A Grand Time in Grand Junction (by Walden)

Bill and Susie

Daddy, Ron, and Mike from Schmeeckle work on interpretive consulting projects all over the country (and world). That means they study an area (park, byway, etc.) and help the managers decide what the best stories to tell are, what kind of exhibits to create, and what their visitor center should be like. That is why we have visited so many interpretive sites on this journey. Daddy is always looking for new ideas about how places tell their stories. He takes photos of signs, trails, exhibits… and even bathrooms! Several years ago, they worked on a project for Alaska State Parks. Daddy and Mommy both got to visit Alaska which I hear was pretty neat. Right now they are working on a project in Iowa, which I hear is neat, but not the same kind of neat as Alaska. While in Alaska, Daddy worked with a man named Bill. He is not the same Bill that is in my Curious George books. Bill and his wife Susie retired and now live in Grand Junction, Colorado. I was very excited to visit them… and see if they had any pets!

I loved getting to use the big bathtub

I had so much fun playing at Bill and Susie’s houses. They have a nice big house that we stayed in, so our guest bedroom had its own bathroom and bathtub. The floors in the house were slippery so I could slide from room to room. They had carpeted stairs that I could slide down to get to the lower level. They also had super soft green grass in the backyard where we ran around barefoot, played ball, and I pretended to fall down so I could roll in the grass. They had a really neat car game that I played with Bill and Susie all the time. While we were there, Bill and Susie actually bought a different house! And they were trying to sell the house we were staying in. Mommy and Daddy thought the Burro parked outside wouldn’t be good for potential buyers, but Bill and Susie didn’t mind at all.

Fortunately, Bill and Susie do have a pet, a German Shorthaired Pointer dog named Harley. I really wanted to play with him, but he was mostly scared of me because he isn’t around kids much. When I was eating supper one night, I dropped some crumbs on the floor and he came to eat them, so I got to pet his back once. I did have fun playing with all of Harley’s stuffed animals. 

Look at this Grand bike we found downtown

Shortly after we arrived, there was going to be a house showing, so Bill took us downtown to the weekly farmer’s market. Mommy was very excited to get some fresh tomatoes, beans, peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini. We got samples of the local peaches and nectarines, which were perfectly ripe and juicy, so we bought some of those too. The downtown streets were closed and there were artists and food booths and music all over so it felt like a festival. We found lots of fun artwork, sculptures (Mommy and climbed on a giant bicycle), and fountains around downtown. There were also play areas to explore (including climbing on gorillas), a candy store, and Daddy and I got ice cream… I chose mint chocolate chip. What a great night!

Super awesome playground

On our second day (July 31), I got to play with some toys while Mommy did laundry, worked on the blog, and went to some stores. Daddy found a crack in a pipe under the Burro that caused propane to leak out, so he fixed that. He also fixed a broken hinge and latch on one of the cabinet doors. I was so tired that I even took a nap. Bill and Susie made a delicious supper of grilled chicken, vegetables, salad, and special Colorado corn-on-the-cob. It’s hot during the day in Grand Junction (in the 90s), so when it cooled down in the evening, we went to a super fun playground with giant slides, bouncy things, spiny things, and even a zip line. As the sun went down, the sky was lit up with amazing pink and orange colors, then we watched a giant full moon (the Blue Moon) came up over the mountains. At night, we went to visit Bill and Susie’s new house, just about 10 minutes away from the one we were staying in. The house has an amazing view of the canyons and cliffs of Colorado National Monument that stretch for miles. I loved exploring what was behind each door and running through the huge empty rooms. There was a garden in the back, so we ate some little tomatoes. We also looked at the stars and found the Big Dipper, the big W, and other interesting constellations like the Big Yellow Hat (from Curious George).

This one is for you Uncle Javi!

On Saturday (August 1), Mommy, Daddy, and I went to Colorado National Monument, practically in Bill and Susie’s backyard. It is a big plateau with deep, colorful canyons and cool hoodoo rock sculptures. We were only going for a quick visit in the morning, but there was so much to see and do we stayed past lunch. There was a trail right along the rim of a canyon where we could see the rock formations and another nature trail that led to a sandstone box canyon. We found a big collard lizard on a rock. Mommy said his belly looked big and we thought maybe he was sunning himself to digest his lunch.

Collard lizard

Sandstone cave

Hiking the Rim Trail

Some of the monument formations

While we were having a snack I worked on my Junior Ranger book and earned another badge. Then we drove a windy road along the top of the mesa and stopped at several overlooks to see canyons, rock formations, and places where rivers are when it rains. It was another place Mommy and Daddy said they could come back and spend lots more time and hike lots more trails. In the afternoon, Daddy and I went back to the super fun playground while Mommy went grocery shopping. For supper, Bill and Susie again treated us with juicy hamburgers, fresh vegetables, and potatoes. Mommy said she was in fresh vegetable heaven. 

Yummy supper with Bill and Susie

On Sunday (August 2), it was time to say good bye to Bill, Susie, and Harley. We were so happy that we could spend time with them, even during such a busy part of their lives. Grand Junction was a fun place to visit. Mommy and Daddy like that the people there all seem very active and like to do things outdoors. There are hiking and biking trails in the mountains all around the city. And the sunsets are spectacular every night. We didn’t get to stay long enough to explore all the fun things, but maybe we can go back someday. Thank you for playing with me, Bill and Susie!