The Elk’s Lodge in Grand Junction was our next landing spot. The lodge itself is an old historical type building with a very cool lodge meeting room. They had electrical hookups in the parking lot for a few RV’s, but otherwise it was a dry RV spot.

We found the Grand Mesa National Scenic Byway just outside of town, so the roadtrip was on. We got some scenic views of the valley floor as well as a curious Bambi who stared us down while I took pictures. The loop was about 63 miles in length.

A walk down Main St. (just around the corner from the Elk’s Lodge) showed off some of the local art work scattered along the street. We also noted this area of Grand Junction, besides being near the police station, was home to numerous homeless folks. Not a great selling point for any possibility of landing here when we retire the full-time life.

A couple of days and it was onward and upward, more like eastbound and down, to the town of Glenwood Springs and our stay at Glenwood Canyon Resort. This was a very nice RV resort right on the Colorado River in a tight little canyon with great mountain views and a whitewater rafting business run right out the back of the resort.

Jeanne found the Hanging Lake Trail in her list of things to do. The trail requires a $12 permit per person to hike to the lake and they regulate how many hikers are on the trail at any time, a preservation effort by local government. We hit the trail bright and early one day with very little hiker congestion. The trail, a little over a mile to the lake, gains a lung-busting 1,100 feet in elevation, going straight up the mountain. Once we got to the top, we found the beautiful lake and a side trail further up the mountain to another waterfall with a feature called the Spouting Rock. Spouting Rock was directly below the waterfall and is a large volume of water spurting out of the rock creating a secondary waterfall. We relaxed in the serenity, had some snacks and recharged our batteries (so to speak), then enjoyed the all-down-hill return hike to the Jeep.

On another day we fired up the bicycles and headed out on the bike trail that runs next to the RV park. It follows the river east to the Hanging Lake Trail area and west into Glenwood Springs. Again, we enjoyed some scenic views in both directions, then I had a little “run-in” with a local chain link fence. It bit me pretty good and unbeknownst to me I lost my cell phone in the confrontation. But the good people of Colorado, at least one good samaritan, saved me by turning it in to the front desk of the Spa of the Rockies, a large mineral springs resort for which the aforementioned chain link fence was providing security.

We found another short adventure in downtown Glenwood Springs, the trail to Doc Holliday’s grave. It was a very short walk up the hill to the old Linwood Cemetery and the adjacent Potter’s Field (a cemetery for indigent and unknown folks commonly known as a pauper’s graveyard.) Besides Doc Holliday’s “gravesite”, Kid Curry was also buried, in the Potter’s Field. Kid Curry was associated with Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid & their Wild Bunch. And I say Doc Holliday’s “gravesite” because they are not all that sure where, exactly, he IS buried within the cemetery.

A few days in Glenwood Springs and it was off we went. Our next stop…(?)