We arrived at Hillary’s house with a trailer full of wetness. Luckily, it was so hot and dry that our stuff dried out quickly.
I was so excited to get to visit Hillary, one of my best friends since 4th grade. It was great to spend time with her and her husband Michael in their new house. They are still finishing projects and getting settled, but their house is so nice and it’s in a great location with amazing trails in their backyard. Their dog Norman and Scout wrestled non stop and Zoey and Quinn instantly bonded with Hillary’s daughter Estelle. The three girls played extremely well together, giving the adults some fun time to hang out and catch up. Unfortunately, Kevin had gotten slammed with a big work assignment right before we arrived so he spent much of the weekend sitting at his computer.
Friday night we drove up to the top of the Colorado Monument, a giant plateau with views of the area all the way out to Utah. The local firefighters put on “Movie Under the Stars” each Friday night on the top of the mesa with a cookout and a giant outdoor screen for the movie. We ate dinner and watched the sunset before watching Empire Strikes Back. We even got to meet Darth Vader and some of his dark side buddies. It was pretty awesome.
One afternoon, Hillary led me out to the trails behind their house, an amazing desert landscape with mesas and trails all over. She ran and I rode my mountain bike. The biking was excellent and quite challenging too. It was sooooo hot, it took me the rest of the day to rehydrate!
Hillary and I snuck away one evening for a quick drink on the town which was amazing because it is not often that we get to hang out just the two of us. We went to a cool brewery called Ramblebine Brewing Co. in a cool area of downtown Grand Junction.
It was sad leaving Sunday since our in person time together is so limited but I feel full after a fun and relaxing weekend with friends. We are now heading to Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada. It is crazy to think that we are on our final leg of our trip, with only 5 more days!
Back in the West!
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