Grand Junction vs Craig, Co

Why do I avoid RV parks?  Most KOA's and anything with a swimming pool, hot tub, or nightly Bingo, are usually too expensive. (I consider anything more than $40 per night to be too expensive.  After all, I am doing nothing more than parking and sleeping.)

When I arrived in Grand Junction it was 105 degrees.  I needed to do laundry, I wanted to run the air conditioner at least to sleep, and I was in no mood for a Walmart or Cracker Barrel.  I pulled off the road and proceeded to call every RV park, state park, fairgrounds, etc for 50 miles around only to discover there was only one space left anywhere, in an RV park hidden behind a used car dealer on the outskirts of town. It was Father's Day weekend and there were dad-type festivities planned all over  town and obviously that included taking Dad RVing.

The price per night was $44 dollars but I was desperate.  If I had seen the park before registering I would have passed on it but I took it on faith and paid the bill for one night.  Once inside I was reminded why Cracker Barrels and Walmarts are not the worst and sometimes are downright luxurious.

The weeds were full of litter and dog poop.

The tables were not seat-worthy, the laundromat was grungy, the showers and toilets were locked up. It was late in the day but I rushed back to the office to get a refund,  only  to discover, the attendant had gone for dinner.  There was no phone number anywhere to call someone.  Besides, what were my other choices?  And I was nearing a heat stroke.

I plugged into their electricity (yeah! It worked!), ate supper and watched out the window as two police cars pulled up to chat with the guy next door to me.

No one was arrested but the police had a long and serious discussion with a rather scruffy looking guy who seemed somewhat drunk.  I was gone the next morning by 8 am.

It was a lovely drive from Grand Junction to Craig where I found my nephew Allan and his friend, Connie (who had been a hostess and tour guide for me in Canada the previous summer.)

Daisy found several new friends--Julie, a chocolate lab...

...and Connie, who helped her retrieve her ball every time it fell in their pond.

She is starting to like getting her feet wet.

She was especially interested when Julie went into the water.  Allan has done a marvelous job training Julie, I was tempted to let Daisy stay with him for a month to break a few bad habits.

I wrote about Allan's house several years ago but, in case you missed it:

The house is built against that stone cliff and the picture above was taken while standing on his roof.

Deer live and graze on his roof and two baby fawn with their mama are residing on top of his house at this time.

Craig is another of those lovely small towns that is suffering with loss of jobs.  I would hate to see it die as so many others have across the country.

The natural world is everywhere, in and around the town.  Such a rarity, we should be protecting and appreciating it more.

This was a great place to park for a few days--a real Eden.