Gunnison, CO

We hope everyone has/had a wonderful 4th of July.  We celebrated with a wonderful meal here at Palisades Senior RV Park and are now off to watch the fireworks.

To those in our military, past, present and future, we want to say thank you for your service.

Wow, wow, wow.  Gunnison puts on a wonderful fireworks display.  I think just about everyone in town came out to watch but one didn't feel cramped sitting in the park.  Patriotism was rampant by those in attendance.  We had seats front and center (lucked out) and enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

My little point and shoot did a nice job capturing some of the fireworks.  I was even running low on battery power.  Note to self: check battery level before using.

Hot Air Balloon Surprise

As we were out of everything to do with breakfast, we decided to go out for breakfast and we were sure glad we did.  As we approached the stoplight, we several hot air balloons in the sky.  We have seen an occasional one here and there in the mornings but not a dozen.  Here are a few pictures of what we saw.  It was sure neat to walk down main street and look up and see and hear the hot air balloons just above the buildings.  

From what we were told, some businesses sponsor a ballooning club to put on a show today in Gunnison and tomorrow in Crested Butte.  We certainly enjoyed it.

Breakfast was excellent at W Cafe.  John got his breakfast and went to sprinkle on some pepper and the lid came off and doused his meal with pepper.  The server saw it when it happened and she quickly took his plate away and said she would come back with a fresh plate.  She said they had had a problem with kids loosening the salt and pepper shaker lids but thought they had gone around and tightened them all down.  We got a laugh out of it and John will now check the salt/pepper shaker lids to make sure they are on tight.  

After a visit to the grocery store, we pretty much hung out at home.  John did go up and wash off the roof because the rain and wind we received a couple of days ago pretty much made a mess.

With all the red flag warnings and wild fires in several states, we were a little spooked this afternoon to see smoke from a grass file up over the hill from us.  Luckily, we learned that it was a controlled burn and they did keep it under control.

My sister texted me that it was 108 degrees in Palmdale, CA; I texted back that it was 80.1 degrees here.  She called me a brat - imagine that lol. We much prefer these temperatures to those.

We had heard that there was a little red fox that appears most nights in the field behind us.  Tonight we got to see him for the first time.

Another beautiful day

Time sure is flying by as the first six months of 2011 are gone already.

John and I went exploring on our walk and made it down to the Gunnison River.  There is a nice little park with a pond with small trout we could see, picnic tables, and bathrooms.  The river is running full and fast.

Along our path was this beautiful blooming bush.  I have no idea what it is but it sure was pretty.

After cleaning up after our walk, we decided to head to Montrose and kill some time by having lunch before our appointment at the Ford dealer.  Got in the truck, started it up, and the engine light goes off. We look at one another - great.  The Owner's Book says if the light goes out after three cold starts, you can just go on with your life.  We both agreed that we wanted to know why the light came on in the first place so off we headed to Montrose.

We stopped at this little restaurant just up the street from the Ford dealership called Cowboy Ciao.  What a good call.  John had their Friday special burger and said it was the best burger he has had in years.  He said it reminded him of the burgers his Aunt Mary and Uncle Moe use to make in their drive-in diner.  I had a pastrami sub which also was very good; pastrami was lean and tasty.  John helped me out by finishing off my sub and agreed that it was very good. They also hand-cut their own french fries and sweet potato fries.

So we get to the Ford dealer and they take the truck in for diagnostics.  They find nothing other than it appears that the dealership in Cortez didn't remove the code for the failed thermostats.  We have put on almost 2,000 miles since that happened and the OBD computer just detected it?  There were no other explanations; truck is  running fine and there is nothing wrong. Great news but sheesh.

On the drive back to Gunnison, we saw a number of RVs and vehicles towing boats on the road headed both east and west but nothing like we thought we would see.  We had only two RV's pull in today and the park is only half-full considering it is a major holiday.