All Boxes Checked: Grand Junction Colorado
The Ute Canyon Garden Loop at the Colorado National Monument.
Grand Junction Colorado had so much cool stuff for us to experience! Over the years as nomads we have figured out there are some boxes that must be checked to find a cool spot if we want to live in the community for a month or longer! A nearby National Park just won’t cut it, maybe a long weekend but not a long-term airbnb rental! Most times we’ll do that homework ahead, but when we chose Grand Junction Colorado we chose it simply based on the fact that we wanted to learn how to ski. We could afford to ski at Powderhorn and we liked an airbnb that we found in town so we went with it. That was the extent of our box checking for this spot! It turned out All Boxes Checked in Grand Junction Colorado and I’ll tell you why in this article!
Downtown mural in Grand Junction.
You can check out our ski experience at Powderhorn HERE.
But guess what happened? The place where we didn’t try to check any of the boxes beforehand wound up checking EVERY SINGLE BOX off. In this piece I’ll share what has become my box checking list and how Grand Junction Colorado is a place for YOU if you have a similar box checking list.
Even the statues are wearing masks at Yoga V!
Nomadic Yogi Box Checking List for Place to LIVE (Grand Junction Colorado!)
Hot Yoga Studio.
Well a Nomadic Yogi needs yoga first and foremost. Specifically I want the chance to be able to bicycle or walk to a heated yoga studio. I also want that studio to require students to wear masks. And if I can get on the sub list or do a special pop-up class or two then it’s really meant to be!
In Grand Junction Colorado I found Yoga V Studio. They have an amazing community, the most wonderful owners (tell Anita & Greg I sent you!), and I got the chance to take 28 classes in 28 days from a variety of teachers while also teaching 6 classes myself.
Check Box One: YES!Outdoor Adventures Galore.
Grand Junction has the crookedest road in the world turned hiking trail plus dozens of other trails in the Colorado National Monument, the largest flat top mountain in the world to snowshoe, ski, and mountain bike on at the Grand Mesa, the Tagebauche Trail connecting over 50 miles of trail to Montrose, a bicycle trail running along the Colorado River to nearby Fruita (stop at the Hot Tomato for a pizza break before riding back!), the Palisade Rim Loop, and Moab Utah with its two National Parks and miles of Land Management Space is less than 90 minutes away.
Check Box Two: YES!Food Composting Service.
I want to either be able to compost our food scraps or hire someone that will do it. If you are interested why you might compost food I wrote an article on it called Nomadic Composting a while ago. I was unsuccessfully finding options for either one when I started an internet rabbit hole that led me to a new friend named Bryan.
B is a professor at Colorado Mesa University. I reached out to him on LinkedIn and it turned out that he was not only kind enough to reply, meet me to show the process of how to compost at the student run composting facility at the university, but I have a feeling when I return I’ll be able to help support their amazing sustainability work at the university. It was close to the house and it enabled us to keep our 8 month streak of food composting in tact on this journey.
Many thanks to the students and Bryan for their hard work for Planet Earth!
Learn more about it HERE!
Check Box Three: YES!Volunteering Opportunities.
I had the honor of being the “Load Guy” at Meals on Wheels Mesa County for about 10 shifts while in town. This kind and giving team coupled with some extraordinarily dedicated volunteers get over 450 meals out daily in Mesa County to those needing food.
They gave me a comfy T-shirt, fresh mask, and my first COVID19 Vaccine Shot plus a lifetime of memories. I can’t wait to be back longer to support their mission even more!
Donate to Meals on Wheels Mesa County HERE and volunteer if you live in the area with them!
Check Box Four: YES!
Great Kombucha awaits you at Best Slope Coffee Company in nearby Fruita Colorado!
So four boxes? That’s all you need Mike? Yep pretty much.
If I can walk or cycle to Hot Yoga, Compost Food, Volunteer, and have Outdoor Adventures Galore I am at peace. Simplicity friends. It’s all about simplicity.
There’s always added benefits to any place we stay at. For instance we had a black cat we nicknamed Young Maxwell hang around with us all month long. We loved Kiln, TacoParty, Pablo’s Pizza, and Ramblebine Brewing Company. The nearby towns of Fruita and Palisade are COOL! And there are Dinosaur Museums ALL OVER. But having the Big Four checked off first is always crucial!
Our friend and neighborhood Mayor: Miniature Maxwell. The Black Cat is now officially my Spirit Animal.
Everyone has their thing but I have realized over the last eight months that if these four boxes can be checked I can mostly handle anything else a community or place throws at me! If you are looking at a similar box check list then definitely find yourself adventuring to Grand Junction Colorado.
Maybe we’ll be back by when you arrive! Have you been to Grand Junction?
Or somewhere else on the Western Slope?
Thrown down any questions or comments below!
Thanks for reading and catch ya again soon friends.
Because Adventure Feeds the Soul,
Mike R & Hashtag59