Saturday, August 19, 2006
Pointed home
I planned better than I knew when I decided on this vacation. Mike's school starts Monday, and we wanted to get him back on a better sleep schedule. Naturally he resisted this mightily at home. But here on the trip, we are getting settled in by dark, and he soon drifts off to sleep.
The downside, of course, is that he wakes up at dawn, and even watching his DVD player "quietly" wakes ME up.
On the other hand, it is lots easier to type on this laptop keyboard when there's an external light source. To type in the dark, I have to lean the screen forward so it shines on the keys. But then I can't read what I am typing very well. So that's why I have not been doing a lot of commenting to other people, even though I have been faithfully keeping up with reading my Flist!
No, I am not either addicted to the internet!!
So. Yesterday. The highway from Silverton down to Ouray is just as Completely Insane as advertised. I saw yellow diamond warning signs in shapes I had NEVER seen before! To quote from Mr. McCall's "Wolf Creek Pass":
"From there on down it just wasn't real pretty,
It was Hairpin County and Switchback City.
One of 'em looked like a can full of worms,
Another one looked like malarial germs...."
It was fun.
Ouray is nicknamed the Switzerland of America. I don't know if this means they are always neutral or what, but it's a very scenic little town, and they have incorporated their hot springs into the community swimming pool. It is shaped like a big oval, with one end being hot (about 102 when we were there), and the other end cool and deep with a diving board. The part in the middle has a medium warm area (96 degrees) and a large one which is normal pool cool, with some big fancy slides Mike fell in love with.
I meant to stay and soak for an hour. We were actually there for more than two hours, and it was Mike who dragged ME away in favor of lunch. We even got slightly sunburned, so we will be going home looking like proper vacationers.
At Montrose we hit Highway 50, which runs to Lamar, so we are on the last leg. But we are getting a little blase about the natural wonders and the available touristy activities, so I think it's time. Also the baby cat Souvenir is driving Caro mad at home, wanting her to make up for two people's worth of attention and play. Since she is putting in 10 hour days getting ready for school to start, this is not really doable.
Between Montrose and Gunnison (where we are right now) is a National Park for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It is AMAZING. Kind of like an inversion of the mountains we have just been in--the same types of rocks and formations, but instead of sticking up into the sky, they form a wild, steep, LONG canyon with a river roaring away down at the bottom. As always, pics to follow.
The town of Gunnison gets big points from me for having big signs advertising a free wifi hot spot at their tourist center. Very modern outlook, but since they are a college town (Western State), I guess that's only appropriate.
High points from yesterday:
When we came out of the Pizza Hut where we had dinner, there was a full 180 DOUBLE rainbow, horizon to horizon, and very bright!
At the Ouray pool, there was a place where you could be in the cool pool but sit under the outflow from the hot pool, so that your neck, shoulders and back had extra warm water burbling over them, but your other body parts were enjoying cool freshness. I would consider growing gills to just live in that spot permanently.
Gunnison had gas at $2.94!!!
The downside, of course, is that he wakes up at dawn, and even watching his DVD player "quietly" wakes ME up.
On the other hand, it is lots easier to type on this laptop keyboard when there's an external light source. To type in the dark, I have to lean the screen forward so it shines on the keys. But then I can't read what I am typing very well. So that's why I have not been doing a lot of commenting to other people, even though I have been faithfully keeping up with reading my Flist!
No, I am not either addicted to the internet!!
So. Yesterday. The highway from Silverton down to Ouray is just as Completely Insane as advertised. I saw yellow diamond warning signs in shapes I had NEVER seen before! To quote from Mr. McCall's "Wolf Creek Pass":
"From there on down it just wasn't real pretty,
It was Hairpin County and Switchback City.
One of 'em looked like a can full of worms,
Another one looked like malarial germs...."
It was fun.
Ouray is nicknamed the Switzerland of America. I don't know if this means they are always neutral or what, but it's a very scenic little town, and they have incorporated their hot springs into the community swimming pool. It is shaped like a big oval, with one end being hot (about 102 when we were there), and the other end cool and deep with a diving board. The part in the middle has a medium warm area (96 degrees) and a large one which is normal pool cool, with some big fancy slides Mike fell in love with.
I meant to stay and soak for an hour. We were actually there for more than two hours, and it was Mike who dragged ME away in favor of lunch. We even got slightly sunburned, so we will be going home looking like proper vacationers.
At Montrose we hit Highway 50, which runs to Lamar, so we are on the last leg. But we are getting a little blase about the natural wonders and the available touristy activities, so I think it's time. Also the baby cat Souvenir is driving Caro mad at home, wanting her to make up for two people's worth of attention and play. Since she is putting in 10 hour days getting ready for school to start, this is not really doable.
Between Montrose and Gunnison (where we are right now) is a National Park for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It is AMAZING. Kind of like an inversion of the mountains we have just been in--the same types of rocks and formations, but instead of sticking up into the sky, they form a wild, steep, LONG canyon with a river roaring away down at the bottom. As always, pics to follow.
The town of Gunnison gets big points from me for having big signs advertising a free wifi hot spot at their tourist center. Very modern outlook, but since they are a college town (Western State), I guess that's only appropriate.
High points from yesterday:
When we came out of the Pizza Hut where we had dinner, there was a full 180 DOUBLE rainbow, horizon to horizon, and very bright!
At the Ouray pool, there was a place where you could be in the cool pool but sit under the outflow from the hot pool, so that your neck, shoulders and back had extra warm water burbling over them, but your other body parts were enjoying cool freshness. I would consider growing gills to just live in that spot permanently.
Gunnison had gas at $2.94!!!
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