True enough it has been awhile since I posted--left Ouray reluctantly Friday morning, but not before visiting their famous Box Canyon Falls, and the town's museum housed in the old hospital (closed 1964). Some of the rooms were still displayed as they would have been--an operating suite, a dentist's chair, a patient's room--and others were set up as the old store (complete with a display of products and a giant bicuit dispenser which Clare remembered from old, a well to do person's parlor, and in the basement, the cell from the old jail, an assayers office--all very period and intersting. We came upon a smal room with shelves full of rocks, none of which looked very interesting, but when you turned off the lights, and put on the black light, all the minerals shone. Very cool. We could have spent more time there than we did I think to sufficiently smell everything. The falls were also good as we had been wondering why we had seen so few--maybe the season. Saw some chipmunks there and I think they were relatives of the Chateau Lake Louise crew.

Friday night after driving a good bit we stopped in a town called Silverthorn, about an hour from Denver. We didn't realize until we woke that it had a lovely river running through it. We took a long walk along it after breakfast. Beth and Clare could not believe the stores--apparently it is 3 towns near together and all with outlets stores. There were maps and shuttles and if the parking lots were any indication, the financial crisis has not trickled down to that main street! They stopped in a few stores--again, I think they could have spent more time than they did. Finally it was off to Denver--we checked into a swank hotel and met Caitlin and Luke for dinner. At first I could not believe it was Caitlin but then was very happy to see her. Today we hung out at their house for awhile (I could smell puddin but not seee her), played a game of Wii golf, and got our first look at the much talked about guitar hero. It was funny to see Caitlin and Luke rocking out together.

We are meeting Caitlin for a midday meal and a trip to her store, and then it's time for us to hit the road and start for home. I love a good road trip but it's always good to get home--to my friends, my warm buffalo dinners, my own bed (although this one is pretty sweet!), and all the scents that say "home" to me.

When we set out yesterday morning from Cortez on one of the "scenic" drives Beth had read about on-line months ago, the mood in the car was somber. We had seen some spectacular foliage in New Mexico, and were skeptical we would see anything to rival it. As we headed out of town, the terrain seemed brown and scrubby and we grew more doubtful. Boy were we wrong! There were rivers, mountaintops, fields to run in. And the foliage. There are not adjectives enough to describe the majesty.

At one point we decided to take a "path" up into the woods (read treacherous unpaved road)--we have a Subaru after all--14 miles and two hours later we emerged, white knuckled, changed by great beauty. The road rivaled the top of the world highway we had driven in Alaska--driving among the mountain tops with vistas that could have been painted at every turn.

We stayed the night in Ouray, a cool town suggested by Barley's mother. The town has 80 percent of its original victorian houses and businesses; the hotel is particularly striking. All towns in the area are connected to mining, and there are many abandoned mills and mill towns in the surrounding mountains. Today we took another harrowing drive to see some of the abandoned towns. We passed several mines on our way to animus forks, an abandoned town at the fork of two rivers. There, in addition to the mill were several buildings still standing, including the jail and the grand house (recognizable by the bay windows in front!

We heard these mountains can have as much as 140 inches of snow, and railroad or not, it is hard to imagine spending a winter here. But you can't beat the view:

One more night in Ouray (which they call the Switzerland of America, which they also call Valdez, Alaska--Clare and Beth said they are going to have to visit Switzerland so they can decide who deserves the title). They are interested in seeing the debate, and I need a nap after my exhausting day. (Did I mention the retired police german shepherd I met at the ghost town?) Tomorrow a few sights and maybe a little shopping as we head for Denver.

Yesterday was a day of ruins--ancient puebloans. We started with the ruins in Aztec which were interesting enough. It is amazing what those people did with no modern tools, and how long it has lasted, given the rather unforgiving climate. Beth was telling us that the last time she was in the area, they believed these ruins were made by Indians called the Anasazi , a group which at that time was believed to have mysteriously disappeared around 1200 A.D. More recent scholarship now calls the people the "ancient pueblans", saying poeple in the area are descendants.

Our first Colorado stop was a town called Durango, an old mining town. The town itself was cool but not sooo dog friendly--no restaurant would let me sit with the girls on their patio. Do you believe it? And I'm sooo good now. I would have behaved. The town still has many of their old building from the late 1800's and even the hotel--very impressive.

But the real stunning ruins were at Mesa Verde, a national park designated soley to protect these ruins. The most exciting ruins were the ones up the cliffs tucked into caves, but we learned that over the centuries that indians lived here, they only retreated to these cave dwelings for the last 75-100 years before they left (vanished), and there is much speculation among scholars as to why they made these cliff dwellings. Clare and Beth found it very interesting that with all the scholarship being done, they often heard or read things like "scholars don't know the purpose of that or the use of this or even what made them take to the cliffs. Interestingly enough, one of the reasons they think might account for the vanishing is environmental degradation--but have we learned??

The park is well designed to protect the ruins and they are indeed a national treasure.

Today on the agenda: mountains, foliage, ghost towns. I am hoping for a river or two!