Movin' on

We just made our quarterly (and last?) trip around the San Juan Skyway, distributing the latest issue of Arts Perspective Magazine. We've got it down pretty well, making good time on the stops and having time for a few side trips as well, exploring a few roads we've never taken before.

If this is our last "paper route," it was a beautiful way to go. We've got a contract on a house in Silver City and hope to be in it in December, if all goes well.

Just over the crest of Red Mountain Pass on the way north to Ouray, there's a dirt road that goes off to the right. I've passed it a dozen times, decided to take it Thursday. It was just a short distance to where the panorama of the Red Mountain Town unfolded. 'Twas a beautiful day and we enjoyed the setting. The National Belle Mine is in the middle of the panorama, on "The Knob," which was a primary mining focus for the town in the 1890s.

The third picture up is of the remains of the jail at Red Mountain Town, which was built of stacked 2x6s, a technique that was also used on jails in Mancos and Animas City.

Before that, we took the road on the north side of Molas Pass in to Little Molas Lake. There's a lovely USFS campground there, a nice peaceful setting.

Telluride was a zoo, what with Labor Day weekend and the Film Festival, but it was neat to see a class of little tikes walking down a residential street on Friday.

Another side trip we took was down to the San Miguel River across from the Ophir turnoff, from which we got a picture of the Ophir Needles.

Off to the Absolute Bakery for breakfast, then to Cortez Farmers' Market, the Cortez Cultural Center to pick up some pictures, mail stuff on the house contract, try to get to the Valley Inn for Rally at the Valley (when the bikers take nursing home residents for rides), catch some of the biker games at the rally this afternoon ... and collapse for the evening!

I work tomorrow, taking a tour of Mesa Verde. Then a rush to the Minds in Motion finale on Thursday ... and then we'll see what happens next. There'll be something! tv