Palisade, CO is a small town just east of Grand Junction, CO, and is apparently famous for it’s peaches! I had never heard of Palisade before Scarlett booked our stay here, but I’m apparently the only one. When people started asking me where we were going next and I’d respond with “Palisade, CO”, the very next thing they would say is how beautiful it is out there and too bad the peaches aren’t in season. It seems the peaches here are famous – we’ll have to come back when they are in season sometime (August). The town is small, only approximately 2,692 people live here as of the 2010 census. With 182-days of sunshine they are not only famous for their peaches – they also have tons of vineyards out here!
We stayed at Basecamp RV Resort in Palisade, CO, from June 9 – 16th (1 week) at site #14 for $372.29 (approx $53.18/day). Basecamp is a gorgeous resort a short bike ride from the downtown area of Palisade, CO. They have a fenced in off-leash dog run, brand new shower/laundry facilities, a swimming pool and community area, and a nice walking path that circles the park.
Both Miss Cleo and Mr. Winston love this park. Miss Cleo is obsessed with lizards – she saw her first one here!
I took Tuesday off from work to spend the day as a bike tourist with Scarlett. We rode our bikes out to the downtown area which is adorable. We walked into Sandy King’s art studio and met her husband, also an artist, though his name completely escapes me. I fell in love with his crafts and bought a beautiful butterfly as well as a bike magnet.
We stopped at the local bike shop and purchased a winery bike tour map for $2. There are so many wineries in this area! They also have some really neat local art scattered across the town. We walked around downtown for a little while before heading out on our bikes to get some wine!
Riding around on bike wasn’t too bad. Other than the trail we found there were no “bike lanes”, but the locals seem to be really comfortable with cyclists so we felt safe riding in the road.
The street names in Palisade are a trip! We kept riding by odd names like 35 8/10 Road. We found out the story behind these odd names while chatting up the server at Red Fox Cellars. She explained that the street name is exactly how far in miles it is to the Utah border! Ha! The wines here were delicious btw, I especially loved the Dolcetto.
Next we rode out to Maison La Belle Vie Winery to try some more wines. My favorite wine here was their Malbec – smooth and rich. This place had a really nice outdoor courtyard and if we were hungry, they also served food. By this time it was really heating up outside and Scarlett and I were starting to feel the effects of it all so we made this winery our last tasting event for the day. We finished the rest of our 12 mile ride and spent the rest of the day relaxing in air conditioning 🙂
Our last full day in Palisade we decided to check out some of the local shops. We stopped by one of the many lavender farms and purchased some fun stuff like lavender oils, hand cream, body cream, and even….ice cream! As I was checking out I was given a special topping of chocolate balsamic vinegar on my lavender ice cream and I have to say, it was…interesting. I kinda liked it, but kinda didn’t. Definitely a unique experience for me. We were also treated to a highly detailed description of this lady’s daughter giving birth to her son, including a ton of cell phone photos! LOL! I thought Scarlett was going to faint. It was a great time either way and we really enjoyed Palisade, CO.
