Colorado National Monument

Saturday - 1 May 2004 - Fruita, Colorado: DT had a great week golfing with his buddies and celebrated another birthday. He looks forward to his annual golf outing every year and the group of twelve men have so much fun!

Wow, did we haul peikou today! Over 370 miles from St. George, Utah, to Fruita, Colorado! We are still using major interstates, as we have traveled this way before and are trying to make some time, because we have a long, long, long drive ahead of us and would rather take our time discovering new places. We went north on I-15 and took a right at I-70. Even on the interstate freeway, it was simply a beautiful drive. We passed through no towns to speak of, and actually at one point on I-70 there are no services for 110 miles. Traffic was very sparse and they provide many, many scenic view points to pull-over and rest. We only stopped twice all day! It was another day of heavy Satellite Radio use.... BBC, ESPN and comedy channels.

Our view at lunch - Devil's Canyon

Every vista point had a spooky name - Devil's Canyon, Ghost Rock, etc., but there was nothing frightening about the views. Utah is simply gorgeous. From I-70, we could even see south to Arches National Park. It was all we could do to not return to Moab! We crossed into Colorado late in the afternoon and checked-into a very nice campground at the base of Colorado National Monument, Monument RV Resort in Fruita. Fifteen minutes later, we were loaded into the Honda and heading out to visit Colorado National Monument. As if DT hadn't driven enough already today! The park rises straight up, just behind the campground. The road leading into the Monument is another WPA miracle - sheer drop-offs, steep winding roads going through tunnels carved into the cliffs! I took so many photos, and will post way too many, but enjoy - and if you have a few hours to spend in the Monument, we highly recommend the visit.

DT & Me - Living on the Edge


Canyon views


Balance Rock


Colorado Monument, with Fruita beyond


Beautiful photo in Colorado Monument - photo by DT

After spending two hours in Colorado Monument, we drove back into Fruita (still unsure if it is Fruit-ah or Fru-ee-ta or even Fru-eh-ta) to check out the Fat Tire Festival and see the hundreds of mountain bikers gathered in the city park. It was crazy! Fruita is fairly small, and every restaurant (we found two) was packed. The little town is very nice with pretty houses and wide streets branching off from a central town square (with a giant green dinosaur statue in the middle).
 
We came back to the camper and had an easy vegetarian dinner and will call it an early night - because tomorrow we have another Big Driving Day.

RV Park: Monument RV Resort in Fruita