Montrose, Colorado quickly won our hearts. It's small and walkable, the people are invariably friendly, and it's so close to a huge variety of outdoor playgrounds... the Rockies, Grand Mesa, and the canyons of Grand Junction and Moab. It's also the kind of place, still rural, that you'll see horses tied up outside a church or the Taco Bell. With the rising temperatures, we've traded in our skis for mountain bikes. Danielle is getting pretty serious, taking women's trail and downhill clinics. Whenever we're not pedaling, you'll find us spending our evenings at Black Canyon National Park, hiking, bouldering, or watching the light turn the stupendous canyon walls amber and orange with the approaching sunset.
It has been a privilege, a once-in-a-lifetime gift, to spend so much time with my Mom's sister, Aunt Irene. She has graciously educated me on my family tree, advised me in repairing old family scrapbooks, and steered me towards important places in our history. This included a trip out to the eastern Plains -- nearly Kansas -- to visit the site of my Great-grandfather's failed homestead, and we will soon be taking a trip up to the remote gilsonite mines where my grandparents worked, met and married. This homecoming has reconnected me to my people here, and the generations before us who tread the same piece of earth.
As spring arrives, the wish-list on our fridge -- places to explore -- grows longer.
Scrambling in the multi-hued canyons of Gunnison National Recreation Area.
A walk and picnic in the family apple orchards (Rogers Mesa, CO).
With Irene, checking out the restoration of rail cars
my grandparents rode to the Baxter Pass mines.
The very site... my grandmother's home on the plains (Eads, CO).
Though my Great-grandfather's dream was cut short when all the cattle froze,
I'm grateful the family migrated to milder pastures on the western side of the state.
Nearby, a more recent family tragedy. They simply walked away,
leaving the ranch to the tumbleweeds.
Odd and terrifying encounters in the eastern grasslands:
the longest series of dinosaur tracks in the world,
and a close call with a cryptic rattle snake.
Mountain biking: first the canyons of Montrose, Fruita and Moab,
and now that the snows are receding, the high meadows and aspen woods
of the Uncompahgre Plateau and the Rockies.
Danielle's father, JD, joined us from California for some great pedaling.
Our favorite: the majesty of the Black Canyon.
