Palisade Peach Festival

Living and traveling in an RV gives us the wonderful opportunity to visit a variety of local fairs, festivals, concerts, and farmer's markets. It is so much fun to see how people across the country observe their unique customs, what foods they grow, how they celebrate, and what makes this or that corner of the world special. So it was when we arrived in Grand Junction, Colorado in mid August, 2011. Our primary reason for stopping here was to visit with our good friends, Janness and Nate, before continuing on towards California. But as we were getting checked in at the RV Park, we picked up a flier for the nearby Annual Palisade Peach Festival and decided this would be fun to explore while we were in the area. Palisade sits along the Colorado River with gorgeous mountains and breathtaking views everywhere you turn. The day of our visit was perfectly warm and sunny, but not too hot. Just right for strolling the festival grounds, sampling the locally grown peaches, shopping at the vendor booths, and taking in the beautiful scenery.

Celestial Seasonings

Celestial Seasonings tea has been a part of my life for more than 30 years. Not only do I love their wide variety of delightful teas, I've enjoyed the beautiful art work on the tea boxes, and any number of logo items, including sleepwear, mugs, teapots, magnets, and decorative tins. I can't remember a time when there wasn't a box of Sleepytime tea in my kitchen cabinet (among many others), and I always look forward to reading the quotes and quips on the wonderfully decorative boxes. While we were in Golden, Colorado we were just down the road from Boulder, home of Celestial Seasonings, so of course we took advantage of this and set aside time to take the tour! I had heard that the original artwork for the box designs hung on the walls of the Tea Shop, and I was really looking forward to finally seeing this in person. Our tour consisted of free samples of several teas being brewed in the Tea Shop, a short video that gave us a history of the company, a guided tour through the factory (no pictures allowed inside), and ended up with an exit into the store where all their teas and accessories are on display and for sale. We had lunch at their on-site restaurant, and after conferring with our server, we were prepared a very delightful vegan meal (Tempeh and Citrus Stirfry). I just had to post all the pictures we took of the artwork, as there is no way I could chose one over the other. So, please enjoy all 22 shots of our visit.

Coors Field (Denver, Colorado)

After visiting the State Capitol, we were lucky enough to catch a baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the Miami Marlins, at Coors Field in Denver's Lower Downtown (LoDo) area. The game was a victory for the Rockies (12-5), and we had a great time exploring the stadium, taking pictures, and enjoying the great summer day. Behind the center field wall is a landscape decoration that reflects the typical environment of the Rocky Mountains. This landscape area consists of a waterfall, fountains, and pine trees. After a Rockies home run or win the fountains shoot high into the air. While most of the seats in Coors Field are dark green, the seats in the 20th row of the upper deck are purple. This marks the city's one mile elevation point.

Denver, Colorado

Mid-August 2011 brought us to the mile-high city of Denver where we spent four days in nearby Golden, Colorado. Our first order of business was to visit the State Capitol located in the heart of Denver's Civic Center area. The building was constructed in the 1890's from Colorado white granite, and was intentionally built to resemble the United States Capitol. The distinctive gold dome consists of real gold plate to commemorate the Colorado Gold Rush. The official elevation of Denver is measured outside the west entrance to the building, where the fifteenth step is engraved with the words "One Mile Above Sea Level." From this step, at 5,280 feet, the sun can be seen setting behind the Rocky Mountains. An impressive quilt display hung throughout the Capitol on the day we visited, adding beautiful splashes of color throughout.