E), but then a huge detour through mountains for the second (L).

Dinner at El Paraíso Mexican was outstanding: great tamales, the best cheese enchiladas and enchilada sauce I’ve ever had, and blue margaritas. After a tough driving day, it was fitting: paradise. ¡Saltimbocca!

On the way back to the campground, we saw River Surfers! Who knew this was a thing? Apparently, it’s pretty popular.

Wednesday, we drove up to Crested Butte, had lunch at a popular little deli (where we learned about the Cottonwood Hot Springs), and made the very pretty drive over to Taylor Park, where we saw the dam/overflow, the lake surrounded by OHV trails, tons of camping in the Gunnison National Forest, and a herd of cows being herded to another area.

That night, we were met with some sad news: T turtle’s new family called. He was searching for his rainbow bridge, and was humanely released into Lake Travis so he could find it. T was elderly and it was just his time. They said he seemed happy to go.

After a frustrating grocery pickup, we packed lunches and headed to Lake City. One of our Palisade hosts suggested it and she was not kidding.

• Cute and helpful visitor center with ducking funny stuff for an upcoming fundraiser
• Cute old little town
• Circled the lake checking out RV spots
• Picnicked by a river
• Ice cream and shopping at the town soda shop, where we got ducked!
• Cute little gaming shop…with a lot of Magic of course, but also with a really good collection of games
• All of it was pretty driving with lots of Jeeps and tons of OHVs (for all the trails they have)
• At the end of the day, at this end of the month, there was a huge full rainbow to close out Pride month.

On the way back from Lake City, we passed some kind of plow, but it didn’t look like any snow plow we’d seen. There had been a small mud slide and we think he pushed the mud off the road.

Leaving Gunnison, our rude neighbor got chatty as we were packing up. From his trailer door, he shouted “hey, over here” at E. He was being so gruff, I thought he was scolding their dog to come back to their camping spot. He broke a cardinal rule of RVing: don’t talk to people when they are setting up or breaking down. I ignored him and started the motorhome, and he still didn’t get the hint. We got out of there as (safely and) quickly as we could.

Howard

We took the long way to Howard to avoid Monarch Pass…and are we glad we did. We still had a (smaller) pass to traverse; it was steep, pretty, and far less traveled. Once we got back to the main highway, and even at the lower elevation, we encountered both hail and snow.

The town is teensy tiny, so we went to Salida for food and stuff. After dinner, we saw another river surfer.

We also took a day to go to the Cottonwood Hot Springs. It’s old and could use some TLC, but the pools (92º, 93º, 99º, 103º, and 104º) were quite nice. At dark, kids had to leave (but we had to ask the staff to come kick a huge group of them out). There were a lot of other rule violations, too. They either need more staff or they need to change their processes. People should have to sign that they’ve read and agree with the rules about glass, phones, noise, kids, etc. We did not take advantage of the cold dip in the river.

After an afternoon swim, we went to “downtown” Buena Vista. It’s a cute place, but boy howdy do they have a racism problem. We did a little shopping, had some great food, bought some beer, and headed back to Cottonwood for a night soak. We “swam” in a little rain and drizzle, but then the clouds finally moved on and we stared up at the stars.

#StopFuckingRepublicans

It bears repeating. Fuck them up and fuck them over, but stop rewarding them with sexy fun time. They don’t deserve it.