All kinds of fun on the Western Slope!

Colorado National Monument from downtown Grand Junction

...western slope of the Rocky Mountains, that is. A nice trip to Grand Junction last May—primarily for baseball, as you will see—provided opportunities for great touristy experiences of many varieties.

In addition to the great views (above and below) from an observation tower downtown...

the Book Cliffs and Mt. Garfield

...we took an interesting hike near Fruita (named for the great produce from this area), the Paleo Loop:

It included this picturesque cabin, once actually inhabited until the not-so-distant past:

Fruita's just down the road from Junction, but we also took a longer trip, to Meeker, further north along the Western Slope. A museum there was displaying a very interesting exhibit from the Smithsonian about the influence of native American stories and myths on mainstream culture. The museum itself was full of fascinating objects and would be worth a side trip. This is just one of the items that caught my fancy—an unbelievably ornate fireplace surround:

There was more history on display closer to home. This beautifully maintained torpedo bomber lives at the Grand Junction airport, watched over by the Rocky Mountain Wing of the Commemorative Air Force.

I got a special tour of the plane and the adjacent museum, since one of my hosts is a member of this august organization. Here's another shot of the highly polished engine of this TBM-3 Avenger, a model first used in WWII at the Battle of Midway:

This particular craft wasn't in that battle, but it did fly over the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II!

So many fun activities during this visit, including a very interesting and entertaining talk by David French, the NY Times columnist, sponsored by Restore the Balance, a group working to blunt political extremism in our national discourse. Yes, there are progressives in the intermountain west!

But the main reason for the visit was, of course, baseball. It had been several years since I was last at the Junior College World Series, held every May in Grand Junction. (I blogged about an earlier visit here.) What a wonderful celebration of the game, the earnest young men who play it, and the joys of, if not small-town, then at least small-city, life.

I don't want to wait that long before going to experience it again!

The lovely weather is a big reason they hold the tournament here every year

new pressbox since my last visit; there were new seats, too

fun music between innings, including, of course "YMCA"