50 States Day 11

Day 11 Cortez to Montrose, CO

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
~Maya Angelou



The best, most exciting - and sketchiest- ride so far is Silverton to Ouray. The road whiplashes back and forth and hugs the sides of cliffs, affording one a spectacular view of a river seven hundred feet down a precipitous slope. And no guardrails. Don't forget the off camber turns,too. But the views, oh my.
Durango makes me mad. Nice old style town, clean, but littered with parking meters. No second chance at that first impression. Pretty snotty and uppity for our taste. Want hickory smoked salmon for twenty three bucks? Durango is for you. And the restaurants line the main street jostling for position. Nobody going hungry here. Just going broke.

Silverton swings too far the other way. Walk through town and it smells musty. Old buildings yes, but not restored. Plenty of empty ones too. In it's defense, business doesn't pick up for another few weeks, but the place feels run down, looking for a shot in the arm.
After the roller coaster ride, Ouray is Baby Bear'sTown- just right. Neat yards, well kept buildings and bustling streets give it a sense of exhuberance. Still the Old West theme, yet they pull it off well.
 Continuing down the pass, we arrive at our destination, Montrose. Yawn. looks like another city to me. We only rode through, but it teems with franchises and easily recognizable restaurants and shops. We made a stop at Wally's World for food and fixins, then settled into a KOA (product placement!) for the evening. Montrose feaures great weather, a welcome sight, as all the previous cities huddle in corners of mountains. Montrose sits below, with sun, bue sky and warmth. Aaahh. Perhaps we'll soak in the hot tub tonight too. Super aaahh.
Today Ethyl was the star of the show. Quilter Girl got her out to sew a bit. People ignored the bike, and approched QG, fascinated at both her sewing with a fifty year old machine, and  carrying it on a bike trip! Trippy indeed.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Trippy Indeed! Now I have to find one of those machines to drag around with my Quilting Girl!!!

KeeKee & Mark

Pam said...

so how was the hot tub????

Unknown said...

No time for hot tubbing'. Maybe tonight.

Unknown said...

t KeeKee and Mark are our neighbors. Now it looks like we'll be costing them money...