Well, as with several trips that Jason and I go on, the weather was not in our favor.  The first two nights we camped at Cottonwood Hot Springs.  While it was nice to be so close to the actual springs, the campsite was awful.  The place is mostly for guests who stay in the inn or several cabins they have for rent.  They had six "campsites" that were basically just a gravel area off the parking lot.  We didn't even have a picnic table!  That turned out not to be an issue because both nights around dinner time it was raining, so we went out to eat anyway -the town of Buena Vista was only 5 miles away.  We also came prepared with two bundles of firewood, but didn't get a chance to use that either due to the rain.  The good news was that soaking in the hot springs is actually an enjoyable thing to do in the rain.  So, we enjoyed the actual tubs - there were several of varying temperatures, so it was nice to move to a cooler pool when you get too hot.  I probably spent about 8 hours in the water while we were there.

Our third day we drove around seeing beautiful aspen, the Black Canyon of Gunnison, and beautiful scenery all around.  We went to Marble, where there's a working Marble quarry, but we didn't get to visit it due to some safety concerns, but the area was neat to explore a bit.  Marble from this quarry was used in several of the monuments in Washington, D.C. - I only remember that it's the Lincoln Monument and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Our beautiful day turned rainy in the late afternoon as we neared the area we wanted to camp.  After two nights of not being able to enjoy camping - there's nothing to do but sit in the tent - we decided to get a hotel.  That night we cooked one of our planned camp meals, so we didn't feel too guilty about springing for the hotel.

The next day we visited Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction.  There were beautiful canyons and desert landscapes - very similar to the Grand Canyon.  It's actually formed from the same plateau as the Grand Canyon.  The weather was similar as well - HOT - so, we didn't do any hikes, but it was beautiful area to do a  few quick walks to overlooks. 

Saturday we went to a wine festival in Palisade.  We were kind of at a lost for what to do - we thought there would be more educational displays and seminars.  There were a few seminars, but you had to pay extra for them and they were not cheap.  There were over 50 Colorado wineries there, so we did get to sample quite a few wines and bought two bottles.  I guess the prices are better at the festival, but I'm not sure about that.  It was a beautiful day, so we also just enjoyed laying in the grass and listening to the jazz bands as well.

Today was a long drive home.  It's only 240 miles - all on the interstate, but it took us over 6 hours.  Ugh... I-70 is just awful, especially on Sunday afternoons when everyone is returning to the Denver area from a weekend in the mountains.  The traffic was just awful - it reminded me San Francisco actually.  We've purposely avoided I-70 in the past, but it's been a while and we forgot how frustrating it is.  Plus, we followed a storm on the way home.  A massive cold front is moving in - tomorrow will only be in the 50's.  Feels like summer is almost over....