After three weeks out there, I learned some things I did not know....after also spending a couple of days in Park City, for the Tour of Utah, a visit to Aspen, and Ouray, and some serious miles on that POS the 4 Runner...
A. Places like Grand Junction and Salt Lake City experience a phenomenon called atmospheric inversion, that keeps the pollutants close to the ground resulting in lots of ozone and bad air, even in winter. Don’t want to live in any such place. Not good for your lungs as the ozone causes permanent lung damage.
B. The last week I stayed in a beautiful house off grid, atop and adjacent to the Colorado National Monument. Built with natural materials, walls like old adobes, solar panel electricity, water collected into a cistern collected from rain, metal roof, cooking with gas stove, you would never know the difference if not told how things worked. The utility bill for the place in an 18 month period is $150. No air conditioning, because it is not necessary. With temperatures outside in the 90s, inside it was 74 degrees. In winter time it is a constant 80 inside with 4 feet of snow outside. The floor is heated via the solar panels, too. The place was all glass on its side, overlooking the 350 foot deep canyon they own, all 1600 acres. At night not a sound of the modern world heard up there. Just stars and the sky.
It is amazing what science and technology today can do, and not high science nor high tech. Just human knowledge and application of widely available know how. The only thing we bought was drinking water, but didn’t have to. And no pollution up there, nly in the Grand Junction valley, where the inversion causes very cold temperatures in winter but up there they are 12-15 degrees warmer, and they are 13 miles from town.
C. Park City and surroundings is my choice as potential destination. It is a nicely spread out area, excellent food and laid back life, lots of activities to get into, doesn’t go to sleep at 8pm, and it is 30 mins or so from a major airport, and a major town like Salt Lake City. And it is just fing beautiful there, and no inversions, just great scented air.
D. The other town that fits the bill is Fort Collins, CO. For similar reasons.
As for that POS SUV, the 4 Runner, which is very popular there, I hated every moment in it. It was floaty on the road, had to manually put it in 4 wheel drive so you won’t fly off the road on dirt roads, could not drive it on pavement that way, because there was lots of angst and grinding, could not make u turn on pavement without feeling the transmission grinding and the pos ready to split in two. Setting the cruise control was a pain, and took several, seconds to lock or switch to the speed you wanted. What a pain in the ass. I just don’t know why people settle for such shit. The dashboard was a Microsoftian bouillabaisse. Even Bill Gates couldn’t have “improved” it to make it more nuts. PTUI! Amazing what shit America considers a good SUV and drives. I just can’t fk g believe they are so CLUELESS about cars. Never thought it possible until I saw so many of these pos driven by young people, especially.
Anyway, it’s off my back. PTUI!
NOTE OF INTEREST: Was told that Utah is the number ONE growing state in the country in population, and they expect 7 times more people in that area over the next whatever years I don’t remember the number......
High West Distillery in Park City makes some of the best Ryes and Bourbons anywhere, as well as a great Vodka. And great food too.
Grand Junction is a great town, civilized, young, etc., but a little too sleepy after 8 pm in the downtown. Great people there, polite, helpful, the other two towns within 10 miles Fruita and Palisade have great produce, great peaches, tomatos, everything, and many wines/ wineries. All sustained by the great Colorado river that flows right through.
Colorado is working on placing emissions test on the western slopes of the Rockies, just as they have on the eastern front because of the ozone....Denver rush hour traffic sucks, whoa!
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