PAGE 14 • THE VILLAGER • May 13, 2010

PALISADETOUR THE BOUNTYPALISADE

PHOTOS BY HANNAH ODNEAL

BY HANNAH ODNEAL

I spent a weekend in early April touring around town with a bunch of travel writers from vari-ous parts of Colorado and Utah.

It’s not often that a lifetime resident of a place does the “touristy stuff” there, but I found out that it’s pretty cool to get the vacationer treatment in your hometown when it’s Palisade.

College kids like myself are always itching to get away from home and see something new, but since I made the choice to go to college in Grand Junc-tion, I have had to constantly remind myself to make a choice to be happy here and appreciate the beauty and

uniqueness of it every day. Hanging out with a bunch of writer-types like myself, and having the opportunity to witness their fi rst reactions to things I see almost every day defi nitely helped to replenish my sense of appreciation for the place. And though we think about Palisade as a small place, it’s fun to remember there are still doors unopened and views unseen right in our backyard. I got to visit some places that I’ve driven by a thousand times and never paid much mind to.

There were about 15 writers that were from out of town. I was the only local on the tour that wasn’t offi cially guiding or organizing it. To those who

did organize it, job well done! Even I felt like a tourist at times. The out-of-towners got a great snapshot (or hundred) of the most unique features of Palisade. Even I couldn’t stop tak-ing pictures.Mayor Dave Walker met the group at The Blue Pig Gallery and welcomed them to town. “We love our little town and we’re really glad you took up the offer to come and take a look at what we have to offer you and take a chance to see the area. And we want to make sure that we all have a chance to welcome you to Palisade, so welcome.”

PALISADE | TOUR

Reporter learns there’s much to see in her own ‘backyard’

PART TWO OF ATWO-PART SERIES

FRENCH INFUSION

John Barbier of Maison la

Belle Vie in his tasting room.

He makes a line of � ne French-style wines in Palisade and moved there

from Loire Valley, France, where his family had been making wine for 150

years. One of his favorite sayings

is, “Life is too short for cheap

wine.”

Not all of Palisade is old news — Even to the locals

A poster in Clark Orchards fruit stand, which will be full of real Colorado peaches soon.

FIELDS ABUZZ

The apricot trees were in blossoms

and the bees were buzzing all

weekend.

Familiarization tour organizer Sandie Cooper leads group of bicyclists around Palisade on an extraordinary day.

Continued next page

He told the group about Grand Junc-tion’s rapid recent growth to a population of 100,000 people, and about the big box stores and such that we Palisadeans take advantage of but do not want here. He explained to them about the buffer zone, and pointed out the geographical formations (The Grand Mesa and the Bookcliffs) that surround us, making Grand Junction’s type of rapid growth im-possible here. And then we broke into groups to go and enjoy that small town charm. An organizer of the tour, who wishes not to be named, said the tour includes the “3 A’s of Palisade: Agriculture, Art, and Alcohol.” (I wasn’t the only writer in the bunch who was bummed to hear such a funny and quotable thing, and not be able to attribute it to any-one.)

The first order of business and pleasure was lunch. I dined with Mayor Walker’s group at The Palisade Brewing Company. Unfortunately, the traveling writers weren’t able to taste the local flavor of the “3rd A” there, because the company has recently

changed hands and is 30 days from the end of their mandated waiting period to brew again, but the food was excellent. Before it got to the table I learned some fun facts about Pali-sade from Mayor Walker. Apparently, Pali-sade has the most finished park acreage per capita, as well as the most alcohol production facilities per capita in the state.

After the food got there, everybody got pretty quiet. Danny, the brewer, gave us a 10 minute spill on how beer is made and which types of ingredients produce which types of beer.

We then walked around downtown and introduced the group to “Harley” in the town plaza, who is a fish made out of Harley Davidson exhaust pipes by local artist Lyle Nichols. We also visited the Twisted Brick Galleries and got a second dose of the “sec-ond A.”

Back to the “third A” wine tours! Some of the writers took an American Spirit Shuttle bus, but I went with the crowd that took Ron-do’s automatic-shifter cruiser bikes, from his Palisade shop, Rapid Creek Cycles & Sports. My group got to taste quite a variety of wines, which I could not tell you much about because my 21st birthday was still two weeks away, unfortunately. But starting at Garfield Estates Winery, they learned about the differ-ence between making white and red wines, enjoyed the Mt. Garfield view from behind a vineyard, and tasted what Rainer Thoma, the winemaker there, said is a unique array of uncommon types of wine. French wines were next on the schedule, when we pedaled across the street and down a long driveway, lined with blossoming apricot trees, to Mai-son Belle la Vie. There, the owner and wine-maker John Barbier, told the group about his line of French wines, and his one “American Pie wine, the sweet one,” a sweet Rose. Then we mounted the bikes again and headed for The Rocky Mountain Meadery for some honey wine.

On to dinner. I dined at the Wine Country Inn’s new restaurant, The Tapestry Lounge, with my publisher Mr. Bob Sweeney, his wife Gerri, Mr. & Mrs. Tally, proprietors of the hotel, and a couple of writers. We shared several of the delicious gourmet tapas, before ordering entrees. I had the chicken supreme, which was a chicken breast stuffed with apri-cots and wild rice and wrapped in bacon. It was plated beautifully with steamed aspara-gus and garlic mashed potatoes and tasted

even better than it sounds! We couldn’t thank the Tally’s enough, or our excellent waitress, my friend Evelyn.

But, enough about food! We did a heck of a lot more than eat and drink. All of the travel writers stayed in either B&B’s or the Wine Country Inn. That, and hanging out at Peach Street Distillers that Saturday night, were about the only parts of the tour I really missed out on. Sunday was the day for the first, and most important “A.” Agriculture.

I was seated aboard one bus at Riverbend Park Sunday morning, when Rick Fox of The Palisade Lions Club informed me that he needed me as an assistant tour guide on the other bus. So, I toured Clark Orchards for the umpteenth time, but a ride on a horse drawn wagon through orchards is never a bad time. Especially with Larry Clark, a 4th genera-tion Palisade peach farmer, telling us about the history of agriculture and settling in the valley.

The next farm, Kokopelli Produce, is one I have driven past a million times on my way to hike the Rapid Creek Trail. But I hadn’t ever been through the gates and seen the view of the valley from within the orchards, at the mouth of DeBeque Canyon. From any angle, the Bookcliffs and the contrasting Grand Mesa, never cease to please the eyes. We got to tour the place on a flatbed hoopie,

with Brant and Carol Harrison at the wheel. These are flatbed vehicles made out of very old trucks, which were and still are used for pruning and picking.

And now “Agritouring.” My grandfather drove one in his father’s Palisade orchard be-fore he reached double digits, and picked up the neighbor’s peaches on his way to the train depot for tips of a few cents. I have heard all about them since I was a little kid, but this was my first time actually getting to ride one. And my fellow reporters had never been on one either.

Organizers of the tour called it “The Pali-sade Familiarization Tour” and it came to be with the hopes that these reporters would go home afterward and spread the word to the readers of their blogs, newspapers and maga-zines about the enjoyment of the “3 A’s of Palisade,” as well as the scenery, the hiking, biking, river-floating, disc-golf, and food.

What a weekend to be grateful to be a lo-cal! The apricots were in full bloom and the sun was shining. I think the only thing that could have made it better was a fresh peach in-hand. I am blessed to live in such a great place, and I think it will be getting even more visitors than usual this summer.

For more information on Palisade, visit www.townofpalisade.org.

Rainer Thoma of Garfield Estates Winery pours a glass of estate-grown wine.

May 13, 2010 • THE VILLAGER • PAGE 15 Palisade | Tour

Continued from Page 14

For most of the travel writers on the tour, it was the first time they had a chance to ride an orchard hooptie. These are modified trucks with big, low flatbeds useful to farmers for picking, pruning, and now touring.

Brant Harrison of Kokopelli Farm and Produce gives a pruning demonstration at his farm in the Rapid Creak area.