Western Slope, I See You: Sunbeam Traffic Jam And The Mesa County Cat Show

Stina Sieg/CPR News
Somewhere between Dove Creek and the edge of the Earth is a delicious-looking field — and a tire sign telling you not to step foot in it.

The territory I cover, Colorado's Western Slope, is a big slice of the map. It's also my favorite expanse of the state. While Grand Junction is my cozy home base, I'm out exploring (and reporting) whenever I can. 

Not all of that work finds its way to the website, which is why I like to use this space to show where I've been and what I've been up to. And between posts here, you can keep up with my Western Slope adventures on Instagram and on Twitter.

Stina Sieg/CPR News
Sometimes the traffic can get so tangled near Sunbeam, in northwest Colorado.
Stina Sieg/CPR News
On the side of a building in Palisade, a protest I would march in.
Stina Sieg/CPR News
Not everyone is the kind of person who arrives at the Mesa County Fair at 9 a.m. on a Saturday just because of the promise of a Humane Society cat show. But I am that person. This is Chile, by the way.
Stina Sieg/CPR News
There’s an RV park in Palisade that just beckons you to sit by the Colorado with a beer.
Stina Sieg/CPR News
I always love talking to people who love their hometown. Makayla Roster just moved back to Nucla from Texas because she knew she wanted to raise her daughter, Emerald, there.
Stina Sieg/CPR News
No matter where you live in Mesa County, you can be somewhere no one lives in a few minutes. This is the Old Spanish Trail, in some wide-open part of Orchard Mesa.
Stina Sieg/CPR News
On the road to Naturita, there is a small herd of burros painted and etched into the rock wall. If you get up close, you can see the ghost of burros past, dating back to the early 20th century.
Stina Sieg/CPR News
So it begins, the tomato-ing. This little guy, my first ever, is sprouting on a plant that was left on my doorstep one day.