Thursday, May 30, 2019, Walk Around Grand Junction, CO, Ranger Astronomy Program, Colorado National Monument, CO


The next few days we slowed down a bit taking in Grand Junction's nicely renovated downtown area along Main Street.



We found a Rock and Mineral shop where we couldn't resist a few nice samples to add to our collection.



There was a lot of interesting artwork on display along Main Street (some more "interesting" than others). The piece below, meant to evoke a Native American chief, included parts of a Chevrolet Apache truck.


Chief Eye-Heart-Gut, Archer of the West, by Jimmy Descant

The park bench I sat on below was a tribute to the man who fought with the city to keep parking meters off of Main Street. His success explained why there were parking meters everywhere around town except for this one street. I wholeheartedly agree with his position - I find free parking to be much more welcoming when we visit a city.


"In memory of Mancel Page, He fought to keep the parking meters off Main Street"


The significance of the clock below is that it was the exact same model my dad received when he retired and it is still at my mom's today.



Mural by Laurence Spencer, 8/24/2017

This might have been my favorite. Simple, striking yet capturing the modern high rise cityscape. It needs a big yard so I will settle for a picture.

Skyline 5, by Kyle Ocean $12,000, 10/6/2018

 Chrome On The Range II, by Lou Wille, 1989

The next day we made another quick trip up the hill to Colorado National Monument. We enjoyed the views without taking any new pictures. At the visitor's center, I learned they were having an astronomy program later that night. As sunset approached, I returned and found the Rangers had set up two 8 inch dobs for viewing. It was their first night for the program and they were working out their program content. The sky remained partly cloudy all evening but things went pretty well with around 20 people getting a look at Jupiter and its moons and getting an overview of some of the constellations.

The next night went even better. Ranger Mike had a presentation indoors covering a wide variety of astronomical topics. When we headed outside the sky was dark with beautifully clear skies and Ranger Paula led visitors on a star-hopping trip through some of the summer constellations. I think their program will be a success and a nice addition to the activities at Colorado National Monument.





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