July 14, 2006
We are in Leadville for 3 days. It is an old mining town and most of their income now is from tourists. It was a town of 1000 people in its heyday and quite risqué and wild. There is quite a history here. We enjoyed rides through the old mining districts just at the edge of the town. We also took Hiway 82 to Aspen and on to Basalt and then on Road 105 back east. We knew this turned into a gravel road but it IS on the map! When we got to it we found it was more like a jeep trail. We continued on and it was quite a ride. We made it through with no mishaps and no damage to the car.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Monday, July 10, 2006
July 4, thru July 10, 2006
John and Neva left early in the morning. By noon here it was raining. It let up for a while about dinner time so we went to town thinking we would go to the July 4th festivities and then see the fireworks show. But by 6 pm it was raining again. We went home and decided to forget the fireworks this year even though it did appear to clear up about dusk. It rained off and on every day since. We couldn’t even get to the grocery store without being rained on when we came out of the store. On Monday July 10 we had reservations to go on a boat ride Morrow Dam portion of the Gunnison River. It was a beautiful sunny day in the morning as we made our way to the boat dock. We had to walk down a trail 232 steps and a walk on level ground for ¾ mile. The canyon was beautiful with high rock bluffs. The trip was quite nice. It clouded up just after we started our ride and was sprinkling by time we arrived back. Just after we got back to our car from the walk back up the trail, it started raining and was still raining when we got home about an hour later. We are tired of rain but they need it very badly here.
John and Neva left early in the morning. By noon here it was raining. It let up for a while about dinner time so we went to town thinking we would go to the July 4th festivities and then see the fireworks show. But by 6 pm it was raining again. We went home and decided to forget the fireworks this year even though it did appear to clear up about dusk. It rained off and on every day since. We couldn’t even get to the grocery store without being rained on when we came out of the store. On Monday July 10 we had reservations to go on a boat ride Morrow Dam portion of the Gunnison River. It was a beautiful sunny day in the morning as we made our way to the boat dock. We had to walk down a trail 232 steps and a walk on level ground for ¾ mile. The canyon was beautiful with high rock bluffs. The trip was quite nice. It clouded up just after we started our ride and was sprinkling by time we arrived back. Just after we got back to our car from the walk back up the trail, it started raining and was still raining when we got home about an hour later. We are tired of rain but they need it very badly here.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Monday, July 03, 2006
June 30 through July 3
Sue’s brother, John and his wife Neva came to visit us. We had a great time just being together and also saw some beautiful scenery. On Saturday we took them to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Even though we had been there earlier it is such an awesome site you can enjoy it over and over. We also drove down the East Portal where the 6 mile tunnel was dug through the mountain for irrigation to the Montrose area. The project was started in 1901 and completed in 1909. Some interesting information about this project can be found at: http://www.nps.gov/blca/webvc/gtunnel.htm.
Sue’s brother, John and his wife Neva came to visit us. We had a great time just being together and also saw some beautiful scenery. On Saturday we took them to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Even though we had been there earlier it is such an awesome site you can enjoy it over and over. We also drove down the East Portal where the 6 mile tunnel was dug through the mountain for irrigation to the Montrose area. The project was started in 1901 and completed in 1909. Some interesting information about this project can be found at: http://www.nps.gov/blca/webvc/gtunnel.htm.
Durango was founded by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1879. The railroad arrived in Durango on August 5, 1881 and construction on the line to Silverton began in the fall of the same year. By July of 1882 (amazingly, only 9 months after construction began) the tracks to Silverton were completed, and the train began hauling both freight and passengers. The line was constructed to haul silver & gold ore from the San Juan Mountains, but passengers soon realized it was the view that was truly precious. This historic train has been in continuous operation for 125 years, carrying passengers behind vintage steam locomotives. The town of Silverton caters to tourists exclusively as near as we can tell. We left Durango at 9:45 am for a 3 and 1 ½ hour ride, had a 2 hour layover to eat and shop and then rode back to Durango arriving at 7 pm. It was a long day. Then we had a 2 ½ hour (normally) trip back to Montrose. However about 8:45 we came upon a traffic stop. We were stopped there for a little over an hour before we found out there at been a huge mud slide on the verrrrrrrrry curvy mountain road. The road crews were just finishing the clearing and we made it home safely. Apparently rock slides and mud slides are very common in this area.
Monday we drove to Telluride. It was a pretty drive there and the town is quite unique. The homes are very attractively painted and landscaped. The downtown has many stores and restaurants that cater to tourists. We ate at a very nice upscale Mexican restaurant and then walked around town for a short time before taking a gondola ride that leads to a very ritzy town, Mountain Village, which is up the mountain above Telluride. It seems to be mainly second homes and ski shops, restaurants, hotels etc. for the wealthy. Someone told us Oprah had been there the week before. In a weekly Telluride I saw prices for houses for sale mostly well over a million dollars, some as high as 4 + million for both Telluride and Mountain Village. We had fun looking around, riding the gondola and seeing the beautiful views.
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