Ouray

Tom is being kinda lazy this morning. I'm in Ouray, distributing the latest issue of Arts Perspective Magazine around the San Juan Skyway. I got a late start yesterday and didn't get into Ouray till 6:30 p.m. Most shops don't open till 10, so I'm catching up on the blog and the pictures from yesterday.

I was a little surprised to find the visitor center and many shops in Silverton closed at 4 p.m. I guess when the train leaves to go back to Durango, the day is done! Ouray has a more customary business day, I guess. It's 8 a.m. and the sun is just beginning to penetrate into the town of Ouray, so I'll soon go out, get breakfast, get some pictures and then hit the shops. Long day ahead!

Ouray is busy; lots of people on the streets after I finished my tostada (very good, very filling and only $10.50) at Buen Tiempo and lots of "no vacancy" signs on motels. I wound up at the River's Edge Motel and have been quite pleased. Reasonable rates for summer in Ouray ($78) and my room has some nice features, like windows that open for real air and a kitchenette with a real coffee-maker!

Our plan on these quarterly trips is to photograph the same places at different seasons of the year. One place that was closed with snow on our March trip (there are still snow patches below 10,000 feet) was the Old Lime Creek Road between Durango and Silverton (I gather it was the old stage route). So, I decided to take it yesterday, not realizing I was accessing it at the north end ... so, I crossed Coal Bank Pass twice!

It's a Jeep road (certainly won't take the Casita down there!) but it has some beautiful features. I'll definitely want to take it at the height of fall color to catch the aspens and their contrast with the evergreens and everything else.

There were flowers, reflections in natural ponds and lots of lily pads and blossoms in a beaver pond. As I was coming into Silverton, the last train was just leaving the town and heading down the Animas River. tv