2016 Western Trip – Days 18 – Wine Tasting

When I think of Colorado, it is generally in terms of the Rocky Mountains, snow, and skiing and not the agricultural areas on both sides of them.  The part of the state on the west side is known as the Western Slope and it is semi-arid without unusually cold temperatures and so they are even able to grow peaches.  One of the crops they are known for is sweet corn and the nearby town of Olathe has an annual corn festival - it was on our schedule for Saturday until the ladies read about it and decided there would not be much there for them.

So we went to Randy’s for breakfast (previous post) and after it settled, we headed out for a tour of another crop the area is known for - grapes, except they are generally served in the liquid form from a bottle.  I researched the wineries to pick out a few that made the wines we like and at prices we are willing to pay – I try to find those with a first price number of one, so the ones with a first number of three were immediately dismissed.  

2016 Western Trip – Days 17 & 18 – Italian Beef & Randy's

Friday was only 70F and light rain in Grand Junction and I loved it compared to the mid-90’s when we got here.  The choices for this day were a wine tasting trip or shopping for the ladies and since my foot was bothering me, we opted for the shopping trip.  We had brought a big sirloin roast with us from home and while the ladies were shopping, I turned it into Italian beef in the crockpot.  I used the same recipe as previously but just used the herbs and spices we had on board.  I cooked it for about six hours on high, sliced it up and cooked for another hour and a half – I adjusted the seasonings for the final part.

We sauteed some peppers and onions, and toasted the buns with a slice of cheese on each half.  This is my sandwich and it was delicious as well as very easy.

2016 Western Trip – Days 15 & 16 – Pufferbelly & FM

Our first day in GJ was devoted to cleaning up Sweetie, doing laundry, and running to the store but it began with a trip to Pufferbelly for breakfast and when we arrived, the eastbound Amtrak was loading at the station – same one we’d seen before in Glenwood Canyon the previous day.

2016 Western Trip – Days 13-14 – Evergreen & Grand Junction

I ordered this great telescoping ladder - Ollieroo® 12.5ft EN131 AluminumTelescopic Extension Ladder – from Amazon which looks like the perfect ladder for RVers.

During the dinner at our coach, I mentioned I planned to use it to repair the trim on Sweetie.  Heather overheard this and nearly insisted on doing the job for me – I know she was concerned about a fat old man being on a 12’ ladder – so she came over on Monday morning to make it happen.

2016 Western Trip – Day 12 – Dinner At Our Place

During our last visit to Denver, our local friends came over to the coach for supper and even though the rain ran us inside, it was still a memorable enough experience that they wanted to do it again.  As it turned out, this was our plan as well and we had brought a whole beef tenderloin from home for the occasion.  The dinner party included five Denver friends and the three of us so after trimming, I sliced it up into a nice steak for each of us and we opted to make it into Steak Oscar. 

But before the entrée we had two appetizers – Fried Corn ala Beverly and Green Beans ala Lea Ann using ingredients from Lulu’s – both were very good.  Bev tried to convince me that fried corn was not an appetizer but I looked up the definition – “a small dish of food served before the main part of a meal” – so I think the beans and corn qualified as we only ate small portions.

2016 Western Trip – Days 10-11 – Brewery and The Brown's

After the visit to Brighton, we returned to Sweetie to realize that Riley was scheduled to fly home that night rather than the next night as we believed, so she flew into getting ready so we could still participate in the evening activities – a brewery tour and dinner at Breckenridge Brewery.  

2016 Western Trip – Day 10 – Breakfast & Brighton With Friends

The next three days were mainly devoted to spending time with our Denver friends beginning with breakfast at the Pierre Michel French Bakery in Highlands Ranch, CO.  They serve breakfast and lunch and, as expected, the meals are heavily slanted toward baked goods and with lots of delicious pastries.