Grand Junction

Spent a lovely day in Grand Junction (GJ), CO yesterday. A call from a dear friend inviting me to park my AS at her house rather than find another campground was a welcome change in my routine. My friend treated me to a driving tour of the Colorado National Monument - beautiful rock formations and big landscape views; reminded me a bit of Zion on a smaller scale. Following the tour, we joined her two sons and daughter-in-law for dinner at Le Rouge, a French restaurant in historic downtown GJ; I had two of the specials - melon salad and sea bass and a glass of Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley - delicious!

In response to a question on what kind of Pinot Noir the restaurant served by the glass, the waitress said - 1 French and 1 from Willamette Valley; she gave no indication of the vintage or wineries. A similar response was given to a question about Sauvignon Blanc. I found these "geography only" responses interesting and don't know whether it is part of a trend or just how this restaurant handles the questions. It was a first for me; in my experience, the response typically identifies the winery and maybe a comment on geography if not evident by the winery (e.g., Paso Robles). Granted, with an ever growing number of wineries, unless one is really into wine, telling them the winery's name wouldn't help inform their decision and may embarrass them if they are not familiar with the winery.  These simple geographic responses may be a way to quickly respond to what I'm sure is a common question, to simplify choice for customers, and avoid embarrassing them.  The serious wine drinker can probe for more information on winery and vintage (or read the wine list - which I failed to do:).

The wine and food were good; however, my dinner companions were so interesting that my focus was more on the engaging conversation than what I was putting in my mouth. We covered a range of topics from technology ("no tech Tuesday"), to personal stories of joy and tragedy, to Colorado's Public Defender system. This was my first dinner out (with others) since hitting the road March 26th; I miss this type of social/culinary interaction.

On to Denver next.