Day 8 Continued

After Silverton we drove to Ouray which was another 25 miles north of Silverton. This was another old mining town, but seemed to be a little more modern as far as houses go. It was an interesting town, but the roads to Ouray were even narrower and more scary than to Silverton. Boy I was glad to get there.

             This is the Ouray Brewery.  Look at that neat deck overlooking the town and mountain
                scenery.

                                    This was a snow shed over the highway.

This is the view from our campground.

 

                       Across the street from the CG are the train tracks for the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. This is the train coming back from Silverton.

AHHHH!!! The end of a busy day. Here we are sitting outside in the cool afternoon breeze. I'm working on my applique. Even the kitties are enjoying their go out time.

                                          

We'll be leaving Alpen Rose RV Park tomorrow headed for Monument Valley.

Day 8 Silverton and Ouray, Colorado

We had a wonderful day today. We got up early and drove 45 miles north to Silverton which was an old mining town. The ride was relatively easy at first until we got to the 2 lane highway with lots of switchbacks and NO guard rails. The ride was beautiful at least what I could see of it. My eyes were focused on the road and my hands were clenched on the steering wheel.

This is the switchback overlooking Silverton.

This is where we had breakfast The Brown Bear Cafe. Breakfast was great and the cafe had the  original wood floors, woodwork, oak wood bar, tin ceiling and some furnishings. The whole town was something right out of the past.

 

Day 7 Long Drive Thru Colorado

We had a very long driving day today. We went from Estes Park to Durango via the Durango airport to pick up a rental car. The drive was uneventful, and the mountains were so beautiful.

 

 

Before we knew it we were at 10,000 ft. Going up wasn't too bad, but coming down was scary.

 

 

We we arrived at our campground in Durango and took out the playpen for the kitties to enjoy.

They deserved a little fresh air. They have been so good on this trip.

Day 6 Rocky Mountain National Park

We spent the day in RMNP. It was a great day and the weather was perfect. The sky was so blue and the entire area is really something to see. Since we only had today, we made the most of it by packing our lunch and taking the free shuttle into the park. We went to Bear Lake and hiked around that area. It was a very nice hike and I'm sure we'll sleep soundly tonight.

The elevation was about 9500 ft, so it we kind of tired rather quickly. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that we are old and out of shape. Actually, I'm not sure we were ever in shape.

 

Tomorrow we leave for Durango, Co.

Day 5 Estes Park

We had a great day in Estes Park. The campground we are in is a KOA which we usually like because they all have a similar foot print (WiFi, cable TV, full hook up, friendly staff and good accommodations. This CG has all that, but it is an older park and the sites are not roomy. As a matter of fact they have us crammed in like sardines. We expected crowds because it is a holiday weekend. We weren't prepared for this. There is a large RV on the RT of us. The left side is a walkway to the pancake breakfast, the free shuttle, the laundry room, the patio, the pool and the office. We were laughing as we sat at the table to eat and people kept pouring past our window. I hate to bring up another comedy, but it's just so relative. Remember in the movie "Summer Rental" with John Candy when he rented the run down beach house. As they were eating breakfast they looked out their breakfast window and there were hoards of people pouring past on their way to the public beach? Well--there we were. Summer Rental all over again.

The campground is very quiet at night and it's not as bad as we thought. We took the free shuttle into down town Estes Park this morning. What a great little town and beautiful area. We didn't rent a car since we thought the parking would be a problem anyway with the crowds and it is. The shuttle was very easy, picked up us at the CG and it was a 10 minute ride.

Nicky loves the cabinets. He just has to get in and sit.

I can see why people love Estes Park so much. It's beautiful, the weather is a perfect 82 during the day with a cool breeze. We did wake up this morning to a cold 45 degree weather. Thank goodness I had my new quilt on the bed.
It is a dog friendly town with shops posting signs that they are dog friendly and have bowls of water for their canine friends. Lots of people walking dogs along the street. There was a large Arts and Crafts Fair here in town, so the streets were crowed and there was tons of stuff to look at. One vendors had fabric beads---very interesting. We walked all morning looking at shops and stopped for lunch at The Wild Rose, having buffalo burgers. YUM!! So much for the diet.

Then we walked over to the Stanley Hotel. The Stanley was built in 1909 by  F.O. Stanley of Stanley Steamer fame. The hotel was the inspiration for Stephens King's novel "The Shinning., He had stayed in room 217 right before the hotel had shut down for the season.It has also been filmed by the Ghost Hunters program. What a wonderful hotel. Very elegant and charming with the original wood floors, staircase and wonderful views.It must be a great experience to stay there.

 

 

 

 

Can't you just see that little girl riding that tricycle around this lobby.

 

                                          This is the beautiful  music room.The view from this hotel are incredible.
                                                                                                                                                                       
   
                                        

                                  We came back to the CG for a rest and there was a little wind storm anda drizzelly rain. When we walked  outside this is what we saw--a beautiful rainbow. More fun tomorrow.