Fine eats

After a quick visit to two wineries and a stop for fresh cherries at a fruit stand, we left Grand Junction for Aspen. We plan to stay overnight and then continue on towards home. Aspen is pretty, but I prefer the openness of Summit County. I like Keystone best the way it lies low in the valley along the Snake River. We have years of family memories there, so it is special to me.

Being deprived of American junk food after months in Baja, Robert and I are without much restraint. At every fuel stop I sampled some goodie or another. I started with a Dove Bar. Next stop it was a Big Hunk and then an Almond Joy (which I have the odd habit of biting off the almonds and tossing the rest). I even bought a Twinkie. I thought, "Oh, why not?" I took two bites and remembered why I didn't like them. Robert threw its twin out the window into the Nevada desert where he claims it will petrify.

In the culinary heaven of Aspen we say yes to everything: appetizers, salads, elegant entrees, wine, coffee, dessert. How lucky we feel. We should feel rich, but that's hard when rooms start in the hundreds and homes in the millions. The buzz here is over a recent cash purchase of a single home (on a lot of property, granted) that went for a record-breaking $47 million. On that subject Robert goes on and on about the amount of property taxes this new owner will be subject to. If they can afford the $47 mil, the taxes are probably not a huge consideration, I tease him. Besides, that's just more money in the public coffers to pay for things like the nice cobblestone streets and public art (like this bear made of nails I'm cuddling up to) and other toney amenities that we visitors to Aspen enjoy.

Oh, and it rained hard here this afternoon for about 30 minutes. The rain poured down in the constant sunshine (the best kind of rainstorm!) and created a double rainbow. Overall, Colorado is a nice change from what we left in Loreto.