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Blog Entry 46 of 190 From the mountains to 6th Avenue
Many Evergreeners commute. It's been described as a commuter community. Accurate. So there is an etiquette to commuting. The first rule: Leave early. Even if you depart for a 9 to five job at 6:30 a.m., you will not be alone. If you like being alone on the highway, go to Montana. The second rule: Leave early If you don't get off til 5 p.m., take a book on tape, because you will be sitting in traffic near Federal and 6th, and entertainment of any kind is helpful. There are polite drivers, like me, who let others sneak in, especially in merge lanes. I try. You probably do too. The one thing I have decided that will not happen to me is that I will not be mangled in a car wreck on 6th Avenue or I-70 in either direction. What do you do to keep this promise to yourself?

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~karentgrovesblog

Western Slope weekend

Contributed by: Karen Groves/YourHub.com   on 5/9/2006

If you aren't fond of trains whistling and rumbling across the tracks, or a horse's whinnying beyond the barn, this may not be the place for you.

But we love it. Palisade in the spring is a great place to visit because unlike the mountains, it's bursting with greenness and warmth.

Snuggled beneath the folds of massive Mt. Garfield we stayed in a little English carriage house that belongs to Frank and Jackie Davidson. They live here on six acres just north of the Colorado River and south of the Denver Rio Grande Western Railroad tracks in the little town of Palisade, east of Grand Junction.

We've stayed here before, at Paradice Farm. The weather was perfect, even though the drive over the Continental Divide to get here was rainy, foggy.

Since the drive is close to four hours, we packed a tape to listen to. This was my idea, at the last minute of course. "You are not going to the library," Alan warned.

Okay, so I found something had already listened to, but it's so amusing, I brought it anyway. "A Walk in the Wood," by Bill Bryson, read by Bill Bryson, with that mid-tone slightly British accent. He lived in Britain for a long time, but he is an American.

The book details his decision and subsequent adventure to walk the Appalachian Trail. It's filled with anecdotes about his out-of shape hiking buddy, Katz, who initially brings so much gear, heavy items like pots, pans, heavy jackets and the like, that he winds up ditching it all in the woods in a fit of exasperation. When Bryson finds out his pal has tossed the Snickers and Little Debbie cupcakes, he wonders about their future in the wilderness.

"Well what about the bologna?" he asks his friend.

"Oh, I ate that a long time ago."

The trek is fused with all kinds of encounters with other hikers, dubious shelters, and heavy disappointment when the pair reaches Gaitlinburg, TN where Bryson studies a four foot long map of the trail (it's over 2000 miles long) and realizes the distance they have covered so far amounts to a measly two inches on the map.

This is our entertainment as we pass Vail, Eagle Dotsero before entering Glenwood Canyon, on the flat part where you can travel 75 mph.

As we travel along I-70 the landscape changes from grey to green. Glenwood is fluffed out with springtime, but I don't see anyone at the big pool. Just chairs and tables neatly stacked alongside the pool's edge, waiting, I guess for weekend visitors.

As we follow the growling swirling, rugged Colorado River into the canyon the mesas appear as rocky massive folds, sheared across their tops.

We tumble out of the Subaru at the DeBeque Winery tasting room, on the outskirts of Palisade on Highway 6. It's a small but comfy tasting room, where two servers are anxious to ply with us with sips of white, then red wines.

We taste six or seven varieties and purchase three bottles.
The wine is tasty and earthy, organic. Not mellow and smooth like Napa Valley wine. Distinctive ruggedness, Alan calls it. We bought a 2003 Chardonnay, their new Tempranillo the grape is originally from Spain, and a 2002 Claret, All were neatly packed in a handy cardboard carrying case. Cost: one fourth of our savings account. (not really)

While we're there another couple came in from Arvada. We chat and they tell us about last weekend's barrel tasting, which according to them is a great way to taste wine, because food is served.

That is one thing I notice about wine tasting rooms, there is usually a basket of crackers for you to munch on, but if the establishment isn't licensed with a full kitchen sink ordained by the health department, that's all they can do.

We vowed to investigate barrel tasting events.

Our next stop was Plum Creek is on Highway 6 also called F Road.
All the roads are named with letter names going east west, and numbered names are north south. Designated by mile, so numerical and alpha roads are designated by tenths, or quarters of a mile, hence 351/4 Road, or G7/10 Road.

Making it easy to navigate.

The tasting room at Plum Creek Winery had high ceilings, lots of windows, wood. The barrels and wine making equipment was evident in a room behind the cashier.
Most of the wine tasting shops have their fermenting equipment and barrels and vats on the premises.
When I asked to go back, the server was accommodating. She showed us oak barrels, some of which are imported.

The oak barrels lend a certain taste to the wine, which isn't normally found when aged in stainless steel vessels. Our server was an energetic young woman, named Paula Butler, who regaled us with tales of her former career as a cemetery supervisor in Casper Wyoming.

Then we checked in at our little carriage house, off Highway 6 on 35 Road. This place is a delightful hideaway. Reservations mandatory. We discovered the owners were not at home , but the doors were open, so we let ourselves in to the carriage house.

The furnishings are antique, but not so fragile that you'd feel uncomfortable. All is utilitarian, brass bed, full kitchen, including pots, pans, dishes. A refrigerator with enough eggs for two large breakfasts, and for two hearty eaters, and a cookie jar full of biscotti. There were iced mugs and an ice bucket.

There is a small living room, phone, cable TV a tiny study , a fenced in back yard patio with a charcoal grill, table and chairs, chaise lounge for sunning in the afternoons. In the bathroom a tiny English ceramic vase held fresh tea roses and I really liked the French milled soap in the shower. Also, a white terry cloth robe on the hook of the bathroom door.

The carriage house has baseboard hot water heat, and a swamp cooler for those hot afternoons. There is a skylight in the living room which allows all that hot rays to come in but it illuminates the space. A source of heat during the winter.

No smoking allowed.
Surrounded by fields, pear tree orchard, rose bushes separate us from the main house, chickens two semi-feral cats dart furtively around the yard, who were not interested in my "Here kitty, here kitty," invitations,

Globe willows, elevated garden beds, A view of Mt. Garfield and vineyards.
The train roars by on a regular basis.

Friday night we went to the Art Hop in Grand Junction, where artist are in the streets or in the shops painting, or blowing glass. The main street is graced by sculptures. A photography studio had a display of many old cameras, most were Kodak, an original Brownie and undetermined collapsable lens dated 1913. The host wasn't sure. Many fine photographs, mostly landscapes of the surrounding area, northwest of Grand Junction near Fruita. A really large panel held a photograph taken from the air of the Colorado National Monument.

I was surprised that most of the store fronts, there are theaters, a shoe shop. restaurants, art galleries, the usual assembly of small town shops, were so busy and vital. We returned the next day for a Cinco de Mayo celebration and stopped in at the Rockslide brewery. I liked the pale ale and Alan went with the nut brown ale. The tacos weren't bad either.

On Saturday we also visited more wineries starting out at Canyon Wind Cellars on North River Road. It's really close to the river. See www.canyonwindcellars.com

The server was a young lady who had grown up in the area. She said her mother was a server at another of the local wineries. This winery literature says the first grapes were planted in 1991 and the first vintage was released in 1997. I don't know what it is about tasting wind at 10:30 a.m., but that it was fun.

While we were there, the owner darted in and out while an employee told us about the owners, because I asked about the unusual stuffed birds and odd antelope like creature that adorned the white white walls. We chatted and the guy told me the owners had traveled all over the world and that the owner Norman and Ellen Christianson were world travelers. "I think the only place he hasn't been is Siberia." He also told me that Norman was a mineral geologist and had studied the soils of the area and chosen this site specifically for being a vintner.

While we were chatting a slew of vehicles began driving toward the building, and like the Energizer bunny, they kept coming and coming.

Is this a funeral procession, my husband asked.

No one answered.

I think we were all surprised, I just figured, must be a tour.

AFter some commotion and greeting and as young people tumbled out of all the vehicles one by one, we found out it was a class from DU. The owner barked a few orders at his employees and the students and their professor lined the walls of the yard and listened to a speech by the professor and Mr. Christianson. The sun beat down, the flowers glowed, a breeze rustled the aspen trees and we left. I asked one of the visitors what class this is and he said, beverage management.

We tucked our wine purchases in the back seat and trundled off to another winery. But wait, there's a solar dried fruit place on this road, said Alan, Great let's go there.

We bought a bunch of dried fruit. I think I went overboard on this, I just was so impressed by the simplicity of the operation and the trusting nature of the owner. Jim Voorhees.

We went to Grande River Vineyards and heard more about the barrel tasting event from a jovial and talkative server. Their prices ranged from a $7.99 bottle of Desert Blush, to $35 a bottle of 2000 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. They also offer wine club prices at 20% off. This place we had visited before and remembered they host summer concerts outside and they have merchandise, like T-shirts, coaster, and hats. The concert season runs from May 26 to August 12 and offers entertainers like Charlie Musselwhite, Sophie Milman and Hazel Miller. go to www.granderiverwines.com

The Garfield Estates Vineyard was new three years ago and had already won some awards. We visited again this time and the server, Marilyn, from Thornton was very knowledgeable about the wines and suggested food pairings. We tried the S2, a blend of Semillon and Viognier. The list says it's fermented in stainless steel and is very light, And it was.

I don't consider myself an expert on wines. It's all about what you like at a certain time.
I have typically been a red wine drinker, and used to consider white wines just too, light. No flavor. But I am bending. I am willing to see the benefits, the flavors of whites. The new S2 she offered us was just . . .okay. $14.99 a bottle. I like Fume blanc. I like anything with the word fume in it.

I am not a rose drinker. I really liked the Cabernet Franc, also $14.99 a bottle. It had. . . what it had bulk, it had something rich in it. And next to the 2004 Syrah, I wrote "Yum." Which means I must have liked that too. That was $20.99 a bottle. Neither of us liked the 2005 Vin de Glace, it was so sweet it was like a syrup, and Marilyn warned us of that with the caveat that, this would go nicely with a bowl of raspberries.

I think what we enjoyed about this little trip was not just tasting wine it was the conversation and stories we shared with total strangers. Like any trip, other travelers want to ask you "Where are you from?" or "What other vineyards have you been to?"

Marilyn, who was a sales rep for L'Oreal cosmetics for 15 years and lived in Thornton, only recently moved to Palisade. "We actually followed our dream, she said of she and her husband, an air-pollution engineer. "We came up here for years looking for a piece of land and finally found 7.5 acres right on the river. We only recently finished building our house," she said, exuberantly.

While we were chatting, the German winemaker Reinar came upstairs with his two children and asked Marilyn to water the plants in front.

We went back to our cottage palace and sat out side. Alan tried grilling chicken, but said, "Maybe I didn't put enough brickets in there," so it took a long time. But what did I care, I was working on a bottle of Plum Creek Palisade Red to work on. Only $7.99 and it was delicious.


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