A Grand Junction of Mefites

July 19, 2010 12:01 PM

Grand Junction, Colorado - meetup?

Bought a plane ticket on a bit of a whim, and was wondering if anyone's in the area. I'll be in town 10-17 August - actually staying in Palisade - and I figure I'll be roving all around the area, so anything within, say, an hour's drive of Grand Junction would be fine with me.

Anyone around?

posted by backseatpilot to MetaFilter Gatherings at 12:01 PM (7 comments total)

Several years ago, during a family trip out west (we're from the southeast), our beloved minivan of 10 years broke down. We were in the middle of nowhere in Canyonlands National Park after closing time, with limited cell phone service/batteries, and the car just stopped. We hiked up a hill and were able to call AAA, and waited about an hour for a tow truck to show up.

They towed us to the nearest town, Moab, Utah. We were stranded there for several days, trying to figure out how to get home with no vehicle. My brother and I spent our days at the "hottest local teen hangout," a combination knockoff-TCBY/teriyaki-on-a-stick joint (where there were only ever three other people--the employees). After some finagling with Delta, we managed to use some accumulated frequent flier miles to get us on a flight going out of Grand Junction.

We donated the van to the only charity in town (the Rape Crisis Center of Moab), crammed ourselves (including the 6'3" brother) and a month's worth of luggage into a rented Dodge Neon and spent the most uncomfortable three hours of my life getting to the airport. We got there and they didn't even have x-ray machines! Every piece of our meticulously jam-packed baggage had to be sorted through by hand, to the great delight of everyone else waiting to fly out that day.

It was quite an experience. For the rest of my life, I won't be able to think of Grand Junction without remembering those harrowing days.

Also, even though I'm nowhere near there and won't be attending, I totally recommend froyo/teriyaki as a meetup location.
posted by phunniemee at 12:28 PM on July 19, 2010

(For what it's worth, backseatpilot, this is exactly the response I got to "anyone around?" when we were in Grand Junction.)

:)
posted by phunniemee at 9:23 AM on July 20, 2010

Figures...I'm around! But I'm heading to California during that time for a vacation of my own. Hope someone else wanders in and fills the void...otherwise it's just you, me and the tumbleweeds.
posted by kattyann at 9:42 PM on July 20, 2010

I'm getting really good at calling meetups in places where no one lives. Maybe the next one will be in the middle of the Serengeti.
posted by backseatpilot at 11:42 AM on July 21, 2010

If you fancied a night in Denver or Boulder I'm sure we could muster a meet-up. We could even, possibly, maybe, you never know, finally organise the Fort Collins brewery tour meet-up that has long been discussed.
posted by NailsTheCat at 8:39 PM on July 21, 2010

Nails - Grand Junction is far more than an hour from our fair city (Denver). I know this because I went to high school in GJ! For real, look for the shrine.

Anyways, there isn't a whole lot around Grand Junction population wise so odds are against you finding many mefites, though who knows? There are lots of beautiful natural areas around there if you are into that sort of thing. Email me if you want suggestions. Have a great trip.
posted by fieldtrip at 9:36 PM on July 22, 2010

Yes, I meant for backseatpilot to spent the night in Denver--assuming he doesn't have any real ties to GJ--I realize it's a hell of a slog for him. But on the plus side, we could have that brewery visit. And that's a big plus.
posted by NailsTheCat at 3:57 PM on July 23, 2010