going for gold!

We awoke to the screaming of a campground worker into our tent, 'your dog is loose!'. Cohen had escaped from the tent while we were asleep to play with the children outside and run around the grounds freely. We have now been advised that we need to have him on a leash even INSDE our tent.

Today we set off on the 'million dollar highway' to look at more scenic views and explore some old mining towns. The rules were clearly set in stone before our departure, however, no goat paths would be allowed. The highway lived up to its name and gave us some great photo opts while leading us into the town of Silverton, named for 'mining silver by the ton'. The town was so small that from the top of the mountain road we were on, I could capture the entire vacinity of the town in one picture. We were, however, able to visit the 'house of christ', so our needs were fulfilled.

There we took Red Mountain Pass north again. This road brought us to some really old mines with underground tunels and muddy water. The road was filled with crazy switchbacks and turns, with of course, no guard rails! The pass led us into Ouray, which had a public hot springs swimming pool and then the road stopped having turns for a few miles and we ended up a valley at Ridgeway. We passed through some other small towns until we eventually made it to Telluride. FYI the entire state of Colorado is doing roadwork so learn to love the smell of asphalt.

Telluride is yet another small overpriced ski town in the middle of nowhere. At one end of the town, we saw an amazing waterfall off a huge cliff with a gorgeous house built over it. It turns out this house was once built by a wealthy old man and is now turned into their power plant and the falls were Bridal Falls. Fortunately for us, there was a boulder in the roadway so we werent able to take the pass up to it. Black Bear Road, considered one of the most dangerous roads in the US. (What a shame.)

The next town over from Telluride (or should I say above it) is Mountain Village, our new dream town. The entire town is located on a mountain above. It consists of nothing but beautiful houses. The fire station is made out of logs and is A-framed, the police officers drive Durangos, the grocery store looks like a ritzy hotel. There was a free gondola that would take you from either side of the town or to the mountain, which you could also ski down from outside many of the hotels. We are obviously firm beleivers in playing the lottery now.

We ended the day by stopping at a spot on Delores River right next to the town Stoner to let Cohen go wild. Marc and him ran in the water, and of course, Cohen found a stick larger than life. While he was tired and passed out beyond beleif, we got dinner downtown Durango at the Carver Brewery. Here, the food was okay, the beers were so-so, the atmosphere was not that good, but the artwork that they decorated the place with and sold was amazing.

Another long day... now we have to find a way to put a doggy run in our tent.