What a day! Where to start? With the beautiful waterfall we saw in the Animas Valley just north of Durango? Or the absolutely beautiful trip from Durango to Ouray, up 550 through the San Juan Mountains with fresh snow and gorgeousl blue sky? Or the really neat people experiences we had along the way?
Well, anyway, we left Mancos yesterday morning with snow in the air and overcast skies, driving in 4-wheel. By the time we got to Durango, the streets were dry, the skies were bright blue and the sunshine was glorious. It was cold ... 15 to 17 degrees most of the morning ... but that bright alpine sunshine is so warming!
The purpose of our trip is to distribute the latest issue of Arts Perspective magazine, published by a couple of Mancos friends (www.artsperspective.com), and our route is the San Juan Skyway. Not a shabby paper route!
We went up the Animas Valley to Trimble Hot Springs (which I'd never been to before, in 20 years in SW Colorado!), and along the way there was this beautiful waterfall gushing down the redrock cliffs.
The drive to Silverton was crisp and bright and we enjoyed wraps at the Steam and Steel Cafe on the north (sunny!) side of Greene Street (the main drag). The co-owner/manager/cook/waitress/cashier, Lyn Simon, presides over a cozy, laid-back little restaurant, decorated with bicycles hanging from the ceiling and photos of Africa on one wall. We'll be back!
While I'm on food (while eating the Best Western hot breakfast delivered to our room by a handsome young cowboy ... lady readers take note!), last night's supper at the Backstreet Bagel in Ouray was a great end to the day. Normally a breakfast and lunch place, one night a week they open for supper, planned and prepared by a guest chef. Last night was the night and Chef Omen prepared sourdough bread, and a tasty fresh salad, juicy turkey stuffed with cranberries and walnuts, stuffing, delicious red potatoes, sauteed summer squash and pumpkin pie ... all for $12 each! Again, the setting is an old building with couches for reading, artwork on the walls and Victorian buildings and mountains visible out the front window.
Pictures aren't loading well this morning, so I'll add them later and catch up on the rest of the day later, probably after we get home. We went to the Ouray Ice Park to watch people climbing up frozen waterfalls (not MY cup of tea!); Sandy's got the best pictures of that activity. We ended the trip to Ouray by going up Camp Bird Road till it was blocked, driving along a steep canyon with beautiful views of aspens, peaks and pines. (The panorama is of Silverton, from the miner's shrine above town. Click on it to make it more big. The road to Durango is at the right, Kendall Mountain in the center.)
Doing our distribution duties in Silverton and Ouray was fun. We met lots of friendly people who were very positive about having Arts Perspective for their visitors to see. Maybe they were just happy to see a live person at this time of year! In any case, it will be interesting to come back quarterly and watch the seasons change around the San Juan Skyway.
We're off! tv
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