A Peach of a Time

Hello everyone!

You might be interested to know that you’re talking to a lady in possession of about 20 pounds of peaches. Yes, the trip to Palisade paid off, both in beautiful vistas and luscious produce. Of course, my peach stores have gone down just a bit since I went on my trip, after I made some amazing peach ice cream and ate a bunch just sitting around my living room. A peach buckle or cobbler is next on the list, and them I’m going to make the rest into “freezer jam”, which should be interesting and might even make the trip back with me to Iowa!

I must say that the Peach Festival itself was a bit of a letdown in terms of show-stopping excitement and the number of vendors selling actual peach-oriented items, but I got to eat my annual corn dog, so I’m not complaining too loudly. J

The most amazing thing about the whole Peach Festival was the drive out there. It was held in Palisade, which is very near the Utah border and about a 4 hour drive from the ranch. The scenery changed dramatically along the way, from luscious green, pine-covered mountains, to brown and red towering mesas (sort of like flat-top mountains).

I got a really great tip from the ranch foreman (who has lived up here for years) about this sort-of shortcut to connect with I-70 called Trough Road. Since it didn’t involve going over a mountain pass, I was all for it! As it turned out, I drove on it for a few miles, and then rounded a bend to discover that I was VERY high up on the side of a mountain, looking down onto a gorgeous valley with a wide green river running through it. There was a lookout station, so I naturally swung my car right in and took a bunch of pictures. It was truly breathtaking. I could see the rapids, and I even managed to get a picture of them.

The rest of this road was great because not too many people use it and it’s really wide, so I could pull over to the side and take pictures whenever I wanted, without worrying about having someone behind me. But, once I got onto I-70, there was no stopping for anything, so I had to take all my pictures one-handed out the window. Still, I got some great shots of the mesas and the surrounding area.

Once I got into Palisade I stayed at the Peach Festival for literally like 45 minutes (after driving 4 hours!), but there was really nothing to do there. There were all sorts of stands selling jewelry and knick knacks that I couldn’t afford and didn’t want. I bought one of the biggest peaches I’ve ever seen and ate it, dripping all over the place, as I walked around and tried to forget that the sun was beating down on me and I’d forgotten to factor sunscreen into my daily plans. Eventually I’d toured the entire grounds and was just *done*, so I left. I had seen some fruit stands on my way into town, so I stopped at a couple on my way out of Palisade and bought a ½ bushel of peaches and a few ears of famous Olathe corn (which, upon cooking, revealed itself to have NOTHING on Iowa corn…you can’t fool a corn-fed girl). Anyway, it was a great trip and I’m so glad I went!

Aside from that, not too much has been happening around here. Balbir and Dick keep asking me if I would like to stay here over the winter and work in the office taking reservations for next season. Needless to say, my answer is always a polite “No Fucking Way.” I think I would lose my mind if I had to stay here all winter. Balbir keeps talking up how we can go skiing and snowmobiling and to all these great winter resorts around here. Yeah, right. No thanks. Today Dick asked me AGAIN if I would stay. He said that they really like the quality of work that I do and that they would love me to stay or just even come back at some point during the winter to work even for a little bit. I, once again, told him a firm no. He said that they would really like me back, so that’s why they want to offer it to me first before they advertise for a new person. I appreciate that, but there’s just no way that my sanity (or budget) could stand staying out here in the depths of winter. Not to mention the strain on my poor little Ford Focus!

Anyway, my working day is almost done. Today has been super slow, but I don’t mind that so much.

Take care everyone and I’ll talk with you soon!