Day 11: Fruita, Utah to Fruita, Colorado.

I’m not sure how we ended up in two different cities of Fruita on this trip, but we did. Not only did we never hear of either Fruita before this trip but we ended up being in both of them on the same exact day. Oh by the way, this is Marlene on the blog today. Dan made me pipe up.

We stayed the night at a good ol’ Walmart in Grand Junction, Colorado. We actually pulled into the parking lot fairly late last night after filling our bellies with hot wings, only to find a sign that told is there was no overnight RV parking allowed. Ahh. Being burnt out from a long day of driving, Dan was ready to ignore the city ordinance and call it a night. But not goodie two shoes me. I made my tired husband talk to the manager in hopes of preventing a knock on our door from the Grand Junction-five-O. The manger told him that yes, parking is not allowed but unless someone calls the cops on us, we would be fine. No one has ever been asked to leave before from this parking lot. And that was good enough for us. And thank goodness, because we had some sleepy kids on our hands.

Ever since Las Vegas, we have been letting our kids stay up later than usual. And now with the time zone change, they stay up way later that we would usually let them. So by the time we woke in the parking lot and made our way to McDonald’s for some breakfast, the lunch menu was already up… much to Ava’s delight. She loves that filet o’ fish.

We looked into a few RV parks in Grand Junction but they are seemed too expensive for looking too much like parking lots. So we took our chances and headed out to the James M. Robb – Colorado River State Park in Fruita. And low and behold, they had strong cell reception and greenery. Yes! The state park system in Colorado charges similar fees as they did in Texas. They tack on a daily use fee to your camping fee. So our $24 a night full hook-up site ended up being $31 a night thanks to the $7 daily fee. But that’s cool with us. Because we have greenery! And cell service! So… get to work Dan. We got bills to pay!!

And they are even having a free concert here on Thursday. The Emmitt-Nershi band is playing. We have no idea who these dudes are but we will soon enough.

Being that we were out of touch while enjoying the National Parks in Utah, Dan had a lot of catching up to do work-wise. So while he worked and Luka napped, I took the girls out to the playground for some fun.

While at the playground, I made the girls do mini obstacle courses for fun. Like “go lay down on all three benches and pretend to sleep and then climb up the rock steps and go down the twirly slide“. Super fun for them but also super tiring. Especially for Mila who’s nap schedule has been out the door during our cross-country trip.

But tired kids equals snuggly kids.

And I am okay with that!

We also got to check out the facilities here at the state park. The showers and laundry areas were super clean and empty here. Which is awesome because I have a truck load of laundry to do this week.

On the way back to our site, Ava noticed some “dirt” that was moving. Oh… but is was not dirt. It was a huge pile of black ants. Yuck! It reminded me of that one scene from Indiana Jones. You know the one!

Our site reminded me of the one we had at Balmorhea State Park in Texas. It’s a similar pull-thru U-shaped site with a covered picnic table. The full hook-up sites are only half full right now. But I’m sure things will change once it gets closer to the weekend and free concert.

We headed into the historic downtown area of Fruita for some dinner. But instead of finding a bustling downtown we found most of the shops and restaurants closed because it was a Monday. Doh! But luckily we found a placed called Suds Bros Brewery for some decent food and $2 draft beers thanks to a happy hour. And don’t ask me what time we were actually here. Dan and I spent half the day trying to figure what time it is. Haha. Well, maybe not half the day, but pretty damn close.

Our waiter saw us documenting our lives away and must have thought we were nuts. But he was kind enough to offer to take our picture as a family in front of their logo.

The girls were on their best behavior in the restaurant… but outside? Outside is where they let their sillies out!

And the sillies were still around when we got back to the campsite too. Or maybe the sound of mighty Colorado River in our backyard was making the girls have to go pee.

I think the latter was true. Hehe.

the end,
marlene