Fruita, Colorado has treated us really well since we reemerged into civilization after our 10-day stint in Utah. We needed the 5-day stay to unwind and take things easy. Especially for Marlene who was on the verge of a panic attack after 10 days of driving through some of the most amazing but hair-raising mountain roads via Scenic Byways 12 and 24.
We are starting to get to know this little town of Fruita pretty well in our 5 nights here so far but that only means we will be moving on soon. Our first morning here, we tried to eat at the Hot Tomato Cafe only to find that most of the stores and restaurants here are closed on Mondays. Almost a whole week has gone by and we are finally getting around to try our luck again.
Today was hot. It was probably in the high 90s all day and at our electric and water only campsite, the AC for some reason was tripping the breakers after running about a half hour. We stayed in and tried not to melt until it got a little cooler but we had big plans for some late afternoon sightseeing.
Our campground at the Colorado State Park of Fruita is directly adjacent to the Dinosuar Museum. The girls have been excited about going to a museum on this trip and today we are finally getting a chance to do just that.
This morning we took a little trip into Grand Junction. Fruita is a small town about 10 miles west of it and there are lots more shopping and service options there. We are headed east on I-70 over the Rockies on Saturday and Marlene has been fretting the drive over the Rockies. We wanted to be as prepared as we can so off to the brake shop we go to get them checked out.
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.
Our time at Capitol Reef National Park has come to an end. Tomorrow is Monday and I have pushed off my work obligations as long as I can without causing any serious pain for myself and others. It has been an awesome and unexpected experience as we knew very little about it prior to our arrival.
A day of climbing up and down rocks really tuckered out Ava as she slept in just a little later than usual this morning. Mila on the other hand found herself in a ripe opportunity to get her hands on some of her sister’s toys.
After dinner in Durango last night we headed west towards Mesa Verde National Park and got a spot at the Mesa Verde RV Resort just outside of the park. We looked long and hard at our options and we crossed our fingers in hoping that the RV Resort had a decent WiFi connection since our Sprint 3G card is hopelessly out of range. So far we are doing alright. The site had hookups and the WiFi signal worked well enough for us to get some work done so we could head out for some sightseeing in the morning.
After 2 nights in Albuquerque we decided that it is time for us to move on. We are so close to being home that a little bit of post trip depression is creeping up on us. Driving a few hundred miles a day is now our daily routine so any place we go from here is basically a weekend trip for us once we get home. The obvious thing for us to do is stay on I-40 and drive towards Flagstaff, Arizona but we decided to squeeze in another state, or maybe 2, before it is all over.
What do you think Mila? Is it a good idea? “Ummmm, me thinks yesss!”
