19 Jul 2023 - Oil Change, Rifle Falls, Last Day at Silt CO

 

Woke up this morning and realized we are about to depart civilization for a while, at least according to my searches after we pass Grand Junction we won't likely run into a RAM dealer on our chosen route until Las Vegas.  My last oil change was Chattanooga TN and the diesel motor gets a workout in the mountains.  I would rather be early on the oil change than late, so I went in search of one this morning.  The local RAM dealer 20 miles east was double booked for oil changes and I did not want to drive 70 miles west, so we hooked up with the Grease Monkey in Rifle CO.  (I love that name - I could live in Rifle CO!!)

Terrible picture through the glass of the big ol' brown truck in her day spa

I must admit, I've never used a Grease Monkey or any other 'quick lube' service, but I was pleasantly surprised.  A little pricy, but friendly and very thorough.  No hard sell, no up sell, or trying to convince me I needed a new muffler valve.  Before they were all done, they had not only changed the oil but checked all the fluid levels, topped off the windshield washer fluid, completed a whole checklist of other things, replaced a borderline air filter element, vacuumed the inside and gave me a code for the adjacent touchless car wash that would accommodate my RAM dually crew cab!  Plus they gave a 10% military discount!

Back at the campground Doreen did a load of laundry while I was gone, and then when I returned, we had lunch and discussed the plan for the rest of the day, since this is our last day here.  We decided to take a leisurely drive in the mountains and explore Rifle Falls State Park, which is located about 15 miles into the mountains north of Silt.  The Garmin tried to take me down a road that was private and gravel, so we had to backtrack a bit, but after a scenic, windy drive we arrived at Rifle Falls State Park.

We passed Grass Valley Reservoir in Harvey Gap State Park.

Scenic, windy roads through the valley

Awesome rock formations and colors on both sides of us.

The claim to fame of Rifle Falls State Park is a beautiful 70 foot tall triple water falls.  There are hiking trails that take you around and even behind part of the falls, so that sounded like fun

.We arrived and paid our $10 day use fee and then proceeded through the campground to a parking lot just a short walk from the falls.  The campground looked peaceful and it was fairly busy.  There are 13 RV/tent sites with 30 amp power and there are shared potable water shared among sites.

After driving through the small campground we were guided to a large parking area by one of the many park attendants on golf carts.  There was plenty of room to back the big ol' brown truck in for a quick getaway.  Just a short walk from the parking area and we could feel the air temperature drop as the falls emerged.

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We walked several of the trails including one that led to an 'amphitheater' area where they might do nature presentations or maybe even church services.  As we were admiring the area, there was an elderly lady that was up above and came very close to falling off.  

If you zoom in on the picture below you can see the lady trying to gather herself, 

sitting on top of the wall.  

There are benches and viewing areas on both sides of the falls, so you can get very close.  I could sit or stand there and watch the water falls for hours.  Very mesmerizing.  

On the other side of the falls you can climb a set of stairs and actually get behind the biggest falls. 

 

We finished up our falls visit and then headed back to the campground.  The scenery was awesome along the drive.  

What appears and smells like sage, just like we have on our berm at home.

Back at the campground we completed our day before departure tasks and enjoyed an evening walk with Liberty.  Tomorrow we pull chocks and head west on I-70 and then south on US-191 to Moab for the next six nights!

Next report from Moab UT!