I went over the Molas Pass on US Route 550 north where there were some vistas beyond vistas, but that's the mountain country of Colorado. There were actually two passes I had to cross to get to Ouray.

I had a chicken caesar outdoors at an Ouray restaurant, then went to the famous Ouray (pronounced U-Ray) Hot Springs Pool and swam 25 laps in the lovely warm mineral water. A weird vibe there though, unlike the classier Glenwood Springs hot springs pool I visited in 1993 and 1998. It was beautiful weather though since it rained when I left Durango. I was then on the lookout for Orvis Hot Springs as per Chris’ directions but I never found it.

So off to Montrose and US 50. I stopped at a Super Wal-Mart looking for another zip disk for backing up photos (I'm over 100mb). I finally found one after looking and looking in the same aisle like 5 times. I also impulse-bought some bananas. Then I got back on the highway and turned East onto Route 50 through ho-hum Historic? downtown Montrose which route then turned into a simply beautiful drive, after passing some asshole slow drivers that didn't even drive the speed limit. I made ample use of cruise control. Vast vistas and desolate scenery wondering when I would finally get to the Curecanti Lake National Recreation area. I've seen it on the map for years. On the 1993 trip I visited the wonderful Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument (now a National Park) and went west on US 50 toward Grand Junction. Therefore this was breaking new ground. But I finally got there! It took awhile to find a place to stop and take pics but I found it. How beautiful as the sun reflected in the large reservoir.

Then I saw a rainbow right after passing the Gunnison River Canyon. I did my stick the camera out of the driver's window technique but had to stop as well. I then cruised through the town of Gunnison which was OK. Here I began to retrace a trip from around 30 years ago with college buddies to the Crested Butte Ski Area during a Spring Break. I continued up the Monarch Pass, over 11000 high, where on the top of the pass was a scenic gondola ride. It was 7:30 pm and I arrived after it closed. They really hype it with a big sign but I ain't coming back this way. I continued down the pass eventually arriving at the outskirts of Salida where I was glad I reserved a motel room at the Super 8 before I left for this trip or I would have been sleeping in the car. I arrived at the Super 8 around 8 pm, then went out to eat in historic downtown Salida, which was a few blocks long. I ate at a bistro with lovely waitresses though they had an 11 yr-old boy serving bread -- child labor. This was where I had my one and only delicious steak since we're in cattle country. They also served dessert, two cannolis but I could only eat one. After eating, I took a walk down some side streets to check out Salida, then drove a local street back to Route 50 just to find an internet cafe but there were none to be found. The waitress said I should use the library which opens at noon Sunday (actually 1 pm). However, the motel proprietress let me use her iBook (Mac people all over!) to check e-mail as she signed me onto dialup AOL. She was so nice. It was mainly to see if Linda responded to my e-mail and gave me her new phone number which she did. Yay. I'll call her sometime tomorrow, 'cause we might meet for dinner on my last day though she is studying for some type of important exam. I plan to rent a bike in the morning here in Salida to ride local paths, then to the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Pool and then onto Denver through the beautiful pass I drove with a guy named Peter (also friend of Dave's) to Crested Butte almost 30 yrs. ago, prob. 1975.

8/10/03 Sunday - my last day began with biking in Salida, through their bike paths, some dirt paths along the Arkansas River and viewing kayak lessons right in the middle of town on the Arkansas River, one of the most popular white-water rafting rivers in the country. Watching the kayak lessons were trés cool. Even a dog had a doggie life jacket! Afterwards I ate at the lunch place adjacent to Absolute Bikes, called Bongo Billy's Salida Cafe (I kid you not) and had a delicious greek salad, then a sundae at a tiny ice cream stand before I embarked on my last long drive back toward Denver. I left Salida on a relatively local road, Colo. 241 which led me to US 285 so I continually attempted different routes.