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July 9
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Tuesday July 9, 2013 We finished the packing and took off a little before 9 am. Our route took us down US 285 through Conifer (near Reynolds Park, where we captured some wildflowers last June), Fair Play (which claims to be the original South Park), to near Salida. The journey was pretty, but not spectacular. And there was some road construction that held us up a little. Lunch was at a roadside diner (Tony’s) in Poncha Springs. It was one of those small places where the owner is the cook and cashier. It seems pretty popular with the locals and we had some good chicken sandwiches there. Back on the road again, this time down US 50, past Blue Mesa Reservoir, which was very low, through Gunnison, to Montrose, where we turned onto US 550 for the last forty or so miles into Ouray. We arrived at the hotel in Ouray a little before 4 pm and got checked in. The hotel for this trip was the Ouray Victorian Inn. It was okay, but a bit disappointing. It was just another hotel. With a name like Victorian Inn, I expected something more, well, Victorian. It could have easily been a Best Western or a Comfort Inn. Our room was on the second floor, near the outside stairs, which was fairly convenient. We quickly got settled in, then went for a short walk up to Main Street just to stretch our legs after the car ride. At 6 pm, we assembled in the breakfast room for a meet and greet session. One of the other participants is not only from Westminster, she lives not too far from our house! We also discussed logistics for the rest of the stay. After the meeting broke up, we walked back up to Main Street to pick up some supplies at the grocery store before they closed for the night. John, another participant, joined us. After the grocery store, we crossed the street to O’Brien’s Pub for a bite of supper. There, we found about half of the rest of the group already sitting there. They had just ordered, so we turned a table around and pulled it up to join them. A pleasant meal. Then back to the motel to crash for the night. Tomorrow starts early... |