Go West Retired Couple, Go West!: Telluride, Colorado--Wow!

On a side note from our stay in Ouray---Carrie and Nate report that the "420 Burger" was not for us since it was probably laced with legal marijuana in Colorado!

Telluride was not on original route but people told us it was lovely so being the wild things that we are, we turned our Bailey Buggy north. Such great advice. On the way to Telluride we stopped in Ridgeway at the "True Grit Saloon" where the John Wayne movie "True Grit" was made. The hanging scene was in park right in front of the saloon.

Ouray to Telluride from RV

Telluride is a beautiful, pricey ski area with mountains all around. The town has a campground which is terrific. Isolated sites for $10 a night (for seniors) right next to a river. It closes down in 8 days for the year and hardly anyone here. There is a 5 mile river trail right next to us--bike or hike. We did that today and came back through town. Everywhere you look is a postcard view. There are dogs everywhere and several people stopped to admire Miss Bailey. One couple had a 13# labradoodle in their car and stopped us to talk--yes Carrie and Nate--13# and it had big feet! There are no bugs--no fleas for Bailey! The air is very dry here at 7700 feet and we do notice that we get more short of breath hiking with less oxygen. My contacts were sticking to my eyeballs so gave up wearing them for awhile!

Telluride Campground

River Trail Telluride

Today we rode up the Green Gondola (ski lift) to Telluride Village. It is the really ritzy part of this huge ski area. The gondola ride is FREE---the idea is to keep cars out of the area and decrease pollution. It was really magnificent! Up the mountain over the tops of the golden aspen and blue spruce. The gondola is in three different sections and stopped in Mountain Village which looked like a Swiss village. The pictures just can't do it justice. Ate at La Cucina mexican in Telluride which was a treat. Met a couple in van like ours--130,000 miles all over USA. Gave us lots of advice about Utah STATE parks since our government can't get it together and the national parks will still be closed.

Mountain Village from Gondola

Weather getting colder (high of 46 today) and rain coming so we left for Moab, Utah. Within 2 hours of driving. there was tumble weed going across the road and by 4 hours out of Telluride we were in Grand Canyon like area. The State park was Dead Horse Point--campgrounds all full since no National parks or areas open. It was beautiful--like miniature Grand Canyon. Took lots of pictures from the van while driving. The ground is all red! We are camped out in the desert wilderness in a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) camp area... called dispersed camping ... hundreds of acres of BLM land and you pick your spot. No fees, no water or electricity but gorgeous. Pete made a campfire and it was 40 degrees warmer here than Telluride. I removed my long johns today!