Silverton/Ouray

Morning broke with the dawn. Soon we were strapped in, latte in hand, ready to  begin our ascent to Silverton, CO. Beauty oozes from every crack, crevice, peak,  and stream of this narrow trail to the heights. I was so distracted by the aura of this place that I nearly forgot to be afraid.  

You cannot tell from the picture but we are very high up. There is a deep valley below with a babbling spring running through the valley below. 

Fire swept through these mountains sometime in the early 1900's and destroyed all of the trees. The people of the area began to plant the trees back. Can you imagine the courage it took to trek to around and over these peaks to plant trees? We were beholding the fruit of their labor!

All the way there I kept saying, "I want to live here! I love this!" Scotty's practical self kept me grounded.

Silverton is a quiet little town that seems to have lost its bustle! Little country shops, B&B's, coffee shops, etc. line the main street. It is easy to imagine women in long dresses with their parasols, men in their cowboy gettup, and children at the counter of the general store begging for penny candy, with horses and wagons lining the streets in this little village. 

A train from Durango will gladly transport you to Silverton. It takes a whole day to do the round trip. Some friends of ours had experienced the train ride and discouraged us from doing it. The ride in our car was thrilling enough for me without rocking and swaying on the rails of a"rickety" train!

Scotty learned from his in depth research that there is cemetery in Silverton possessing very interesting headstones. We planned on touring through and witnessing this phenomenon for ourselves, but got so caught up with the rest of the town we totally forgot about it. For this reason we must return!

Winters are harsh in this mountain town causing most of the population to migrate somewhere else during the winter months. You have to be tough to stay! But it is easy to catch "the bug" to stay when the weather is as beautiful as it was the day we visited.

Silverton used to be a mining town. They used to say, "There's gold in them thar' hills and silver by the ton." We did not see any silver or gold there and we didn't have the patience to seek it out! There was fools gold for sale in nearly every shop! We left it all behind for the next guy!

After lingering awhile we were on our way to Ouray. What a ride! Even Scotty was woozy on this trail! It was downright eerie! We kept marveling at the pioneers and fortune seekers of the olden days! How did they dare to explore these regions with such crude means of travel and horrible road conditions? 

One of Scotty's patients had son that drove off one of the mountain passes. He told me this while we were driving. I was not comforted!

The waterfall at Bear Creek (pictured) forces its way through the canyon wall and plunges into the depths below. The grandeur of this site is veiled by photography. 

There is something about waterfalls that stir a desire to plunge into the canyon with them. Roaring water is inviting, promising adventure. After imagination wanders awhile, an awe settles over you as the reality of the power of water and gravity brings you to your senses. It is called a healthy fear of the falls!

Can you see the bridge around the corner at the very top of this picture? It used to be wooden. Later, at the museum, we would see a picture of a woman on the bridge with a team of six horses back in the early days. Terrifying! These falls pour into Bear Creek and you cannot see them from the road when you are driving. 

Speaking of bears ... do you know that bears still eat people? A bear had eaten a woman in Ouray the day before we arrived! She had been feeding a bear. He decided to bring some friends and have her for lunch. We did not know this when we were there. Hmmm.

We began our time in this little mountain town at the historical museum. We were educated well in this little haven of history. Every level of the old three story building presented a story. Beautiful quilts were the special exhibition, each one revealing a story of its own. 

We found an outdoor bistro beside a beautifully restored old hotel. The special of the day was a meatball sandwich and tomato soup. Perfect! We should have shared, but we both thought we were hungry enough to tackle it on our own. 

Seeing that hotel would have been worth the drive to Ouray. I would love to stay there someday, but it doesn't have the word "Comfort" in its name. Regardless of that fact, I am positive that I could make myself comfortable there. 

There was a little book shop in the hotel/bistro. Do you believe it? All of my favorite things in one place! I kept hearing Scotty giggle while I was perusing the shop. He was reading some hilarious postcards. I joined him and soon we were both enjoying the ridiculous humor of those photo postcards. We bought several trying to find the perfect one for everyone I could think of.

If you happened to receive one, I had your address with me! I hope you could read it, my mom let me know that the one she received was illegible. I scribbled them out pretty fast because I just didn't have a lot of time. Just know that I said all good things and be blessed! ; ) Sometimes you just have to go with "it's the thought that counts!" 

It was another beautiful day in Colorado! The average temperature on our trip was around 70. We called it perfect!

We thoroughly wandered through the entire town of Ouray. Scotty wanted me to buy raffle tickets to win a jeep promising, that if we won,  he would bring me back so that we could get it and bring it home. Should we return to Ouray soon, you will know that we won! 

Several hours passed and we felt we had exhausted our possibilities at Ouray and headed out for New Castle, CO. 

It was a beautiful three hour drive with the top down and the sun shining on our faces! Simply invigorating!

The Comfort Inn was waiting for our arrival in New Castle. We checked in and took the proprietor's advice and ate at the little diner just a ways up the street. She was right! It was delicious!

We will be leaving Colorado tomorrow with a final stop at Meeker. Have you ever heard of Meeker, Colorado? I have personal reasons for wanting to make this stop. I will share my story tomorrow. 

Until then ... I wish you sweet blessings!

Cheri