Back to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds for awhile...

       We went back to the fairgrounds for a couple weeks while preparing for our trip to Indiana.  We like the proximity to Bill's work, great shopping, friends close by, and our familiarity with the area.  Plus, we can always count on getting a spot in a pinch.  

Parked at the fairgrounds in Oct. 2011 with our first trailer.

Parked at the fairgrounds in Oct. 2011 with our first trailer.

Our short stay this summer at the Fairgrounds.

Our short stay this summer at the Fairgrounds.

Cherry Creek Reservoir

A boat in the middle of Cherry Creek

After our trip to Gunnison, we stayed for two weeks at the Cherry Creek Reservoir.  They have nice, wide sites with decent amenities, like laundry facilities.  It rained most of the time, but we did spend a day on the sandy beach.

My son's favorite part was the shooting range.  Bill, my husband, took him shooting several weeks later for a special father/son bonding time.  Reasonable rates and all day shooting make for lots of fun.

digging a hole and having fun!

No place like a cold lake on a hot day!

Blue Mesa Ranch Resort --Part 3

After the exhausting day at Black Canyon, we took a down day and enjoyed the amenities at the resort.  Watching videos on the vcr in the game room cracked me up.  We watched "Jurassic Park" and "Forest Gump," as the kids had never seen them.  I reminded Bill to rewind the video (hadn't used one of these in YEARS). 

Then, on the coldest and rainiest day of our vacation, we rented the pontoon boat.  Not by choice.  They had scheduled us on Thursday and we couldn't do another day.  Since it was only overcast, we figured we would get a couple hours of enjoyment.

Bill let the kids take turns driving in huge figure eights. They did really well and had a blast.  For the first couple hours.  The girls and I jumped in briefly to relieve the pressure on our bladders.  Problem. No ladder.  How am I going to get back on?  By much perseverance, a nasty bruise on my left knee and sheer force of will.  Between Bill pulling and me hauling, we managed to get me back on.  Ouch.

And then the weather took a turn for the worse. Rain poured down in sheets as we miserable huddled under the soaking wet towels.  Bill hauled rudder for the dock.  We decided freezing and fast trumped slow and cold. 

Blue Mesa resort (the lake is in background).

We thawed out in the hot tub for a couple hours and decided that pontoons are fun in the sun, but not the rain.

After that, we continued to enjoy the amenities that Blue Mesa offered and reveled in each other's company without pressing schedules or looming deadlines.

The only fly in the ointment came with the Friday morning presentation.  We had committed ahead of time to listen politely and decline any membership at the end.  Our presenter, Virgil, seemed like a really nice guy.  In his 70s, he is based out of Verde, Arizona, and came to Colorado to help sell memberships.  I have to hand it to him, because Virgil is a born salesman. 

He painted this marvelous picture of going all over the nation and staying at these fabulous resorts.  In addition to the membership package, he skated right into the condo and cabin package.  I had overheard other patrons talking about two year or five year memberships and asked him about that.  Never one to let frivolous questions derail him, Virgil pressed on.  Raving about the lifetime membership package and able to will it to your heirs, he continuously waved his hand around, brushing aside any concerns I managed to express.

I felt like a train track being run over by a steam engine.  In the end, we decided to give it a try.   Later, after dinner, we passed him driving down to the dock in his shiny red convertible.  Hmmm.

With $8500 total (to be made in monthly payments), we signed a contract for a...(wait for it)...lifetime membership.  WHAT?  You say.  A lifetime membership?  That's crazy. Why would anyone do that?   

A very good question.  We had five days to do research and break the contract.  After reading the fine print (they don't give you much time to peruse the contract), I realized the enormity of the commitment.

Immediately, I called their front desk and figured out what I have to TO CANCEL.  After some finagling (they don't make it easy), we got out of the contract.

 In the end, we had a great time and reaffirmed our vow to never sign a contract under pressure.

 If it's too good to be true, it probably is...

Blue Mesa Ranch Resort --Part 2

Gunnison, Colorado is absolutely beautiful.  In a spare sort of way. The landscape is mostly sage and a few scraggly junipers.  But when the sun goes down, the shadows flitting across the blue mountains change to a deep purple. I'm not fond of Colorado's desert-like landscape, but rolling clouds that sweep across the wide-open sky satisfy my need for green things. 

I don't know if that makes sense.  After living in the desert or desert-like conditions most of my life, I long for cool, quiet walks in arched trees.  We lived in Hawaii for about three years.  You could grow almost anything in that soil.  The avocados were as big as footballs and tasted like butter. The pineapples are so fresh and sweet.  But my favorite are the coconuts.  At the flea market, vendors sell young coconuts snuggled in barrels of ice.  They poke a hole and put a straw inside so you can walk around and drink the marvelous milk.  Then, when that is all gone, they wack off the top with a machete and hand you a spoon to scoop out the quivering mass of coconut flesh.  Still ice-cold, it is the best treat on a hot day.

In contrast to the lush tropics --the southwest is a stark, raw beauty.  Rugged and untamed.   By mid-July, the heat has sucked any moisture out of the grass and it becomes dry and brown. 

I digress.

Our views this summer have made up for the heat. (I know that Texas, New Mexico and Arizona get hot --over 100 degrees in the shade-- as I lived there.  And it doesn't account for humidity.  I'm just saying...hot is hot). 

Close to Gunnison is the beautiful Black Canyon.  I had heard it described like a miniature Grand Canyon.  What a perfect combination of homeschooling credit and playing tourist...  We drove out to the Black Canyon on the hottest day of our trip.  Isn't that the best time?

Painted Wall

According the National Parks website, "the Gunnison River through Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park drops at an average of 95 feet per mile. By comparison, the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park drops an average of 7.5 feet per mile.

They describe it like this: "Prepare yourself for 2,000 foot tall, narrow canyon walls dropping almost vertically to the Gunnison River.  The Black Canyon is known for crumbling rock, dizzying heights, and a lack of places to place protective equipment. Rock climbing is a challenge limited to highly experienced, expert climbers only.

Big enough to be overwhelming, still intimate enough to feel the pulse of time, Black Canyon of the Gunnison exposes you to some of the steepest cliffs, oldest rock, and craggiest spires in North America. With two million years to work, the Gunnison River, along with the forces of weathering, has sculpted this vertical wilderness of rock, water, and sky."  

Black Canyon 

We took advantage of the Junior Ranger Program and filled out all the pages.  It was a great way to explore the canyon and learn at the same time.  The kids didn't agree.  Much wailing and gnashing of teeth on their end.  I used our end-of-the-journey ice cream trip as leverage to make them finish the program.  After that, it went much smoother.  Plus, the kids liked learning about the gneiss (pronounced "nice") and the schist (different kinds of rocks) They snickered and said it sounded like a bad word. 

After that long, hot, exhausting, and beautiful drive, we decided to head into Gunnison itself and buy dinner.  Quite a splurge as we normally try to eat at home.  We ended up at the Gunnisack. A local restaurant with American cuisine.

We ordered wings and burgers and admired the decor.  Great food!  But our favorite was the dessert. The cookie is baked right in the dish and a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with whipped cream and chocolate sits on top.  We divided it up between the five of us and scarfed it down!

Funky Rock the kids climbed at a local park. 

We also headed to the big park downtown.  It had a huge climbing rock and several interesting sculptures.  The kids immediately went to the top and I sat down at a table to finish my crocheting project for Kyla: a cat scoodie...