Flooded basement

We have had a lot, A LOT of rain here in Colorado Springs.  Finally on Sunday our basement flooded.  Luckily, or unluckily we have carpeting.  The carpet was soaked halfway into our family/game room.  The smell is lovely.  We are much luckier than others though.

With that said it has been many days of cleaning so what I am sharing today is a summer camping trip.

This past summer we camped in Grand Junction, Colorado, where we visited the Colorado National Monument.  Originally being from the east coast I heard National Monument and thought, "cool, a monument I wonder who it is dedicated to."  This is not what the Colorado National Monument is.

It is more like the Grand Canyon though not at that grand of scale.  The Colorado river runs through Grand Junction and at one time ran along and through the 'National Monument'.  Then the river receded and created the valley that is home to Palisades where peaches and other fruit are grown as well as where many wineries reside.  Next the wind took over and began to erode the rock.  Earthquakes also took their toll on the region and moved the rocks and the land.  This is also where The Grand Mesa is located, the Grand Mesa is the largest flat top mountain in North America.

The area is considered a high desert.  There is no grass only a few trees, Juniper Pine and scrub oak.  In its own way it is very pretty.  Here are a few pictures from our trip, I hope you enjoy them.

The park has many pillar type formations.  This one is called Independence.  You can climb it.

Here you can see the valley, the Colorado River and the mountains in the background.

Here you can see the road that you travel to the top of the monument.  Yes you start at the bottom and travel up.

The wind at work, twisting a tree and keeping it growing close to the ground.

I hope to be back to my normal twice a week posting next week.