Ficks Travels

or "A Princess Goes Camping"

From Kansas to Western Colorado Wine Country: Western Adventure Begins

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The Grand Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area) encompasses about 76,000 acres between Palisade and Grand Junction, CO., situated along the south side of the Colorado River. I mention this because the Grand Valley AVA was the “official” first designated stop on the Western adventure of 2025. We are not counting stops in Kansas, discussed in my last post, as “official”.  If there are any “teetotalers” reading this, the area is also famous for its peaches, about 30 million pounds annually.  We were there when the trees were in full bloom.

Peach trees in full plum

I’ve told people we were stopping here to clean up the rig and fill the fresh water tank before a long stint of dry camping in Utah, but really, the Princess and I stopped for the excellent wine.

I’m not a wine snob; I’ll drink a box wine if I’m dying of thirst, but that was not a concern during this stop with over 35 wineries to choose from. It turned out there was a tasting room for one of the often-recommended wineries just a half mile from the Palisade Basecamp RV Resort, where we parked the ORV. I felt obligated to try a few Colterris wines while scribbling ideas for this post. The problem is that now I’m having a tough time reading the notes, which I knew were very well-written at the time. I do recall that, out of the five wines tasted, we liked all of them. To narrow down our choice of bottles to buy, we moved to the patio to do a little more research.  I had hoped to tell you what wine we settled on, but sadly, I forgot to write it down.   Day one in the Grand Valley AVA is complete.

Vineyards at Book Cliff Winery

We woke up the next morning to fresh snow, not much, but enough to remind us that we were camping at an elevation of over 4,000 feet above sea level in April.  Based on local recommendations, we selected two more wineries to visit. One of our favorites from the 2023 trip was mentioned by several people again this year: Bookcliff Vineyards.  We learned that the principal winemaker had since changed, so to give him a fair assessment, the Princess and I decided we had to taste eight wines: four red and four white—a good way to start a morning. Our favorite was a 2023 white Albariño.

Main Street Palisade, CO.
Bookcliff Tasting

After lunch, we made our way to Restoration Vineyards, where we found the tasting room host pulling weeds from the landscaping in the parking lot.  While chatting about where we are from and where we are staying, we learned that she and her husband were living in their Airstream, parked a few spaces from our rig at the Palisade Basecamp. Additionally, they met friends of ours who were leading a rally the previous week at the same location.

The Book Cliffs formation along the Eastern edge of the Grand Valley AVA
Sculpture at Restroation Winery
Art instalations along the entryway to Restoration Winery

Because it was a slow day, the wine tasting was not rushed, and the conversation was enjoyable. Between discussing the tasting notes, we talked about their travels and found several places where we have both camped throughout the Northwest.  Restoration wines are excellent, and when combined with the outdoor seating and music on weekends in the summer, one can spend a lot of enjoyable time here.

Day two in the Grand Valley AVA is complete.

This was a short stop to prepare the rig for a week of dry camping. With that accomplished and the wine storage restocked, we moved on to Utah.

Dennis

Notes:

  • Traveling across the prairie states in early April can be challenging due to high winds, followed by spring snowstorms in the mountains. We arrived in Colorado a day before the red flag warnings and a day after the snowstorm closed I-70 around Breckenridge.
  • I like to time my drive across the Rockies so that I miss the Denver morning traffic. We have stopped several times at the Denver East KOA, located not in Denver but in Strasburg, about forty-five miles East.  If we leave early enough, we miss the worst of the ever-present construction slowdowns.
  • The drive through the Eisenhour Tunnel past the ski resorts is short enough that if you leave the Denver area early, you can arrive in Palisade in time to set up camp at the Basecamp and still have plenty of time to explore the nearby wineries before dinner.  Pay close attention to your gas gauge; the options after Denver are not all that easy till you reach Vail.
  • For your dining pleasure in Palisade, we recommend Fidel’s Cocina & Bar on West 3rd Street in Palisade. The Mexican food was excellent. (970) 464-2888

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