Telluride and Ouray, CO

Thursday, September, 23, 2010

The fish you see in the pictures is from Montrose. We caught 9 rainbow trout, but kept only 4. We cooked them for dinner and they were awesome. And, NO, we did not see a bear. We took Sire with us. He was a good distraction for the bear. And he had a blast. 

We are set up in Ouray, CO. Cute little town. All of the towns we stay in are basically the same. Very old and very quaint. The population probably doesn't exceed 2500. The people are extremely nice, and you never have to lock your doors or worry about anything you leave outside.

Yesterday, we walked the main street and visited all the shops. We had lunch at a local restaruant where they allow the patrons to take a permanent marker and sign their name on the wall. Very interesting. And very good burgers. The greatest thing (for Tommy), is that I cant really buy much because I am limited to space. And I cant ship my purchases home because we have our mail forwarded to a friends house and alot of things do not get forwarded.

Today we went into Telluride. I honestly do not have words to describe this place. I kidded around with Tommy and told him that Oprah was on the same road as us because she came out here to interview Tom Cruise.  His response was: OMG! I have to pull over and catch my breath!!! Hes such a funny guy!!! NOT!!!
hehehehe.

Once in town we scoured the shops - extremely expensive - and walked on the outside of main street to see where the local live. The town itself is no bigger than 2 miles long and less than 1 mile wide. It sits in a valley surrounded by the San Juan Mountain Range. It is spectacular! Two streets off the beaten path we found a gondola that is used as a ski lift. It is owned and run by the DOT of CO. Amazing, what a way to waste tax payers money! But it was free for us, so we jumped on it. It has 3 stops up the mountain. The view is incredible. (Especially since this morning when we woke up there was snow overnight and it covered the mountain tops.)

We took it to the top and stopped at each level offered on the way down. At one level, called St. Sophia we went into Allred's. Its a bar/restaurant. It is unbelievable - the view and the service and the atmosphere. Yes, I'm sure you have been in 5 star restaurants before but this is indescribable. Rock walls,  centralized fire place that is open and is obtainable in the dinning room and the lounge. They have Truffle Parmesan fries and a table you can have dinner at with all the chef's choices - in the kitchen! Of course we hit happy hour! Wahoo! Have you ever had 2 drinks at 10k feet? lol.Oh, and did I mention they give you slippers to put on so your feet warm up from skiing:?

After we came back down the mountain we walked around and found 2 houses that I fell in love with. (See pics). The problem, and the only problem actually, is the $$$$$. For a 2 bedroom 1 bath they are offered at $795.000. I think not! I was sad to leave though, I truly love, love, love it here. I would sell everything I own to live here....but then Id be broke and would freeze my ass off in the unforgiving winters!

Of all the places we have experienced so far Tommy and I were still leaning towards Steamboat Springs, but after today, I don't know. We still have Flagstaff, AZ to check out. We should be there in a little over a week. We plan on going through there on the way to Albuquerque for the balloon festival.

I know, you will be inundated with pictures on this blog, but I just cant choose which ones to show you. They are all so beautiful.

Tomorrow we are hitting the road to Sivlerton. This is supposed to be a great town also. We will take the 'million dollar highway' to get there and we are told its unimaginable.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the pics.