Friday, September 23, 2011

Grand Junction CO to Durango CO

246 miles

At 5:51 Bob announced “Continental breakfast in 9 minutes.”  I didn’t even know he was awake.  We listened to news, weather, packed up and went down to a very nice breakfast.  It was pretty full at 6:30 — it’s a very busy hotel.  I think it’s the proximity to Hereford’s.  Seriously, that was one of the best meals at a restaurant I have had in a long time.  Including Boca which is terrific.

The breakfast was simple and just right.  Bob had his choice of about five different danish — he tried two or three and orange juice. Whatever.  He was happy.  I was thrilled.  Hardboiled eggs, little jam-like things of peanut butter, whole apples, yogurt.  Had some coffee, which wasn’t terrible, just in case we couldn’t find any on the road — again.  We were on the road by 7:10 under clear blue skies and 55*.

We headed east on I-70 for a few miles to the exit for I-50 and then Rte 141 — chosen by Bob because of the scenic byway markings.  It was spectacular!  The sun shining on the mesas around Grand Junction was brilliant.  Once we turned onto 141, no one was behind us.  The temperature dropped to 37* and it was so quiet and peaceful.  A couple of small foxes ran across the road in front of us.  We were driving through a canyon with only the very occasional ranch or ranchette.   All of a sudden the canyon opened up and we saw this:

Then we hit the little town of Gateway which was pretty and then… just at the end of town

The Gateway Canyons resort and A CAPPUCCINO!!  I wanted to hug the woman making coffee.  This is a resort that could be in Scottsdale or Palm Springs.  Stunning green lawns, all adobe buildings, lovely bright flowers, a spa, different types of accommodations (suites, rooms) all with fireplaces etc.  Evidently they have had a hard couple of years so the outlook is unknown but it was beautiful.  They have horse back riding on over 500 hundred acres, fishing, hiking.  It was an oasis.  And good coffee!!!

Bob took this photo from the parking lot:

Speaking of coffee, it took several years for soy milk to become ubiquitous in coffee houses and coffee chains.  About 10 months ago I moved on to almond milk.  When is the rest of the world going to catch up?  Usually I travel with it but not this trip. Oh and I pass up Starbucks; since January 1 2005 except for an early-morning emergency in the Jet Blue terminal at Oakland Airport last year (Me: “What happened to the Peet’s that used to be here?”  Starbuck’s employee: “What’s Peet’s?”  Touche.)

Our next stop was about 9:15 at a historic overlook of the Hanging Flume, a remarkable engineering feat from the 1890s.  It was a wooden structure hanging from the side of the cliff that was used by miners to sift gold using tons of water sluicing through smaller and smaller chutes.  It went on for several miles but now there is just this one section:

A few more miles down the road, we stopped at another site, Uravan, that marked what was once a thriving mining town for uranium, radium and valadium. They stopped mining there completely in the mid-1980s. We were lucky in that two older guys – who turned out to be brothers — were just meeting up for the day in the parking lot.  They both had worked in the mines.  Now they look for dinosaur bones and have found several – one of them is in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  Dick, the older brother (two hearing aids, a big walking stick) gave us each a little dinosaur bone.  Too bad this blog isn’t interactive…. The brothers each were driving SUVs pulling ATVs.  They parked one car and both ATVs and then took off up a dirt road to the old mining sites above us.  If we had been in Bob’s truck instead of my car, he would have followed them.

We decided that the drive this morning beats Zion.  Canyons, red rocks, yellow aspens.  It was gorgeous.
Stopped at Naturita for gas and then the road opened up a bit so it was less canyon-like.  We managed to pass a group of about a dozen motorcycles, one by one – it took about 10 minutes – and then all of a sudden, on our right, giant snow-capped mountain peaks appeared and we had to pull over for a photo op.   So we waved at all the motorcycles as they drove by us.  This is why.

We continued on through beautiful countryside to Ridgeway and Placerville (going through Norwood: Splish Splash Buggy Bath Car Wash) and turned right towards Ouray and Silverton.  This road is not for nambie pambies.  Two lanes, zero shoulder and no guard rails.  Bob said that for my birthday he would give me a two-mile stretch to clean.  LOL.   We hit 10,000+ on the stretch to Ouray and then 11,000+ on the stretch to Silverton. Up Up Up and the Dowwwwwnnnnnn.   AND we saw bikers on both, some on their way up and some on their way down.  IMHO:  NFW.  In either direction.

One huge benefit of delaying this trip is that we are going to hit almost the peak of color.  On the trip from Silverton to Durango there was a rock formation right  up against my side of the road and there were aspens spilling over; it looked like a gigantic stone vase filled with yellow flowers.

We landed in Durango about 1:15 for lunch at Season’s, right on Main Avenue, picked out of the AAA guide book.  Never have those AAA recs steered us wrong (not true:  the second worst motel we have ever stayed in was in Missoula MT last year and I chose it from the AAA book).  We sat at the marble bar and had a fabulous lunch.  And we decided to stay in Durango for the night rather than going on to Pagosa Springs or beyond.  We really like Durango – this was our fourth visit – but we have always just blown in just in time for dinner and left the next morning at daybreak to continue on to wherever.  Bob had driven all morning and it was going to be my turn to drive after lunch so once we decided to stay, Cheers!  I had a glass of chardonnay from Santa Barbara Vineyards (nice) and Bob had a margarita.  Bob had a chicken salad with avocado, bacon, tomatoes and a buttermilk dressing (best chicken salad he has ever had he told the staff) and I had a *local greens* salad with grilled chicken, raspberries, walnuts and shaved hard goat’s milk cheese with an aged balsamic vinaigrette. Fantastic.  And since no more driving, I traded my almost-empty chardonnay for Bob’s almost-full Oregon Pinot Noir…win win win!

We checked in to the Best Western about three blocks away (the most expensive one yet but the nicest.  Racking up those points!!).  Spent a couple of hours catching up on email and news.   The bartenders at Season’s had advised us to catch Happy Hour at The Strater Hotel so we headed down there and had martinis at the bar.  We then walked around a bit, shopping and checking out menus for dinner and headed back.  When we got back to the motel it was (Free) happy hour so we picked up a dirty martini and a whiskey sour (you’ll have to guess) to go up to the room.  How civilized even though in plastic cups…  Showers, more news, more email catch up.  Headed off the The Ore House…… yes, it’s true.  Our fourth (we think) dinner in Durango over the past 5-6 years and we went to the same place.  And we are NEVER disappointed!! We sat at the bar with a great bartender and couldn’t have been happier.  Ribeye with fried onion rings (unbelievably delicious and light!) and baked potato for Bob, petite filet with mushrooms and salad for me.  Like butter.. the bartender was so busy he forgot to bring steak knives and they were not necessary.  We brought a bottle of Bradford Mtn but were told we couldn’t drink it so got glasses of Four Vines Zin (good) and I had a Trilogy Cab (very good).

Toddled up the hill home and crashed with our balcony door open to the cool mountain air.  Another fabulous day of driving through breathtaking views and some relaxing down time in a town where we might end up (might end up in?). Good night.