Colorado Monument

The ride from Dinosaur to Grand Junction was a bit over 130 miles and took around 3 hours.  We did traverse one rather high and somewhat scary mountain pass but I'm getting a little more used to them and taking them slow and steady I seem to survive.

I love this shot of the caravan leaders airstream in front of us.  The scenery was breathtaking.

It's interesting to me that it is so substantially different than anything I am used to.

It rained all night in Flaming Gorge before we left, but cleared up for our drive.  Left in it's wake was this dramatic sky.

We settled into the new campground in Grand Junction Colorado which is in an industrial area, much different from our serene surroundings in Flaming Gorge.  The main attraction was a tour to the Colorado Monument.  I totally understand the appeal, but for someone who is terrified of windy mountain roads with sheer drop offs, the ride to experience the monoliths was not comfortable.  I do realize it's me, 47 other people on the bus had no issues at all....me I clung to Mark with my eyes closed barely breathing.  But when we stopped and got out, the scenery was magnificent.

This was a view across the canyon at sunset.  The haze is caused by the California wildfires.  Once we got back on the bus, as the sun continued to set, there is a definite purple color to these canyon views...I however was unable to look.

Perhaps this shot gives you a sense of the scale we are talking about....we were riding around on the top of this canyon, on a huge bus!

From the visitors center (where I got my National Park Passport stamped!)  was a view of this Mesa where we were treated to a catered dinner complete with white table cloths and excellent food.

Here is a fun shadow portrait of some of the caravaners taking photos of the view.

Today we're off to the Wine Festival in Palisades!