It had been a windy night which kept some of us up but no rain though the dark clouds threatened as we cooked breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. It never rained and after breakfast we rolled up our gear and packed it all up. Pastor Keith read us a "sparkle" verse from the prophet Zechariah and another daily devotional verse from his phone app. The Zechariah verse became our daily verse:
Zechariah 9:16
The Lord their God will save his people on that day as a shepherd saves his flock. They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.
What a promise, what a hope for those who are "His people". And, BTW, we are only "His people" through faith in His Son, Jesus.
Anyway, back to the story: Our first goal this day was to hit a nice twisty road we found on the map called State Hwy 65. North to south from Mesa to Delta. Then we'd take a main highway (50) back north and west to Grand Junction and end the day at the Colorado National Monument just west of town. This was Steve's suggestion as he had been there before and said it was worth the trip. He was right, BTW.
It was a beautiful day and 65 was a very nice road with many switchbacks and gorgeous scenery. And blessing upon blessing, we had the road pretty much to our selves. We were able to take the curves at our own pace and not worry about cars and trucks slowing us down.
As mentioned, this was western Colorado and it had a very western, desert feel to it. The mountain passes were not as high (@ 10,000 feet) or as green as central Colorado but still very interesting and we were very glad to be there. The road up to Grand Junction was very fast and hot and the high plateau we rode through looked like every Cowboy movie you've ever seen. I kept expecting John Wayne to ride up and say "Howdy, Pilgrim"! In Grand Junction we ate lunch in a nice restaurant downtown (name escapes me at the moment). Then we gassed up and headed west of town up into the amazing Colorado National Monument where we'd camp that night.
Colorado National Monument is like a mini-Grand Canyon that is much more accessible with great twisty roads and outstanding scenery. Keith played mountain man and slept on a rock ledge under the stars. Bible study was at "his place" with flying stars as welcome interruption. More from I Tim 6: "God's Man".
