The Search Begins - Grand Junction - Home?

Grand Junction in the valley seen from the

Colorado National Monument

The plan was to not blog about our trip to Grand Junction (GJ) but just share our photos using Apple Share.  I continue to struggle using this service and some of my photos would not load.  I suspect it was because they had not been taken using my iPhone.  Oh well, at least this way I can explain why we were in GJ.

George's 25 year career in the federal government, first at the Library of Congress and currently at the Department of State, is in jeopardy because of the new administration.  After the panic and anger subsided (well sort of), we decided to find what could be positive about a forced retirement 3 years before he's eligible for Social Security.  That's at the age of 62 and we know it would be better money-wise if he could hang on until he is 66.  

We agreed that it would be nice if we could share a few years of retirement while I'm still vertical but his reduced income would make it impossible to stay where we are.  So we began to explore options.  We first considered moving to Staunton, VA.  I have several posts about our fun weekends visiting this charming town in the Shenandoah Valley but on our last visit we decided that it was just too small.

Years ago I passed through Grand Junction, CO, on my way to a week-long photo seminar in Moab, UT.  I remembered thinking it looked really charming.  It's also near (well, if you don't mind a drive across the Rocky Mountains for 5 hours) Denver, has a community college and a growing state university, it encourages a love of the outdoors and art, has excellent medical facilities, plus the cost of living is lower than DC. All together making for a nice combination.

On the negative side, GJ is at an elevation of 4,500 ft. with low, really low, humidity.  DC is at sea level with constant humidity, especially in the summer.  We both had trouble adjusting to the differences.  The good news is GJ is on the western slope of the mountains so winters are about the same as DC.  Everyone we talked to assured us that we will adjust to the changes and people go skiing at Powderhorn Ski Resort in the morning and come back down to golf at one of the 5 courses in GJ in the afternoon.

The first thing we did was explore Main Street.  Here are some photos.

Main St. is wide with pull-in parking - yeah! - and free - 

double yeah!

We discovered the reason for the free parking.

A lovely tribute to a Lion member, thus the yellow.

The street is lined with charming shops and restaurants.  You gotta love any town with 3 independent book stores on the main drag.

We saw lots of people getting around on bikes, not just students.

Sign in front of book store.

Many of the signs gave off the same vibe you see in Alexandria.  Love it!  GJ is also reminiscent of Austin before its population exploded.  GJ is a little over 60,000 and the county is around 160,000.

There is a shop for getting your wine making supplies but not one for growing pot.  Mesa County is too conservative for that.

I had to find the local yarn shop.  No way I'd move somewhere without one.

It wasn't exactly on the street, but down a flight of stairs.

It is a charming shop with an area for sitting and knitting.  The owner is a fellow Texan who moved to GJ 6 years ago.

We quickly noticed a trend - several people we met had moved to GJ 6 years ago.  Finally we asked what was the reason for so many moving there at the same time.  Seems there was a national survey seven years ago about the best places to retire and GJ was at the top of the list.

This shop contains the work of over 100 local and regional artisans.

The  shop's guard kitty was busy basking in the sun.

Of course I found something I had to have and thanks to my hubby, I now have it.

A Navaho squash blossom necklace with earrings made in the 1970's.

Before heading to Main Street, we had stopped at the local Tourist Information Center.  Eventhough it was only 10 am, the volunteer who welcomed us was surprised that we were the third couple that morning looking for information on moving to GJ.  Maybe we'll be part of a new trend.  The Center was well prepared - we got a very informative packet full of facts about the area.

Next we headed to the Art Center because I had noticed a sign when we passed it that there was a fiber arts exhibit.  I couldn't miss  that.

I was fortunate to meet a participant in the exhibit, Mary Hertert, who had several pieces in the show.  Her flower garden is part of a much larger project encouraging others to make their own flowers.  I did not get a photo of one of her 4 large scuptures of the goddess of each season.  She and
her husband moved to GJ (you guessed it) six years ago from Fairbanks, AK.  She showed me the entire exhibit and we had a lovely visit.  We also met her husband, who just happens to work as a local real estate agent.  They are great ambassadors for GJ.  I encourage you to check out her web site:  http://www.colorcreekfiberart.com

This piece was  made by a student in the quilting class.  She is a computer geek who did not think she could be creative.    I love it.

There was also a Buddist exhibit with monks showing extreme concentration while making a sand painting.

One unique feature is a a city-sponsored project called Art on the Corner.  Apparently GJ was one of the first communities in the nation to do this and many others have followed their lead.  I am not sure what the role, if any, the Art Center has in this on-going project.  Some instalations are permanent and others are on rotation.  Here are some examples.

A little bit creepy, a whole lot of fun.

Even though Dalton Trumbo is probably the most famous artist to come from GJ, when the local Democrats put up this statue of him it caused quiet a stir.  When they couldn't get it removed, the Republicans put up a statue of an "upstanding" citizen across the street from the Trumbo statue.

 This is the Republicans'  statue but I failed to get a copy of the plaque.  As I recall, the gentleman had served on the city council.

I certainly hope sun flowers are nonpartisan.

I was so proud of us.  Two mornings in a row we were up and out by 5:30 to find the perfect spot in the Colorado National Monument for getting photos of the sun rise.  Here are some of the shots (be thankful I'm not posting ALL of the shots).

Seems prudent.

Playing with my fisheye lens attached to my iPhone.

Good grief.  Hard to believe someone actually shoved a van into the canyon.  











Here's 1 of my favorites because you can see the Colorado River running through GJ.

We spent one day exploring the Colorado National Forest.  More shots -

Information Center.  I love the architecture.

One of the 300 lakes in the forest. 

Look who's doing all the work.

Driving on  curvy mountain roads was enough of a challenge but we had to be on the constant lookout for the free range cattle.

We knew Colorado was sort of "purple" - Hillary carried the state by 48.2%, the governor is a Democrat, they have 1 Republican US senator and 1 Democrat.  People in Colorado can smoke what they want and die when they want.  We also knew that the Congressman from the 3rd District, where GJ is, is a blithering idiot  - he not only denies climate change but he can't seem to figure out the rules of the House.  In his short tenure he's been called before the Ethic Committee twice.  So, would we be the only Democrats in a very red district?

Because I am a member of the Alexandria Democratic Committee, I contacted the officers in the GJ Committee.  I received an immediate positive response.  They would be happy to welcome us to town and that they did.

On Friday morning we attended the weekly gathering of the Progressives of GJ.  These were mostly retirees because who else could spend a Friday morning discussing local politics.  We learned about the Black Lives Matter meeting that had occured the previous Wednesday evening.  Almost 200 people attended including some at the Friday meeting.  Given the small percentage of blacks living there, the majority in attendance were white but the chair of the event was a well known black spokesman.  Other local issues discussed had to do with water quality, cable and wifi service, and what was happening on the city council.

The gentleman with the beard is a member of the city council.  He came to the meeting on his bike.

Friday evening there was a gathering at the local brew pub for us during happy hour.  It was encouraging to meet people young enough to still be working.  We also met another member of the city council who told the group that he would be announcing for Congress on September 9th.  I was very impressed with his discussion of key issues and his strategy for winning.  Here's his web site link:  https://www.kennedyforcolorado.com

Sorry, no photos of this event.  I still have problems taking photos of people.

On our last night we had dinner at a lovely French restaurant on Main Street.

Speaking of wineries, there are 18 just outside GJ.  We only visited one - Two Rivers Winery.

 This is the   banquet facility and B & B.  They do a booming wedding business.

 Entrance to the tasting room.

This delightful person conducted the wine tasting.  I was sitting next to a couple from Maryland - I know, small world - and our hostess asked the gentleman what he did for a living.  He responded he was in the Navy.  Then she asked what did he do.  He responded "I'm stationed at Ft. Mead."  She started to nudge him for more info so I politely intervened and explained a reality of DC life.  When someone doesn't volunteer information about what they do for a living do not pry.  I didn't tell her but if you live in DC you know Ft. Mead is where lots of intelligence work gets done and that's all you need to know.  He gave me a big grin and we moved on to the reds, which were very good by the way.

One thing we found very strange is how they name their streets and number  the homes.

Can you imagine having to fill out forms if your address is 598.5 21 ⅛ Street?  Turns out the street name indicates how far you are from the Utah state line.  Still don't know why anyone cares.

GJ is at the top of our list of possible new homes but the search continues.  Next I'm going to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, for two months.  George will join me for the Thanksgiving holidays.  We have friends who live there and I've been once before.  Also, if Congress doesn't approve the request for a buy-out package, and what are the odds that this do-nothing Congress will pass anything, all plans will be put on hold.  Since George actually loves his job in normal circumstances, I guess that would be OK.

Stay tuned.  The next 2 months and 2018 could be very interesting.