But more importantly, it was also home to our cousins, Paul and Leslie, who invited us to camp in their drive-way. They were great hosts, telling us all about this area of Colorado that they have lived in for many years.
Even though we can fend for ourselves with our own kitchen and supplies, they insisted on treating us to some meals at their house, complete with brownies and peaches and home-made peach ice cream! Thanks!
We had a great time visiting with relatives here, including their grandsons and more cousins--Shirlee and Bob. And we even got to view some of Paul's collections. We were intrigued by Paul's beautiful collection of German hand-made marbles.
We also loved to see his pre-columbian artifacts and the stories that went with them. We deemed it the best museum visit ever, and we didn't even have to go to a museum!
And we had lots of fun playing with their grandsons, Corbin and Cooper. After staying in RV campgrounds with lots of retired folks, it's great to get to play games with children!
The following picture took us back 16 years to when our two sons were the same age as Corbin and Cooper. Mark used to play this same football passing game with our sons. It was uncanny to see the similarities. Our two sons were born 2 1/2 years apart, just like Corbin and Cooper. Our oldest had dark hair, and our youngest son was a blonde--just like Corbin and Cooper. Boys, does this bring back memories?
Another nice part of our new camping spot is that it is right in the middle of fruit orchards. We were six miles from Palisade--home of the Palisade Peach Festival--and we were lucky enough to be here on the weekend of the festival.
On the short drive to Palisade we often had orchards on both sides of the road with those delicious Colorado peaches still hanging on the trees.
Denisa loved snapping pictures of the trees still loaded with fruit, and the beautiful Book Cliffs behind them. Peach trees only produce twenty years or so, and this was a very young orchard that will replace some of the old-timer trees. This is certainly beautiful country!
We arrived in Palisade in time for the peach parade, complete with the peach princesses coming down Main Street in style.
We have seen many parades where people on floats throw candy or beads to the spectators. This one had a float with people walking beside, handing out an occasional peach.
We weren't lucky enough to get a free peach, but we did get to visit with the couple standing next to us at the parade. It turned out she was the director of the chamber of commerce in Palisade, and she was a great host of information about the festival and the town. She even offered us free wrist bands to get into the festival grounds when the parade was over.
The highlight of the parade was the final float. We wouldn't have understood the situation if it hadn't been for the explanation from our new friend from the chamber office. She explained that a couple was getting married at the peach festival this year, and a filming crew was following them for use in a television program. We saw the drone and camera man with them.
It was an Aladdin-themed wedding, so the groom and best man were riding camels.
There was a group of belly dancers that were escorting the wedding float.
The bride and her maids were on the Aladdin float, nestled around the genie's lamps.
There was also a breakfast going on at the park, where you could buy pancakes (with peach syrup), eggs and sausage and a side of fresh peaches. The pancakes were cooked on rotating grills that were fascinating.
We walked the long path to River Bend park were the peach festival was unfolding. At the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival, admission included all the corn you could eat. We were hoping for unlimited free peaches at the peach festival, but that isn't the case. We had to purchase our peach desserts, so we bought peach cobbler, peach ice cream, and peach lemonade. There were also vendors at the festival, very busy selling their fresh peaches.
Our favorite part of the festival, however, was the cooking demonstrations. Under a tent that provided much-needed shade, we watched as area chefs prepared peach dishes. We got to watch as they prepared Blackened Teriyaki Salmon Canapes topped with peach shishito ginger chutney, and then we got to sample it!
So we were back the next hour when a different cook prepared white chocolate/peach fondue. The chef's tent was the highlight of the peach festival for Denisa. But it was getting hotter and the crowds were getting bigger. After two months in the mountains, we weren't conditioned for temperatures in the 90's. You must know it was really hot when we opted to leave the festival before the next cooking demonstration that featured Peach Napoleon.
On the long walk back to our car, we passed by a children's lemonade stand. The four-year-old little girl was a mighty good salesman. Instead of asking if we wanted some lemonade, as we approached she asked, "You want small or big?" That lemonade was just what we needed to make it back to our car, where the temperature was reaching 102 degrees. We were glad to get back to the air-conditioning at Paul and Leslie's house! In spite of the heat, it was a peach of a day!
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