Look around . . . a surprise usually awaits

Olathe, Colorado

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Left click on any picture to enlarge

Uncompahgre River RV Park was a quite nice place, well taken care of, with very pleasant host/owners. Campground is definitely for 55+ and most of the campers were there for the season. Coffee every morning at 9:30 and drinks at 4:00pm. Everyone was very friendly.  Most of the "campers" are seasonal and return every year, a testament to the owners. A large community garden, started and maintained by the campers - across the road behind our rig in the picture above, serves not only the park, but also the senior center in town.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP was about an hour from Olathe.  Smaller than the Grand Canyon, but it is equally spectacular in it's own way.

 

 Dana looking back from a lookout point below the visitor's center.

 

No, that's not what we are doing!

Before we left Olathe for the short move to Ouray, we drove a short distance out of town to a dairy where twice weekly they divert some milk to make "artisan" cheese (http://www.rockingwcheese.com/).  The cheese was indeed wonderful, but on the way to the dairy, we passed an orchard with "pick your own" peaches . . . and we did!

The surprise at the orchard was their small winery (Mountain View Winery - http://mountainviewwinery.com/).  It was 9:30 in the morning, but we decided to try the wine anyway.   Ash Mesa, a blend of chardonnay grapes and apples was a particularly good production (yes, really!)

We stopped at Olathe to see the Gunnison Canyon, but almost anywhere on our travels, when we take the time to look around, there are almost always some smaller, but still worthwhile experiences that await the curious searcher.